[205] The allusion is to the ancient and famous oracle of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus, which is mentioned in the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_. The god, according to one legend, was said to dwell in an ancient oak tree, and to give oracles by the rustlings of the branches. These ‘talking oaks’ are alluded to by Æschylus in the _Prometheus Vinctus_, and by Sophocles in the _Trachiniæ_. Busbecq’s Latin, ‘A quo in rebus dubiis responsa petuntur,’ is suggested by Virgil’s lines— ‘Hinc Italæ gentes omnisque Œnotria tellus In dubiis responsa petunt.’ _Æneid_, vii. 85. [206] Koniah was the ancient Iconium. [207] The Arabic word Memlook or Mameluke means a slave. The first caliphs formed their body-guard of slaves, and in the decadence of the caliphate these slaves, like the Roman prætorians, played a principal part in the numerous revolutions that occurred. It was in Egypt, however, that the Mamelukes attained their highest power. They were Sovereigns of that country for more than 250 years, from the fall of the dynasty of Eyoub to the Ottoman conquest, and even after that event were the real rulers of Egypt till their massacre in the present century by Mehemet Ali. They were composed of three bodies, the Mamelukes, properly so-called, who were of pure Circassian blood; the Djelbans, who were mostly composed of Abyssinian slaves, and the Korsans, an assembly of mercenaries of all nations. They were governed by twenty-four beys, over whom was a Sultan. Their dominion extended over Egypt and Syria with the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and the adjacent parts of Arabia. Selim I., Solyman’s father, after his victorious campaign against Shah Ismael attacked the Mamelukes, defeated and killed their Sultan, Kausson Ghawri, near Aleppo (Aug. 24, 1516), and, marching into Egypt, defeated Touman Bey, the new Sultan, at Ridania (January 22nd), and added Syria and Egypt to his empire. When in Egypt, he induced the last of the Fatimite caliphs, who had been a puppet in the hands of the Mamelukes, to transfer that dignity to himself and his successors. It is in virtue of this transaction that the present Sultan and his predecessors since the time of Selim have claimed to be the head of the Mahommedan faith throughout the world. See Von Hammer, book xxiv. [208] The Kurds are descended from the Carduchi or Gordiæans of the ancients. (See Xenophon, _Anabasis_, iv.) They have gradually advanced from their original mountain homes into the plains in the south-east of Armenia and the north of Mesopotamia. They are a warlike race, and much addicted to brigandage. [209] See note, page 108. [210] ‘The most remarkable building in Koniah is the tomb of a saint, highly renowned throughout Turkey, called Haznet Mevlana, the founder of the Mevlevi Dervishes. His sepulchre, which is the object of a Mussulman pilgrimage, is surmounted by a dome, standing upon a cylindrical tower of a bright green colour.’—Leake, _Asia Minor_, p. 50.