Castle of Zekúm, but I saw that of Kerím without entering it, when passing through the plain of Kákht. Lala Ferhád pursued his victory as though he had been on a hunting party; he took twenty-six great and small castles, some of which he destroyed, and some he repaired, placing a Dizdár in each, and made his entry into Tiflís amidst the greatest demonstrations of public joy. He fortified this castle to such an extent, that no fortress of Georgia or Azerbeiján is equal to it, except that of Bakú and Megú. The province was given with the rank of a Begler Beg to Mohammed Páshá the son of Ferhád Páshá, then in possession of the sanjak of Kastemúní; its works were repaired, and its stores completed. He sent the keys of no less than seventy large and small castles to the Ottoman Court and then returned himself to Constantinople. After his departure the Persians besieged the town of Tiflís for the space of seven months. The garrison being in the greatest distress for food, eat their dogs first, and then the dead; the famine was so great that the dog belonging to the Súbashí Alí sold for seven thousand aspers. At last the governor of Erzerúm, Mustafa Páshá, arrived with a flying troop, put the Persian General to flight and relieved the garrison. Hassan Páshá the son of the Grand Vezír arrived with a caraván, bringing three thousand camel loads of provisions, which were placed in the Magazines of the small castle. In short, this fortress remained in the hands of the Ottomans from the time of Sultán Murad III. till that of Sultán Mustafa, when the Persians united with the Georgians took the castle by surprise, and gave it up to the Sháh; and it has remained ever since in the hands of the Persians. It is the capital of Georgia, to which belongs sixteen Sultáns, seventy judges, forty districts and seven tracts called Oimák. Three-tenths of Georgia are occupied by the province of Tiflís; the khán commands two thousand soldiers, it has also a judge and twelve public officers in honour of the twelve Imáms. _Size and Figure of the Fortress._