Prince to death But when they had dissipated her fears and that she understood that they came to set him upon the Throne by the command of his Grandfather she embrac'd the young Prince and return'd him into the hands of the Eunuchs When he was come out of the Haram the two Lords attended by several others saluted him King and acknowledg'd him for their Soveraign At the same time they took off his Clothes and tore them which in Persia is a mark of mourning and according to custom put him on another plain Garment which he wore till midnight Then they disrob'd him again and put him on his Royal Robes and set him upon the Throne where all the Lords came and did him homage and the next day he was acknowledg'd by all the Acclamations of the people For when the Royal Habit is put upon the new King the Drums Trumpets Timbrels Hautboys and other Instruments make a din in a peculiar place of the Meydan appointed for that purpose Which is the Signal to give notice to the people to meet the next morning to acknowledg the new King Sha-Sefi for many years was a Novice in the art of Government But time opening his eyes the first remarkable thing which he did being at Casbin was to cut off the head of Ali-Kouli-Kan that great Captain who had conquer'd the Kingdoms of Lar and Ormus for Sha Abbas and the heads of three of his Sons After that returning to Ispahan he cut off the heads of seven of the principal Lords of his Court and by little and little took the Government into his own hands Of those Lords whom Jani-Kan was the chief For 't is thought that Sha Abbas had left a private order with Mirza Také and the Dowager Sultaness to rid themselves of those Lords so soon as Sha-Sefi should be setl'd in his Throne and that they had plac'd Governors in all places where in the King might confide These Lords having smoak'd the private order of Sha-Abbas and believing that the time of execution drew near prevented the Athemadoulet Mirza Také for meeting one morning before the Palace-door they kill'd the Porter and entring his Bed-Chamber stab'd him before he could rise After this execution they went to the King whom Jani-Kan boldly told that they had slain Mirza Také The King at that time dissembling his anger at so bold an enterprize and an attempt upon the Royal Authority answer'd him that he had done very well and that he had prevented those orders which he intended to have giv'n him The Sultaness his Mother then govern'd the Kingdom together with the Athemadoulet from whom she receiv'd four hundred Ducats in Gold every day for her little pleasures and held a private Council with him in her Haram where he had free admission as being cut close In this Council it was that these two persons overthrew in the night whatever the Lords concluded in the day chang'd the Kings mind and over-rul'd his thoughts as they pleas'd themselves by vertue of that power which they had over him Eight or nine days after as these Lords were sitting in Council with the King an Eunuch enter'd which was the signal for the King to get out of the way and as soon as the King was gone the Chamber was fill'd with Eunuchs that rushing in immediately fell upon Jani-Kan and his Accomplices and cut off their heads Their heads and bodies were immediately expos'd to the view of the people in the Meydan and for that it is not the custom in Persia to take any cognizance of what the King does the most part of the people spurning the heads with their feet cry'd one to another See the heads of those Dogs that have disobey'd the will of the King I told ye that Mirza Také was clean cut which occasions a particular story He was Governour of Guilan in the Reign of Sha Abbas and having abus'd one of his Pages the young Ladd stole secretly to Ispahan and made his complaint to the King who having heard it immediately sent him to be Governour of Guilan in the place of Mirza Také and order'd him to send him his head by one of the Officers which he dispatch'd along with him The King also in regard the Page was very young appointed him a person able to advise him in his affairs In the mean while Mirza Také missing his Page and making no question but he was gone to make his complaint to the King which would of necessity prove his ruin if not prevented he resolv'd to divert the storm by punishing himself and caus'd that part to be cut clean off that committed the crime At the same time and in that bad condition wherein he then was he caus'd himself to be put into a Litter and taking his Chirurgeon along with him he gets to Ispahan by another way which was not usually travel'd for fear of meeting the Page and causing himself to be carry'd into the Palace in that pitiful and languishing estate desir'd to speak with the King who was surpriz'd at his arrival But the Kan having presented him in a Plate of Gold with the undoubted marks of his repentance besought his Majesties pardon Whereupon the King considering the rigor and extraordinary punishment which he had inflicted upon himself sent him back to his Government and recall'd the Page whom he otherways gratifi'd And this was the man whom Sha Abbas upon his Death-bed order'd that Sha-Sefi should make Athemadoulet as being the fittest for the employment of any person in his Kingdom Sha-Sefi not content to have rid himself of the Lords that had presum'd to invade his Authority was resolv'd to have the head of Ali-merdan-Kan Governour of Candahar of whom he was jealous by reason of his vast riches his Plate being all Gold and his House as magnificently furnish'd as the Kings But the King could not bring about his design for the Kan being press't to come to Court and believing it was only to take away his head to free himself from the danger deliver'd Candahar to the Great Mogul by whom he was kindly entertain'd and highly caress'd Neither was Ali-merdan-Kan's wealth of his own getting but left him by inheritance as being descended from the ancient Kings of Candahar who were originally Tartars Now whatever favours or advancement the Great Mogul bestow'd upon Ali-merdan-Kan the same did the Persian King bestow upon his two Sons whereas all the world believ'd that after such a piece of Treason committed by their Father the King would have ript up their bellies This piece of policy of Sha-Sefi was very advantageous to Sha-Abbas the second when he besieg'd Candahar with fifty thousand men For the greatest part of the Moguls Army being compos'd of Persians they remembring how kindly Sha-Sefi had us'd the two Sons of Ali-merdan-Kan made little resistance against the King of Persia who enter'd Candahar in a small time The Great Mogul troubl'd at the loss ask'd Ali-merdan-Kan by what means he might retake
gave him fifteen days Thereupon the King did go to the Treasury next morning according to Mahomet's desire and found all things in good order having heard before what became of the Scimitar From thence he went to Mahomet's House who made the King a mean Present For it is the custom that he whom the King honours with a Visit must make a Present to his Majesty After the King had receiv'd it he walk'd up and down and view'd the Chambers Halls Parlours and Rooms of State and wonder'd to see them so ill set out with plain Felts and course Carpets whereas in other Lords Houses a man could not set his Foot upon any thing but Cloth of Gold and Silk For the King as they had set the Nazar out expected to have found other things which made him admire at so great a Moderation in so high a degree of Honour Now at the end of a Gallery there was a Door lockt with three great Padlocks Of this the King took no notice whereupon the Meter who is the White Eunuch and chief of his Chamber as he came back shew'd the King the Door that was so strongly Padlock'd which made the King curious to have it open'd withal asking Mahomet what he had got there lock'd up with so much care Oh Sir said he it behoves me to keep that lockt for there is all the Estate I have in the World All that your Majesty has seen in this House is yours but all that is in that Chamber is mine and I dare assure my self your Majesty will be so gracious as never to take it from me Those words inflam'd the King's curiosity so that he commanded the Door to be open'd But he was strangely surpriz'd when he saw nothing more within than Mahomet's Sheep-hook that lay upon two Nails his Scrip wherein he us'd to put his Victuals his Bottle for his Water his Pipe and his Shepherd's Weeds all hanging against the Wall The Nazar beholding the King's astonishment at such a Sight Sir said he when the King Sha-Abas found me in the Mountain keeping Goats then that was all I had and he took nothing from me I beseech your Majesty that you would not deprive me of these things neither but rather if you please let me resume them again and fall to my old Calling The King touch'd at so high a piece of Virtuo caus'd himself to be disapparel'd and gave his Habit to the Nazar which is the greatest Honour that the King of Persia can bestow upon a Subject Thus Mahomet continu'd and dy'd honourably in his Employment This brave Person was the Protector of all the Franks in Persia and if any one had done them wrong upon complaint he did them Justice immediately One day as I was shooting Ducks upon the River of Ispahan near the Nazar's Gardens with two Servants some of the Nazar's people that did not know me set upon me and would have taken away my Gun which I would not let go till I had broke the Stock about the Shoulders of the one and flung the Barrel at the other 's Head Thereupon I took some of the Franks along with me and complain'd to the Nazar He testifi'd his sorrow for what had happen'd and gave us evident Proofs thereof by the blows which he caus'd to be laid upon those that had done me the injury Another time Sha-Sefi being upon his return from Guilan his Tents were set up near Zulfa in Armenia where the King staid to hunt two or three days Now among the rest of the Courtizans that follow'd the Court to divertise the King with Dancing and Mummery there was one who was perfectly handsom to whom the King had already sent Presents which could not be unknown to any Lord i' the Court. But the Nazar's Son for all that being in the heat of Youth got this Courtizan to his Tent and there lay with her which came to his Father's Ears next day The Nazar whether out of his zeal to the Ring or whether it were an effect of his prudence to prevent the King's anger which would have certainly been the death of his Son caus'd him to be drub'd after the manner of the Country and bastinado'd all over till the Nails of his Toes dropt off and that his Body was almost a perfect Gelly Which when the King understood together with the Young Man's Crime he said no more but that the Nazar had done wisely by punishing his Son himself to prevent his Justice But to return to the Road from Kerman to Ispahan The first day that I set out from Kerman at my Stage in the Evening I met with a rich Moullah who seeing I had Wine civilly offer'd me some of his Ice to cool it In retaliation I gave him some of my Bottle He invited me to his House which was well built with a handsom Garden with Water in it He entertain'd me with Spoon-meat according to the mode of the Country and when I took my leave he fill'd my Boracho with very good Wine The following days I saw nothing worthy observation the Country being as I have already describ'd it Yezd lyes in the Road almost in the mid-way between Kerman and Ispahan in 93 Deg. 15 Min. of Longitude and 13 Deg. 45 Min. of Latitude It is a great Town in the middle of the Sands that extend themselves for two Leagues round it so that when you leave Yezd you must take a Guide for upon the least Wind the Sand covers the Highway whereby a man may be apt to fall into Holes which seem to have been either old Cisterns or the Ruines of ancient Buildings Between the Town and the Sands there is a little good Soil which produces excellent Fruits but above all Melons of several sorts the Pulp of some is green of others yellow and vermilion and some there are the meat whereof is as hard as a Renneting There are also very good Grapes and good Wine but the Governour will not permit the Inhabitants to make Wine Some therefore they dry and of the rest they make a kind of Confection to cat with Bread There are also abundance of Figs which are large and well tasted They distil vast quantities of Rose-water and another sort of Water with which they dye their Hands and Nails red which they squeeze out of a certain Root call'd Hina There are three Inns i' th' City and several Bazars or Market-places cover'd and vaulted which are full of Merchants and Workmens Ware-houses They also make at Yezd several Stuffs of Silk intermix'd with Gold and Silver which they call Zerbaste and another sort of Stuff of all pure Silk call'd Daraï like our smooth strip'd Taffata's Other Stuffs they make half Silk half Cotton others all of Cotton like our Fustians They make also Serges of a particular Wool which is so fine and delicate that it looks handsomer and is much better than Silk Though I had nothing to do I staid in Yezd three days because I met with
are a great number of Boys and Servants to guide the Ships of the Sun and Moon Besides they have the Picture of a Barque which they say belong'd to the Angel Becan whom God sends to visit the Sun and Moon to see whither they move right or no and keep close to their duty In reference to the other World and life to come they believe there is no other World but where Angels and Devils the Souls of good and bad reside That in that World there are Cities Houses and Churches and that the Evil Spirits have also Churches where they pray singing and rejoycing upon Instruments and Feasting as in this World That when any one lies at the point of death three hundred and sixty Demons come and carry his Soul to a place full of Serpents Dogs Lyons Tygres and Devils who if it be the Soul of a wicked man tear it in pieces but being the Soul of a just man it creeps under the bellies of those Creatures into the presence of God who sits in his seat of Majesty to judge the World That there are Angels also that weigh the Souls of Men in a Ballance who being thought worthy are admitted immediately into Glory That the Angels and Devils are Male and Female and beget Children That the Angel Gabriel is the Son of God engender'd upon Light and that he has a Daughter call'd Souret who has two Sons That the Angel Gabriel has several Legions of Demons under him who are instead of Souldiers and others that are his Officers of justice whom he sends from Town to Town and from City to City to punish the wicked In reference to Saints they hold that Christ left twelve Apostles to Preach to the Nations That the Virgin Mary is not dead but that she lives somewhere in the World though there be no person that can tell where she is That next to her St. John is the chiefest Saint in Heaven and next to them Zacharias and Elizabeth of whom they recompt several miracles and Apocryphal tales For they believe that they two begat St. John only by embracing that when he came to be of age they Marry'd him and that he had four Sons which he begat upon the waters of Jordan That when St. John desir'd a Son he pray'd to God who drew him one out of the water so that St. John had no more to do with his Wife but only to give her the Child to bring up That he dy'd a natural death but that he commanded his Disciples to Crucifie him after his death that he might be like Christ. Lastly that he dy'd in the City of Fuster and that he was bury'd in a Chrystal Tomb brought by miracle to the City and that this Sepulchre was in a certain House near the River Jordan They highly honour the Cross and sign themselves with it but they are very careful of letting the Turks observe them and during their Ceremonies they set a Watch at their Church doors for fear the Turks should enter and lay some unjust Fine upon them When they have ador'd the Cross they take it in two pieces which they never put together again 'till their Service rebegins The reason why they so adore the Cross is drawn out of a Book which they have Entitul'd The Divan Where it is written that every day early in the Morning the Angels take the Cross and put it in the middle of the Sun which receives his light from it as the Moon also doth hers They add that in the same Book are Pictur'd two Ships one of which is nam'd the Sun the other the Moon and thaâ— in every one of these Ships there is a Cross full of Bells And moreover that if there were not a Cross in those two Ships the Sun and Moon would be depriv'd of Light and the Ships would suffer Shipwrack Their chief Festivals are three The one in Winter that lasts three days in memory of our first Parent and the Creation of the World The other in the Month of August that also lasts three days which is call'd the Feast of St. John The third which lasts five days in June during which time they are all re-baptiz'd They observe Sunday doing no work upon that day They neither Fast nor do any penance They have no Canonical Books but a great number of others that treat of nothing but Witchcraft in which they believe their Priests to be very crafty and that the Devils are at their beck They hold all Women to be unclean and that it is not at all available for them to come to the Church They have one Ceremony which they call the Ceremony of the Hen of which they make great Accompt which is not lawful for any to perform but a Priest Born of a Virgin at the time of her Marriage When a hen is to be kill'd the Priest puts off his ordinary habit and puts on a Linnen Cloth girding his waste with a second and throwing a third about his shoulders like a Stole Then he takes the Fowl and plunges it in the water to make it clean after which he turns toward the East and cuts off the head holding the Body in his hand 'till it has bled out all the blood While the Hen bleeds with his Eyes lifted up to Heaven as if he were in an extasie he repeats in his own Language these words following In the name of God may this flesh be profitable to all that eat of it They observe the same ceremony when they kill Sheep For first they cleanse the place very carefully where the Sheep is to be kill'd washing it with water and strewing it with boughs nor is the number of people small that assists at this Ceremony as if it were at some solemn Sacrifice If you ask them why it is not lawful for the Laity to kill Fowls They answer that it is no more lawful for them to kill than to consecrate them and that is all the reason which they bring They eat of nothing drest by the Turks and if a Turk ask them for drink so soon as he has drank they break the Cup. And to make the Turks more hateful they Picture Mahomet like a great Gyant shut up in Prison in Hell with four more of his Parents and they say that all the Turks are carry'd into the same place full of wild Beasts to be there devour'd They pretend all to Salvation For say they after the Angel Gabriel had fram'd the World by the command of God he thus discours'd him Lord God said he behold I have built the World as thou didst command me It has put me to a great deal of trouble and my Brethren also to raise such high Mountains that seem to sustain Heaven And who indeed was able to make way for Rivers through Mountains without vast labour and to give every thing its proper place Moreover great God by the aid of thy powerfull Arm we have brought the World to so much perfection that
behind noe man dareing to fix his seale on y e. side of y e Kings The next day in the Morning being sent for to the Court I found the Nazar the Grand Treasurer and several other great Officers expecting me in the Treasury where the Money lay ready in seal'd Bags My Sum amounted to three thousand four hundred and sixty Tomans of which the Treasurer would have abated me a hundred and sixty for Fees After a long contest I gave him half and carry'd away my Money having first weigh'd two Bags Toman by Toman and then weigh'd the rest of the Bags Bag by Bag. CHAP. XVI Of the Honours and Presents which the Author receiv'd from the King of Persia. THE day following one of the Nazar's principal Officers brought me the compleat Calaat consisting of Vest Tunick or Super-Vest Girdle and Bonnet He also deliver'd me three Patents seal'd by his Majesty and the Athemadoulet which exempted me from paying any Customs within his Kingdom Another to the Kan of Schiras with a little Seal or Signet commanding him to let me have three Loads of good Wine when I travel'd that way A third with his Signet in favour of my Nephew at Tauris wherein the King declar'd that he own'd him as his Domestick Servant and that he was under his Protection The First PATENT ran thus THE Command of him whom all the Universe obeys has been made That the Beglerbegs of High Nature the victorious and great Lords Ornaments of the Kingdom Possessors of Honour the Judges in high place practisers of Justice the Visiers who preserve Reason and have in their thoughts the removal of Vice and the Commissioners who act in affairs and difficulties of the Palace the Overseers of the Roads and the Conservators of the good Customs of the well-order'd Kingdoms of Kragon which God preserve from all misfortune MAY KNOW That whereas the choicest of his Resemblers and Companions * Aga TAVERNIER French Merthant has brought so many Rarities of all sorts to the presence and view of the Lieutenant of the Eagles who has all things according to his wish has found the degree of favour and good will And whereas We have commanded him to perfect some Business for Us which so soon as he has finish'd he is to bring to the holy and pure view Therefore through whatsoever Road or Coast of Our Thrice-spacious Kingdom the above-nam'd shall have a desire or occasion to pass Let not the Receivers of the Palace out of any seeming expectancy from the above-nam'd give him any trouble or molestation But let them know that it is necessary for them to give him all honour and to make much of him that he may go where he pleases And whereas the Seal of High Nature the Light of the Universe of Kragon of thrice-noble extraction the Master of the Age has illuminated and adorn'd this Writing Let them rest there and give Credence to it By the thrice-high Command c. Kragon A King of China so renown'd for his Justice Victory and Magnanimity that sometimes the Kings of Persia assume that Title in their Patents and sometimes in honour of him stile themselves his Lieutenants Receivers of the Palace are Farmers of the Customs and other Subsidies The Second PATENT To the Governour of Schiras THE Command of Him whom all the world ought to obey is such That the Illustrious and High Lord whose Office ought to be honour'd the Governour and Prototype of Visiers and Grandees Mirza-Mahomet-Sadée the Visier of Fars may be assur'd of Royal Favours when he understands the Contents of this Command He shall give three Loads of Wine of that which he has in his custody to the Cream of his Equals Aga TAVERNIER French Merchant and you shall take an Acquittance All the Grand Visiers and Officers of Customs and Guarders of Passes also let them not molest him at all let them take nothing from him let them permit him to go and come as he pleases and let them obey him Given the Month of Jamady-Elaker in the Hegyra of Mahomet 1075. January 1665. The Cream is the Character of an honest man among the Eastern people But to return to the Calaat You must take notice that the Persians call a Calaat any Present which one person makes to another inferior to him in dignity sometimes a Vest alone sometimes a Tunick with the Girdle only sometimes a Turbant or a Horse with Bridle and Saddle to those in the Army the King sends a Sword or a Dagger and all these go by the name of Calaat's Secondly you must take notice that when the King sends a Calaat to a Governour of a Province he names himself the person that is to carry it For both in Turkie and Persia the Receiver of the King 's Present is oblig'd to pay the Messenger in so much that sometimes they hardly scape for a thousand Tomans But when the Calaat is sent to any private person the Nazar chooses out of his Domestick Servants one to carry it I gave twenty-five Tomans into Father Raphael's hand who order'd his business with so good a grace and so advantageously for my Purse that he complemented away the Messenger very well satisfi'd with half The next day the Nazar sent to me to put on my Calaat and to come and do my obeysance to the King who was that day to go abroad Thereupon I summon'd together all the Franks and order'd the Trumpets and Drums to be made ready as I rode from the Palace home For then the people come out to see who the King has honour'd that day who is always known by his Habit which is still the newest and gayest of all the rest It happen'd that the King being indispos'd did not go away that day however I apply'd my self to the Nazar and told him how much I was oblig'd to the King for the honour he had done me and that I was resolv'd to shew my self before the greatest Monarchs in Europe in the Habit he had bestow'd upon me that they might behold the beauty and richness of my Calaat The Nazar fail'd not to repeat my Compliment to his Majesty who thereupon order'd me the Persian Cloak with hanging-sleeves and fac'd with sable Martins Two or three days after the Nazar sent for me again to Court whither I went accompany'd by the Zulphian Franks as before I was no sooner come to the Palace but the Nazar met me in the great Hall attended by two Officers who carry'd the Cloak which the King had appointed for me and presently taking the Cloak out of their hands he put it about my shoulders saying these words It is the King's pleasure to honour thee entirely It was a most magnificent piece of Silk and very richly furr'd having been valu'd at eight hundred Crowns In this I was particularly beholding to the Nazar who might have sent me my Cloak home to my Lodging as well as the Calaat but he was pleas'd to put it upon my back in the
Conquests into Asia and defeated the Army of Bajazet whom he took Prisoner together with his Wife he return'd into Persia where at that time liv'd a Cheik whose name was Aidar a person in high reputation for his Holiness He was a person of great wit and the first in the dignities of the Law which gain'd him great authority and belief among the people He gave great honour to Tamerlane and shew'd Eminent kindnesses to all the Officers of his Army in recompence whereof Tamerlane who was a generous Prince and full of gratitude made a Present to the Cheik of a great number of Captives which he brought along with him out of Turky The Cheik planted one part of these Slaves about Ardevile and seated the other near his own residence Now in regard he assum'd to himself to be descended in a direct line from Mahomet he cover'd his head after another manner then all the rest of the Persians wearing a kind of flat Bonnet growing broader and broader to the top and so pleighted as to make twelve Pleights of a Ruff in honour of the twelve Prophets In the middle a kind of a Pyramid about a fingers length seem'd to rise out of the Bonnet but was indeed sow'd to it Such a Bonnet as this the Cheik appointed all the Slaves to wear that Tamerlane had giv'n him and this is that which at this day distinguishes their Successors from the other Persians And it is the custom where Kans or Governours of Provinces reside that all the Sophies both in the City and the neighbouring parts meet in the Piazza every Friday in the afternoon where they pray to God for the health of the King and the Kan and for the prosperity of the Kingdom after which the Kan sends them Victuals to eat not without some other effects of his Liberality The Cheiks Sons considering of what a number of Slaves they were Masters and that the greatest part of the people prepossess'd in favour of their Father out of the opinion they had of his Sanctity took their part the more powerfully to engage them shew'd themselves liberal to all and when they found themselves strong enough revolted against Alamout King of Persia their lawful Soveraign After many Skirmishes at length they gave him Battel near to Tauris wherein Azimout was defeated and slain by the hand of Ismael Sophi the Cheiks third Son who is properly to be accounted the first King of that Race I mean of the Race of them that did not embrace the Alcoran but according to the Interpretation of Haly Mahomets Son-in-Law To Ismael Sophi succeeded Sha-Tammas his Son and to Sha-Tammas Sha-Ismael the second who reign'd but a short while for his cruelties constrain'd the Nobility of the Country to set up in his room Mahomet-Coda bendé his Brother though little skill'd in the affairs of Government or War Many thought he was blind but he was only dim-sighted through the application of a hot Iron to his eyes by the Command of his unnatural Brother in the beginning of his reign He was the Father of Sha Abbas that succeeded him who setl'd the affairs of Persia in a very good condition Sha Abbas the first by his Valour and good Conduct gain'd the name of Great When he came to his Throne upon the North and West side he found nothing in his power but the City of Casbin but afterwards as he was a personage of great wit as well as courage partly by policy and partly by force he recover'd several Provinces to the West and conquer'd the Kingdoms of Lar Ormus and Candahar Of many Sons that Sha-Abbas had not one surviv'd but only Sophi-Mirza a Prince of great wit and dextrous at his Arms. All the people lov'd him which made his Father jealous of him that he waited for his death to ascend the Throne And that which augmented his jealousie was for that one day being a hunting Sophi-Mirza drew the first arrow at a Boar it being a capital crime in Persia to shoot before the King However Sha Abbas for the time conceal'd his displeasure unwilling to fly out in fury against the Prince in regard he had no more Sons But Sophi-Mirza having had a Son by a Slave which pleas'd him Sha Abbas's joy encreasing as the Child grew his jealousie also daily encreas'd against the Father of the young Prince so that being no longer able to dissemble his fear he caus'd his eyes to be put out Nay his jealousie went a great way farther for he now fear'd the blind Prince and having therefore resolv'd his death he commanded a Lord of the Court to bring him his head The Lord in an astonishment refus'd to obey the King and besought him rather to take away his life than to constrain him to embrue his hands in the blood of his Prince The King offended at him for his refusal banish'd him his Court and the next day gave the same command to another Lord who without any scruple put it in execution and brought him the head of his Son in a Bason of Gold That object of pity brought him to himself so that not being able to look upon so sad a spectacle without tears in his eyes upbraiding the villany of the Lord he expell'd him from his sight forbad him his presence for ever and sequesterd all his estate only allowing him a Mamoudi or nine French Sous a day The other Lord who had so generously refus'd to aid him in so bloody an act the King recall'd from Exile and bestow'd upon him one of the best Governments of the Empire Ever since that time all the Male Children of the Blood Royal are shut up in the Womens Haram where they are bred up in ignorance having only two or three Eunuchs to teach them to write and read and to keep them company in their recreations whether it be in shooting with a Bow or riding about the Gardens upon an Ass for they never allow 'em a Horse besides that all that time they are never permitted to see the people In this manner it was that Sha Abbas bred up his little Grandson many days causing him to take Opium to render him more stupid So that when he came to the Throne after his Grandfathers death the Physiicians thought it convenient that he should drink Wine to restore his natural heat and renew his vigor Sha Abbas reign'd forty years and dy'd at the end of the year 1628. Before he dy'd he gave command that he should be bury'd in some place unknown to all the world and that they should set his Grandchild upon his Throne and give him the name of Sha-Sefi So soon as Sha Abbas's eyes were clos'd the General of the Horse and the chief Captain of the Harquebusses with whom the Commands were left rode in all haste to Ispahan and coming to the Palace desir'd to speak with the Mother of the Child The Mother was in a sad affright believing that they came to put the young
that were at Casbin were call'd The three Sons of Iman-Kouli-Kan were of the number but the Father excus'd himself as well by reason of his age as also representing to his Majesty that it better befitted him to employ his time in taking care of his affaires and in praying for his Majesty however if it were his Majesties express command he would not fail to obey to which the King return'd for answer that the Kan of Schiras was at his liberty to do as he thought fit The third day of the Feast the King rose from his Seat and going out of the Hall without speaking a word to any person went into a Room hard by Half an hour after three sturdy resolute Fellows with some other Ragamuffin attendants entring the Hall with their Scimeters drawn seiz'd upon the Kans three Sons and cut off their heads They were put into a Gold Bason and presented to the King who commanded the Fellows to carry them to their Father and as soon as he had seen them to take off his head to make the fourth The Assassinates found him at his prayers but being interrupted to see the heads of his three Sons he desir'd leave only to conclude which having done with a countenance undisturb'd and without any other words or expressions in his mouth than what is usually said among the Persians Let the Kings will be done he submitted to a death which he might have easily avoided The four heads were brought back to the King to be sent into the Haram to his Mother So soon as he had taken off the heads of the Father and the three Sons the King dispatch'd away certain Chappars or Courriers with order to the Lieutenant of the Kan to put to death all the rest of the Children The command was obey'd and they were all put to death but only two that were at Nurse whom their Nurses so well conceal'd that never any tidings could be heard either of the Nurses or of the Children After the death of Iman-Kouli-Kan the Province of Schiras with its dependances has been govern'd by a Vizir who agrees with the King what Rent to pay him yearly In the years 1665 and 1666 the Vizir gave him fifty thousand Tomans a year But in the year 1667 the King abated him eight thousand Tomans in regard he had taken from him a small part of his Government to pleasure a Favourite Besides what the Governour of Schiras pays to the King in ready Money he is oblig'd every year to send him a present of all the rarities that grow on are bred in the Province These Presents consist in Horses of which there is the best breed of any Province of Persia. In Granates Oranges and Lemons sweet Oils and Waters of several sorts especially Oil of Roses with which the women rub their bodies and heads and the water of a certain Flower that grows upon a tree not much unlike our Willows which water is call'd Arak-Bilmitshe which is a great refreshment to those that use it besides other Oils and Essences which the Governour is oblig'd to present Yet were he only oblig'd to present the King the expence might be born well enough but for fear of being displac'd by any other Favourite he is constrain'd to make Friends of all the other great Lords and Favourites at Court which there is no way to do but by continual presents Whereas the ancient Kans who were a kind of petty Soveraigns in their Governments were only wont to send a few Baskets of new Fruits in their season for the service of the Kings Table To defray this expence the Governours are forc'd to tyrannize over the people who when they come as many times they do two or three Villages together to complain to the King are forc'd after long waiting to return with empty Purses home again by reason that they who should give them admission are the only persons that debar them from it and patiently to submit to the Extortions of the Vizir which is a piece of policy practis'd likewise by all the other Kans and Governours of the Persian Provinces As for Sha-Sefi himself he was very severe and one whose punishments oft'n amounted to acts of cruelty One day being a hunting a poor Countryman appear'd from behind a Rock with a paper in his hand being deputed by the Village to make some complaint to the King But while the poor man cry'd for justice the King without making any answer shot two arrows into his body and slew him That which mov'd Sha-Sefi to this act of cruelty was because he had some of his Wives with him in company For then there is no mercy to those poor people that happ'n to be in the way where the King chances to pass by no not for them that are in the Country round about where the Eunuchs have order to kill all men they meet When the King gives notice of his intention to carry his Wives into the Country this is call'd Courouk and there is nothing more troublesome nor more inconvenient in the world to the poor people that live in the Villages through which these women are to pass for upon notice giv'n them they must leave their Houses for a League or two of either side When there is a Courouk at Ispahan let the weather be never so bad the people must leave their Houses and if they have no Friends in some distant quarter to retire to they have no way but to repair to the Mountains Such is the excess of the jealousie of the Kings of Persia which indeed derives it self to all his Subjects who will not permit their women to be seen by any but their own Husbands The Persians both men and women are so addicted to take Tobacco that to take their Tobacco from them is to take away their lives So that if the King should prohibit Tobacco for any time he would lose a good part of his revenue However Sha-Sefi in a humor having once forbidd'n Tobacco to be taken in any part of his Dominion his Spies that are in every City found in the Indian Inn two rich Merchants of that Nation smoaking their noses Immediately they were seiz'd bound and carry'd to the King who commanded forthwith that Justice should be done upon them in the Meidan which was that they should pour melted lead down their throates till they were dead The people thought the King had only intended to have scar'd them and would have repriev'd them upon the place Insomuch that four Banians went to the Athemadoulet and offer'd to pay two thousand Tomans into the Kings Treasury so that he would be pleas'd to spare the two Merchants lives The chief Minister made the proposal but the King falling into a passion and asking the Atbemadoulet whether those Indian Dogs thought that a King of Persia would sell justice sent a second order for the execution of the Merchants without delay The same Sha-Sefi having giv'n command that the Eyes of a young
Lord of the Court should be put out one of the principal Officers of the House being present and seeing the Executioner prick the eyes of the unfortunate young man with the point of a small knife shut his own eyes and turn'd away his head as abhorring such a spectacle The King perceiving it and vex'd to see those signs of pity and a dislike of an act that he approv'd What said he in a fury art thou afraid to punish the wicked And at the same time commanded his eyes to be pull'd out of his head It is a custom that if any man points at the King as he passes along in the Street or upon the Road he must lose his hand One day Sha-Sefi being in the Country two Merchants of Constantinople were upon the Road where the King and his Train were to pass They stopp'd to see the King and when he came near one of the Merchants pray'd his Friend that oft'n had seen him to shew him which was he The other knowing that only the King wears the Heron tops in his Bonnet innocently lifted up his hand to distinguish him by pointing from the rest of the Lords that follow'd him For which act two Horsement came presently to him and cut off his hand with a Scimiter CHAP. IV. The tragical and memorable Story of Ralph Sadler Native of Zurich in the Reigu of Sha-Sefi who had retain'd him in his Service RAlph Sadler born in Zurich was a Watchmaker by Profession who put himself into the service of the Emperors Resident at the Ottoman Court with whom he went to Constantinople This man I desir'd to take along with me into Persia and coming to Ispahan he set himself to work and made a small Watch about the bigness of half a Crown which being a neat piece of work the English would needs buy to present it to Iman-Couli-Kan paying the price demanded which was two hundred Crowns Iman-Couli-Kan presented it to the King who was mightily pleas'd with it in regard it was the least striking Watch that ever had been seen by the King who therefore carry'd it hanging about his Neck under his Clothes in a Gold Chain One day the King happening to wind up his Watch and turning the Key the wrong way broke the Fusil for which he was so much troubl'd that he sent for the Watch-maker from Ispahan to Casbin whither when Ralph came he presently made the Watch as good as ever The King thus satisfy'd in his work and in his person order'd him a Pension of thirty Tomans and Diet for him and a man and provision for two Horses commanding him withall to make some new pieces of work Now a skilful workman in the service of the Persian King has this advantage that if he pleases the King besides his Wages that are duly paid the King out of his liberality bestows on him a present which usually amounts to a third part or half his Wages or else his Wages are rais'd which is more advantageous than a present Ralph was oblig'd every morning to wait upon the King at his rising to wind up his Watch and was so much in the Kings favour that every morning when he came out of the Kings Chamber he had a Glass of Wine presented him as a mark of esteem And indeed the King had such an affection for him that to retain him in his service he often sollicited him to turn Mahometan The Embassador of Holstein coming to Ispahan and seeing Ralph so much in favour with the King endeavour'd to gain his Friendship Thus Ralph oft'n keeping company with the Embassadors and having one time tarry'd till late at night upon the debauch with them returning home to his Lodging where he kept a young Nestorian girl in the Court of the House met a young Persian Brother to one of the Kings Porters The Persian knowing himself guilty and surpriz'd to see Ralph so soon return'd skip't over the Wall into the Garden and fled The next day Ralph who knew who he was told his Brother of it and desir'd him to speak to the young Persian not to come any more to his House for if he did he must expect what follow'd Some days after the Embassadors treated all the Franks when Ralph beginning to be warm call'd the young Persian to mind and slipping home without taking his leave open'd the door softly and found the young Persian again with his Mistris Thereupon Ralph calling his Slaves to help him bound his arms and ty'd him to a Tree in the Court and so leaving him there went to bed By and by one of Ralph's Servants who knew the Persian fell a jeering him which so incens'd the Persian that he having his feet at liberty and the fellow within his reach gave him sach a kick upon the bottom of his belly that he first swooned away and then dy'd The other Slaves seeing him fall waken'd Ralph with their cries who thereupon snatching up a Pistol that was charg'd with a brace of Bullets shot the Persian into the head The Persian being thus slain Ralph went in the morning to wind up the Kings Watch and being ask'd by the King as he was wont to do what news in Ispahan told him plainly what he had done and the reason why The King upon his report told him he had done well according to the strictness of the Country The Athemadoulet at that time was Mirza-Také who hated Ralph For the Armenian Merchants having presented the Athemadoulet with several Watches at a time it happen'd that once he sent to Ralph above thirty Watches together to be mended For which the Athemadoulet to gratifie him and knowing that he kept four or five Servants and seven or eight Horses sent him fifteen or twenty Camels load of Straw and Barley for his Horses But Ralph slighting such a present as that Go said he to the Athemadoulets Servant tell thy Master that I am neither a Horse nor an Ass and therefore let him eat his Present himself Which message so provok'd the Athemadoulet that he study'd nothing but revenge Thereupon the Athemadoulet whose business it is to attend the King when he rises and to report to him the news of the Town told him among the rest what Ralph had done The King reply'd that Ralph had consess'd it to him already and that he had pardon'd him in regard he had reason to do as he did But the Athemadoulet made answer that Ralph had minc'd the matter and represented the story to the King far otherwise than it was making the worst of it he could upon Ralph's side and the more to incite the King he put him in mind of the fair occasion he had to force him to turn Mussulman there being no way to expiate his crime but by turning Mahometan or suffering the Law The King thus over-rul'd sent for Ralph told him he was now better inform'd of the crime he had committed and that he must either turn Mahometan or dye Thereupon the King
be Ducats or other Pieces they put the whole quantity into a Charcoal-fire till they be red-hot and then quench the fire with water and take them out again This they do to find out them which are false and to melt off the Wax and Gum which is cunningly dropt upon them to make them weigh the more But because there are some Pieces so artfully hollow'd and stopt up again that you cannot perceive it though they have been in the fire the Changers take the Pieces and bend them by which they know whether they are good or no and those which they suspect they cut in pieces After they have viewed them all they refine those which they do not take to be good and pay for so much as proves to be good as for good Ducats All this Gold they coin into that sort of Money which they call Roupies of Gold except those Ducats which are stamp'd only upon one side which they sell to the Merchants that come from Tartary and other Northern Parts as from the Kingdoms of Boutan Ason and other remote parts With these Ducats the Women of those Countries chiefly adorn themselves hanging them upon their Head-attire and fixing them upon their forheads As for the other Ducats that have no figures they are not so much as enquir'd after by the Northern Merchants As for all the other Pieces of Gold there are great quantities of them fold to the Goldsmiths to the Gold-wyar-drawers and in general to all that work in Gold For if they could put their Metal unmade into Roupies they would never coin which they can only do at the Coronation of their Kings to throw Silver Roupies among the people or to sell them to the Governours of the Provinces and other Grandees of the Court who then want great quantities of them to present to the new King at his first coming to his Throne For they have not always Jewels or other things rich enough to present him as well as that time as at another Festival of which I shall speak in due place when they weigh the King every year At such times I say they are very glad of Gold Roupies as also to present to such Favourites at the Court by whose interest they hope to gain higher Commands and more considerable Governments In one of my Travels I found by experience the vertue of these Roupies of Gold Cha-jehan Father of Orang-zeb who now reigns had given to one of the Lords of his Court the Government of the Province of Tata whereof Symdi is the Metropolis Now though the very first year of his Government there were very great complaints made against him by reason of the Tyranny which he exercised over his people and his great extortions the King suffer'd him to continue four years and then recall'd him All the people of Tata were overjoy'd believing the King had call'd him away only to put him to death but it fell out quite otherwise for the King caress'd him and gave him the Government of Halabas more considerable than that which he had quitted This kind reception which he had at the Kings hands proceeded from this that before he came to Agra he had sent before him a present of 50000 Roupies of Gold and about 20000 Roupies of Gold more to Begum-Saheb who had then the whole power in her hands as also to other Ladies and Lords at the Court to support his Reputation All the Courtiers are very desirous to have a great quantity of Gold because it lies in a little room and then because they covet as a great Honour to leave vast Sums behind them to their Wives and Children of which the King must not know For as I shall tell you in another place when any great Lord dies the King is Heir to all his Estate his Wife having no more than his Jewels But to return to our Roupies of Gold you must take notice that they are not so currant among the Merchants For in regard one of them is not worth above fourteen Roupies which make one and twenty Livres of our Money at thirty Sous the Roupie and that there are sew of these Roupies of Gold to be had but in the Houses of Great Men when it falls out that they make any payment they will put them at a Roupie of Silver or at least at a sourth part of a Roupie more than it is worth which will never turn to the Merchants profit Cha-Est-Kan the King's Unckle to whom I had sold a parcel of Goods at 96000 Roupies when he came to pay me ask'd me what Money I would be content to take whether Gold or Silver Before I could return him an answer he added that if I would leave it to him I should take Gold Roupies Nor did he give me this advice but because he believ'd it would turn to his advantage I told him I would be rul'd by him thereupon he caus'd his Servants to tell me out so many Roupies in Gold as made up the just Sum which was due But he would force me to take the Roupie in Gold for fourteen Roupies and an half in Silver though among the Merchants they went but for fourteen I was not ignorant of it but I thought it best to receive my Money according to the Prince's humour in hopes he might make me amends another time either for the whole or part of what I might lose I let him alone two days after which I went to him again and told him I had tried to put off his Roupies at the price I had received them so that in the payment of 96000 Roupies I had lost 3428 and one 16 th the Roupie of Gold which he forc'd me to take at fourteen Roupies and an half of Silver being worth but fourteen Thereupon he fell into a passion and told me he would see as many Lashes bestow'd upon the Changer or Holland-Broker whose fault soever it were that he would teach them to understand Money that they were old Roupies and were worth more by a sixteenth part of a Silver Roupie than the Roupies which were coin'd at that time In regard I knew the humour of the Asiatic Princes with whom there is no contesting I let him say what he pleas'd but when he came to himself and began to put on a smiling look I desir'd him that he would be pleas'd to let me return the Summ which I had received the next day or else that he would be pleas'd to pay me what was wanting and that I would take a Roupie at 14 and one 16 th since he assur'd me they were worth so much The Prince for a while gave me a scurvy look not so much as speaking one word At length he ask'd me whether I had still the Pearl which he had resus'd to buy I told him I had and immediately pull'd it out of my Bosome and gave it him The Pearl was large and of a good water but ill-shap'd which was the reason he refus'd it
not to advance any thing that may be displeasing to the Grand Seignor for if it should so happen he gives immediate Order for the strangling of him without making him any answer at all upon this Maxime of the Ottoman Court that there must not be any thing propos'd to the Prince which may give him any cause of dissatisfaction The Caimacan is the Captain and Governour of the City of Constantinople Lieutenant A Priviledge particular to the Caimacan to the Grand Vizir yet so as not to have any Authority but only in his absence And then he performs all the functions of that important Charge he has the absolute Command and gives Audience to Ambassadors He is not subject as the other Bassa's are to that rigorous necessity of resigning his Head upon this account that if he does any thing which may be displeasing to the Grand Seignor he lays the blame thereof upon the Grand Vizir from whom he receives his Orders The Bassa of the Sea is the Admiral and Captain-General of the Naval Forces The Beys Governours of the Maritime Provinces and such as are oblig'd to maintain the Grand Seignor's Galleys in good order are to obey the Commands they receive from him and to go to Sea upon the first advertisement they receive to that purpose The Janizary-Aga whom the Turks call Yengeri-Agasi is the Colonel-General of The number of the real Janizarles the Janizaries This Charge is very considerable inasinuch as the Turkish Infantry at this time does for the most part pass under the name of Janizaries though such as are really Janizaries who derive their Institution from Ottoman the First and their great Priviledges from Amurath the Third do not at this day amount to a Body of above five and twenty thousand Men. They have excellent Regulations amongst themselves and are distributed into several Chambers in the spacious Lodgings whereof they are possess'd whether it be at Constantinople or in other places The order observ'd there is so excellent in all things and so exactly maintain'd that they live more like Religious Persons than Souldiers and though they are not forbidden to marry yet it is very seldom that they do it The great Priviledges which they enjoy all over the Empire wherein they are so highly respected induce abundance of Persons meerly in order to their exemption from the paying of Taxes and their being discharg'd from publick Duties to prevail with the Officers by Money to protect them and make them pass for Janizaries But they receive no Pay from the Prince and all their advantage is restrain'd to the enjoyment of those Priviledges which indeed are great enough It is by this intermixture of the real Janizaries with those who are admitted by corruption that the number of them amounts at this day to above a hundred thousand and yet not accounting any but such as are effectively Janizaries their Body has sometimes been so dreadful as that they have unthron'd the Ottoman Monarchs and chang'd the whole face of the Empire of a sudden The Power of their Aga is very great and there is not any Person can approach the The great Priviledge of the Aga. Prince as he is permitted to do For he may come into the Grand Seignor's presence with his arms at absolute liberty and with a confident deportment whereas all the other Grandees of the Port without any exception even to the Grand Vizir himself dare not appear before him otherwise than with their arms cross their bodies and the hands one upon the other on the breast as the mark of a profound submission The Beglerbeys are in dignity next the four first Bassa's and are as 't were so many Soveraigns in the general Governments of the Empire whereof the Grand Seignor bestows the Command on them But in regard it is not my design to speak of the Government of Turkey any further than is requisite for the Subject whereof I treat there is not any necessity that I should inform the Reader of the number of those Beglerbeys and it is enough that I have nam'd the five principal ones of whom I shall have occasion to speak elsewhere I shall only add here That those great Bassa's have under them a certain number of Sangiac-Beys who are Governours of Sangiacs or particular Provinces as the Sangiacbey of Salonica or of Morea And whereas there will also be frequently mention'd some others under the Denominations of Spahis Zaims and Chiaoux we must give a short account of those three sorts of Persons The Spahis who make up a Body of about fifteen thousand Men are a kind of Knights who would pass for the Gentry or Nobility of the Country and stand very much upon their Gallantry They are maintain'd out of the Revenue of the Timars that is to say out of the Mannors or Commanderies which the Grand Seignor bestows on them according to the recompence he would make them for their services Those Timars cannot be taken away from them unless they be negligent in their duty which is that they should be in the Army when the Grand Vizir is there in person These are the happiest Persons in all the Ottoman Empire and as it were petty Soveraigns in the places where they command The Zaims differ not much from the Spahis and as the other have the Command and Revenues of certain Lands or Fiefs which the Grand Seignor bestows on them There is a very great number of them over all the Empire and they look on themselves as the Lords and Barons of the Country The Turkish Cavalry consists of the Zaims and the Spahis and they know what number of Horse they are to bring into the Field according to the Revenue of their Timars The Chaoux or Chiaoux-Bachi is the Chief of all the Chaoux of the Empire whose imployment it is to carry the Prince's Commands to any part either within his Territories or without and to be sent upon Embassies though indeed they are but as so many Messengers or Expresses 'T is ordinarily into their custody that Prisoners of Quality are committed and they suffer them not to be out of their sight And thus you have an account of the principal Charges and Dignities of the Empire all possess'd by Persons taken out of the rank of the Ichoglans I now come to the Officers of the Seraglio and in regard they are Eunuchs on whom the Grand Seignor bestows the most eminent Charges and who besides have the Government of the Ichoglans I shall follow the order of the things in my placing of them here before I say ought of the second order or rank of tributary Children or such as are taken in War who are the Azamoglans Of the Eunuchs there are also two ranks There are some white who have endur'd only a simple castration and there are black ones who have all cut off even The prodigious number of Eunuchs all over the East with the belly Both sorts of them are severe
with a great deal of gravity while he is in his Throne and behind the little Wall or Partition against which it is set you see standing in order the Kisler-Agasi who is a Negro-Eunuch and chief Overseer of the Appartment of the Women the Seligdar-Aga who carries the Grand Seignor's Sword the Chokadar-Aga who carries the Royal Robe an Officer whom in France they call Porte-Mantean the Riquabdar who holds the Stirrup when the Prince gets on Horse-back and the Hazodabachi chief of the Chamber which Office would be equivalent in France to that of Grand Master of the Wardrobe All these fore-mentioned Officers do all deport themselves with a great appearance of modesty having their Arms cross their Breasts And as to the Capi-Aga the Introductor to the Ambassadors and Grand Master of the Seraglio he stands in the midst of the Hall and in the same posture of humility On the left side of the Throne there is a kind of a low Seat cover'd with red Velvet with a Gold-fringe on-which the Ambassadors go and sit down after they have kiss'd the Grand Seignor's Robe till such time as those of their Retinue who have had Vests the number whereof is limited have perform'd the same Ceremony In the mean time all the Bassa's are standing in the presence of their Prince nay the Cham of the Lesser Tartary is not excepted out of that Law when he comes to do homage All this action is perform'd in great silence and the Grand Seignor making no answer at all at that time leaves it to the Grand Vizir to make some short Complement in order to the dismission of the Ambassador who withdraws with a profound reverence without uncovering his head or turning his back till he be out of the Hall The Ministers of Christian Princes and States who ordinarily reside at the Porl are the Ambassadors of England France and Venice and the Resident of the States General who have all their respective Habitations in Pera. When there come thither any Ambassadors or Residents from the Emperor or from Poland or Muscovy they oblige them to take up their abodes at Constantinople that they may be the more assu'd of their persons The Grand Seignor distinguishes the Quality of those Princes and States and the Remarks on the number of Vests which the Grand Seignor orders to be given the Ambassadors of Christian Princes esteem he has for them by the number of Vests which he orders to be bestow'd on their Ambassadors when they come to Audience The Ambassador of Fiance has font and twenty allow'd him the Ambassador of England sixteen the Ambassador or Agent of Venice receives twelve and the Dutch Ambassador as many When Monsieur de Marcheville was Ambassador in Turkey from his most Christian Majesty of France I had the honour to be one of those who accompany'd him to the Seraglio where after Dinner with the Vizirs in the Divan-Hall while his Retinue were treated under the Gallery the Vests were brought according to the custome The Ambassador coming to distribute them to those whom he had a mind to favour and take along with him to the Audience he was much surpriz'd to find that he had got but sixteen He immediately sent word to the Grand Vizir that he wanted eight Vests and that he would not go to his Audience till he had the full number which they had wont to present to the Ambassadors of France There was some contest about it which retarded the Audience near an hour's time but at last Monsieur de Marcheville persisting in his resolution the Grand Vizir comply'd and sent him eight other Vests What remains of this Chapter must represent the manner how the Cham of the The Form of the Oath of Allegiance made by the Cham of the Lesser Tartary to the Grand Seignor Lesser Tartary comes into this Hall of Audience to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Grand Seignor The Reader will be pleas'd to remember what Observation I made at the beginning of this Work concerning the Family of that Tributary Prince whom the Ottoman Emperors keep under the Yoke The Cham who is to Reign in his turn and according to what disposal the Grand Seignor has made of the Government presents himself before him in the Hall of Audience and after he has kiss'd his Robe retires some paces back and stands Then they bring in the Alchoran upon a great green Velvet Cushion without any Embroydery at the four Corners whereof there are four Tassels of Gold and Silk and they place it on the Grand Seignor's right hand Now whereas he sits on a Carpet cross-legg'd there must be great care taken that the Culhion be not so high as his knees for the Turks would account that a great sin and they bear so great a respect to the Book of the Alchoran that they cannot touch it till they have first wash'd themselves Before they open it they kiss it and put it upon their heads and after they have read something in it they kiss the writing of it and then they rub their faces with it before they shut it The Prince who is to take his Oath is standing all this time as I told you with his hands stretch'd out one against the other and lifted up as high as his shoulders to receive the Book of the Alchoran out of those of the Capi-Aga who had been to take it off the Cushion having kiss'd it and touch'd his head with it The Oath which the Cham takes is in these Words Bou quittab hak juchun-seadetlu padichaim taré fin den her né Emir vé ferman ' bana keleurse itaat ideym That is say By the Truth of this Book I will cause to be executed all the Orders and Commands which shall be brought unto me from my Lord. And now that I have given you the Oath of Allegiance made by the Vassal to his Lord I shall here also adde the Form of that which the Ottoman Emperour requires of all the Christian Princes who are subject to his Jurisdiction such as are the Princes of Moldavia and Walachia It runs in these words Hi isa hac Juchum seadetlu padichaïm taré fin den her né Emir vé ferman bana keleur se itaat Ideym That is to say By the Truth of Jesus Christ I will cause to be executed all the Orders and Commands which shall be brought unto me from the Emperour My Lord. The Grand Seignor requires also an Oath of Allegiance of all the Bassa's whom he sends to the Frontiers of the Empire as the Bassa's of Grand Cairo Babylon and Buda which is more than he exacts of the other Governours of Provinces which are not upon the Confines of his Territories and of whom he has no ground to be afraid Let us now make our Entrance into the Quarter of the Eunuchs and the Ichoglans whereof the Baths make a great part CHAP. VII Of the Baths of the Seraglio THE PRINCIPAL HEADS The prodigious