Loe raamatut: «Constantinople and the Scenery of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor», lehekülg 24

CIRCASSIAN SLAVES IN THE INTERIOR OF A HAREM.
CONSTANTINOPLE

T. Allom. H. Mote.

The country now called Circassia was part of that undefined region formerly denominated Colchis, between the Euxine, the Palus Mæotis, the Caspian sea, and the Caucasus. It was this region whence the Greeks brought their first golden freight, of which a woman formed the most valuable part. From that time to the present day there has been constant importations of females. These countrywomen of Medea retain that beauty of person and ferocity of character of their eminent predecessor, as also, it is said, her knowledge of noxious herbs, which abound to this day, as formerly, in their country, and which they apply not to prolong but to abridge the term of human life, whenever their interests or their passions demand the sacrifice of their rivals.

Circassia was formerly governed by its own wild but independent sovereigns; it is now almost all absorbed in the vast territories of Russia; the people have but little advanced in civilization since Jason first visited their shores; their habits are, as they have always been, predatory and unsettled; they are a nation of robbers and man-stealers, who trade in slaves, and add their own children, whom they bring up to sell. Like all barbarous people, they are divided into tribes; the eldest of each becomes the leader, but he is not allowed to possess any property except his horses and arms, and such tribute as he can exact from his neighbours. Their element is war, during which only they have authority. When it is at an end, they merge into obscurity, their dress, food, and habitations being no way distinguished from those of the common people.

Next to these are the Usdens, who are the landholders and lawgivers of the community, and who alone display what little of civilization exists among them. They govern by no written law, but certain hereditary usages, which are varied as the caprice or will of the Usden determines; the great body of the people are vassals or slaves. Their manufactures are rude and scanty, and their tillage insufficient to supply their own wants. They have no written language, and no circulating medium of coin; all their knowledge, then, is confined to traditionary fables, and all their commerce to exchange and barter. The only commodities in which they can trade are two−horses, and human beings. The former are well trained in all the discipline and instruction necessary for their state, and a Circassian horse is a well educated and accomplished animal; the latter are totally neglected, and, however attractive by personal comeliness, are altogether ignorant, and seem to have no capability beyond the instinct of nature.

When females are not sold, but remain at home, and are married, they reside in huts distinct from their husbands, and bring up a brood of children in no respects superior to themselves. Their whole energies are exerted to stimulate the predatory habits of their husbands, and their greatest gratification is in the plunder they are able to bring home. They seem to have no ties of kindred, no domestic affections, no family attachments; the daughter, if she is found to have any personal attractions, is educated solely on the speculation of selling her to advantage, and she frequently demands it from her parents as a right to which she is entitled. From this cause it is that all kindly feelings are obliterated, all love for others extinguished, and all passion is centred in self. Christian missionaries early penetrated into this region, and converted the people to their faith, and subsequently the followers of Mahomet entered it, and divided them between the Koran and the Gospel; but they now seem to have little knowledge of either. A nominal Moslem parent brings up her daughter in the seeming profession of that faith, that it may recommend her to her future master at Constantinople; a nominal Christian educates her child in no religion at all, that there may be no impediment to her conforming to any other; thus her natural passions are freed from all the restraints that religion would impose on them. From these causes it is, that there is a certain ferocity and irreclaimable wildness observable in a Circassian beauty. She gratifies the sensuality, but never secures the esteem, of him to whom she is afterwards consigned. She is an object of desire, but never of regard, and always excites more fear than love.

When a vessel arrives on the coast, it is always for the purpose of traffic in slaves; and all the girls, who have been waiting its approach with longing eyes, prepare themselves to be sold to the best advantage, and their hearts bound with the bright prospect which they are taught to believe lies before them. The splendour of the harem is contrasted with their own miserable huts; the rich stuffs in which they are to be clothed, with their homely, coarse, and squalid garments; the generous viands on which they are to be fed, with the meagre of their scanty diet. They have no ties to attach them to their native land, or dim the bright prospect that awaits them in another. They look upon their sale to a foreign merchant to be the foundation of their future fortune, and their entrance into a foreign ship their first step to a life of pleasure and enjoyment; nor are they disappointed even in the outset.

These Oriental slaves are conveyed, not in the coarse and brutal manner in which European traders carry on their traffic in human flesh. The vessels sent to bring them to their capital are well appointed in every respect for their accommodation. As the price is to depend on the state of health and beauty in which they arrive, every precaution is taken to preserve them. Instead of being crammed into noisome and suffocating holds, the greatest attention is paid to their comforts; their appetites are consulted, their pleasures are complied with, so that neither privation nor anxiety may impair their looks; and the slave dictates to her owner, in whatever she wants or wishes. When arrived, they are lodged in a spacious khan provided for them, and the police are especially ordered that every thing shall be cared for.

Now comes the Kislar Aga, or chief of the black eunuchs, to select for the imperial harem the most lovely and desirable of the importation, and having conducted them to his master, they are assigned apartments in the seraglio, and placed under the care of the instructress of the females. The rest are sent to the Aurut Bazaar, to be sold to those who have the means to purchase them. The Africans, and slaves of other countries, are here exposed, but the Circassian is secluded from the general crowd in separate apartments, which are carefully closed against all intruders, except on days of sale, when the sacred rooms are thrown open from nine in the morning till midday; and every true believer comes to avail himself of the permission of the Koran, and make new selections for the enjoyments of his harem. An infidel is inhibited from entering the market, unless by special permission; and so far from being allowed to purchase, he is not even permitted to look on those chosen females, lest the glance of his evil eye might wither the expected enjoyment of the faithful purchaser.

As these females receive no education at home, it sometimes happens that the Jew slave-merchant who buys them, endeavours to bestow on them such accomplishments as may enhance their value. These, however, are generally fruitless efforts. Personal, not mental qualities, are those that are sought for, and most prized. The Circassian seems to have an inaptitude for any improvement of the mind; and while the Greek or French females, whom the fortune of war or other calamity has consigned to slavery, make considerable progress under their instructors, the indolent and voluptuous Circassian despises such vain labours, and few attain even the elementary accomplishment of reading or writing. Music, such as it is, is most frequently attempted, because it is an enjoyment of the sense, and acquired without mental labour.

Our illustration represents the master of the harem indulging in his favourite recreation. His nargillai, scented with fragrant pastils, fills the small apartment with its drowsy vapours. Reclining on his cushioned carpet, he contemplates the languid, sensual features of his Circassians placed on the divan beside him, who try to amuse him with the only accomplishment they are capable of attaining, or he of feeling or comprehending. Next the door stands the black eunuch, guarding with jealous and malignant eye the entrance into this sacred seclusion.

CONSTANTINOPLE, FROM CASSIM PASHA

T. Allom. J. C. Armitage.

From the summit of the hill of Pera, called from its elevation Tepe Bashi, or “the head of the hill,” the ground slopes to the Golden Horn, displaying an exceedingly diversified and picturesque surface, comprehending not only the beautiful cemetery, and the city of Constantinople, but also the suburbs of Cassim Pasha and Piri Pasha, both connected with many important and interesting events. The view is so attractive, that the Tepe Bashi forms the great promenade of Pera. It is every evening crowded with the elite of the Frank society of the capital, mixed with distinguished natives. Ambassadors, attachées, dragomans, hakims, merchants of all nations, in their respective costumes, here assemble, and form a moving picture of a very gay and varied aspect.

From hence one of these cemeteries, which give to Turkish cities so striking a character, extends its cypress shades over a surface undulating into sloping lawns, deep glens, and swelling hills, comprehending a circumference of many miles. Through this run broad walks, forming crowded thoroughfares, which lead to the suburbs and the several iskelli, or slips of embarkation to the city rising on the hills at the opposite side of the water, but which are all now nearly deserted for the Buyuk Tchekmadgé, or “Great Bridge,” which Mahmoud II. caused to be thrown across the harbour.

Not many years ago, this district was very unsafe, and the Frank, whom business or curiosity led through it, was liable to the abuse or insult of any Turk he met in the day, or the attacks of robbers or assassins in the night. The last outrage committed here was on a man eminently distinguished for many years among the Frank, as well as Turkish population, and whose fate excited a commotion and consternation which have hardly yet subsided. This man was the Hakim Lorenzo.

Among the Franks who flock to Constantinople in search of fortune, there is a large proportion of Italians. Many of them have received an education at Padua, or other Italian universities, taken out degrees in medicine, and so come qualified for the practice of it. Many adopt the profession after their arrival, as the most lucrative and easiest means of living. It requires but slight knowledge to be superior to the native hakims, and the acuteness and sagacity of these versatile Italians supply every deficiency. Among these was Lorenzo, a native of Florence. He had acquired some reputation by the practice of his art among the Franks; and the Turks, ever eager to avail themselves of the superior lights of Europeans when health is concerned, soon gave him the preference over their own doctors. It happened that the eldest son of the reigning Sultan, Abdul Hamed, fell sick; and the reputation of this Frank physician was so high, that he was sent for to the Seraglio. The boy recovered, and nothing could exceed the gratitude of the father. He built for the physician a large house in Pera; conferred on him a beautiful kiosk and chifflik at St. Stephano, for his country residence; and, in order to secure his future practice, he appointed him Hakim Bashi, or “principal physician” to the Seraglio.

These gifts and this situation, not only gratified his cupidity, but unfortunately excited his ambition also. His patronage became unbounded. The appointment and deposition of pashas, the banishment or recall of vizirs, in which the secret influence of the Seraglio became every day available, were exercised by him, and the fanaticism of the Moslem was forgotten, when he became indebted to this giaour for the highest services. On the death of his patron, Abdul Hamed, his successors, Selim and Mustapha continued their favour, and treated him with the same confidence and indulgence; and when the young and inexperienced Mahmoud succeeded, it was supposed he would exercise over him the same influence. He was now arrived at the age of eighty. He was about to withdraw from the care and anxiety such a life imposed upon him, with credit and reputation, and devote what remained of it to retirement and peace, when in an evil hour he was induced to engage in one more of those court intrigues from which his Italian dexterity had so often extricated him. The young Sultan notified to him, that he would have no one intermeddle in his affairs, and cautioned him to desist. He would not take warning, and his summary death was resolved on.

By the capitulations entered into with foreign powers, every Frank subject is under the protection of the representative of that state to which he belongs, and amenable only to its tribunal. Lorenzo therefore could not be dealt with as a Raya, and put to death by the mandate of the Sultan. It would have excited the whole diplomatic corps of Pera, who would make a common cause to support their privileges and immunities. It was therefore necessary to dispose of him in another manner. He was sent for one evening by the Capitan Pasha, to see one of his family, taken suddenly ill; and the way from Pera, where his house was, to the palace of the pasha, on the harbour, lay through this cemetery. He took with him his Capi Tchocadar, who always attended him to the Seraglio, and proceeded to pay his visit, apprising his family that he would return when he had prescribed for his patient. The Turks retire to rest early, and the period was past when he was expected home. His way led through a place infamous for outrage of all kind, and the apprehensions of his family were considerably excited. He did not return during the night, and at the dawn of morning they proceeded to meet him along the avenue leading through Cassim Pasha to the Capitan Pasha’s palace. In a small dell, where the road winds down a steep, they stumbled on two bodies−one was that of the Tchocadar, and the other that of Lorenzo. They were quite dead, with the marks of the bowstring, with which they had been strangled, round their necks. The valuables they had about their persons were untouched, and it was hence inferred that it was the work of no robbers. The usual legal process of inquiry was taken by the Austrian internuncio, and the conclusion formed from the proceedings was, that the assassin was no other than the young Sultan himself, who had caused him and his attendant to be executed in the palace of the Capitan Pasha, and the bodies laid where they were found; and the property was not taken from them, that it might not be supposed they fell victims to common assassins, but to that terrible, mysterious vengeance, which suffered no man to escape that once excited it. The Turkish ministry, however, affected to believe it was a common death by midnight murderers in a dangerous place; and to prevent the recurrence of such accidents, a small edifice was built, and a guard established on the spot, which yet remain. A guard-house here is not like one in Europe, from whence a passenger is rudely repulsed. Beside it is a small caffinet, with benches, on which he is invited to repose; and while he partakes of the refreshments offered him, some hoary-headed sentinel enters into conversation with him, and tells him the melancholy fate of Lorenzo the Hakim Bashi.

On the right of Cassim Pasha begin the suburbs of Piri Pasha, so called from a very distinguished event in Turkish history. When the knights of the holy sepulchre were driven from Palestine, they took refuge in the island of Rhodes, where they fortified themselves, still lingering in the vicinity of that holy place, which they vainly attempted to hold, and in the hope of keeping alive the expiring spark of Christianity in the East. But Soliman the Magnificent was resolved to extinguish it utterly, and made stupendous preparations to dislodge its gallant defenders from their last strong-hold. An army of 150,000 men was embarked in a fleet of 400 ships, and proceeded to exterminate this devoted community, shut up on their insulated rock. The first notice they received of their intended fate, was from fires lighted on the opposite coast of Lycia. A galley was despatched, to ascertain the cause of these unusual beacons, when a packet was thrown on board directed to the grand master. It was opened, and found to contain a summons of unconditional submission, and the surrender of the place. To oppose the countless multitudes who rushed to this unexpected attack, 6000 men alone were found on the island, and they prepared to defend it. With incredible efforts they resisted every assault, and the great Sultan himself, impatient of delay, hastened from Constantinople, to animate his troops by his presence. It was fruitless. The assailants, under the eye of their sovereign, were repulsed, leaving the bodies of 20,000 of their companions weltering on the rocks. The commanders were deposed and punished, and the enraged and disappointed Sultan conferred the whole direction of the siege on his favourite Piri Pasha. He desisted from sanguinary and ineffectual assaults, and proceeded by sapping the fortress. The most distinguished engineers in Europe were invited by the magnificent Sultan, and the island was perforated by fifty-five mines, sufficient to blow the fortress and the rock on which it stood, into the air; but they were met by counter-mines, and harmlessly exploded. At length, worn out by famine and fatigue, exhausted but not subdued, the gallant garrison were incapable of further resistance, and this handful of Christians, the last and only valuable remnant of the insane Crusaders, retired to another island, farther west, still destined for two centuries more to defend the cause of the Gospel farther west against the encroaching of the Koran. The distinguished Turk who effected this conquest of Rhodes, gave his name to this suburb of Constantinople; and the district of Piri Pasha recalls to the Moslem the expulsion of the last remnant of Christianity from the East.

On the conquest of Rhodes, Soliman erected his splendid mosque on the summit of the highest of the seven hills of the capital, and his faithful pasha determined to follow his example, but in a less ostentatious form. He knew how dangerous it was to be his rival, so he became his humble imitator. In the low district assigned to him, a mosque rears its unpretending head, simple in its aspect, but still distinguished by its beauty and architectural ornaments. It strikingly deviates from the usual style of Oriental building, as it is elevated on light arcades, supported on pillars, having three equal colonnades, in each division.

Near this is the Ain Ali Kasa Seraï, or “The Palace of Mirrors.” When Achmed III., in 1715, recovered the Morea from the Venetians, they wished to conciliate him by some valuable present. They were then famous for the manufacture of mirrors, and they sent him the largest specimens that ever had been made. Achmed accepted them, and built a palace in this place for their reception.

The great fire kindled by the discontented adherents of the Janissaries in 1831, commenced at Sakiz Aghatz in this district. The whole of it was consumed, including the palaces of all the European embassies, as well as that of the Capitan Pasha. The remains of this last still stand on an eminence near the Arsenal, consisting of a line of arcades, resembling an aqueduct, flanked by clusters of little towers: it was in this place the murder of the Hakim Bashi was perpetrated, and, as long as it stands, it will keep alive the memory of the unfortunate Lorenzo.

Our illustration presents the city as it appears from this district. The Mosque of Sulimanie towering in the centre, and the aqueduct of Valens uniting the hill on which it stands with the opposite. But the most conspicuous and novel object is the Buyuk Tchekmadgé, or “Great Bridge,” which Mahmoud II. caused to be thrown across the harbour.²⁵ This structure, so necessary for the communications of a great city, had been called for ever since Constantine had made this the capital of the Roman empire. The peninsula of Pera, containing 200,000 inhabitants, was an important part of the city; yet the only passage to it by land, was a bridge over the Barbyses, by a circuit of nine or ten miles. Among the obstacles to erecting a bridge across the harbour, was the immense number of caïquegees, or “boatmen,” who obtained their living by the many ferries. On various pressing occasions the government had attempted to avail itself of their services in manning the fleet; but they resisted with obstinancy, and, notwithstanding the unmitigated despotism and unsparing ferocity of the Sultan, it was considered too hazardous to exasperate this fierce democracy. With the same obstinacy they opposed the building of a bridge, which would interfere with their means of living. But when the terrible and energetic sovereign had cut off the Janissaries, all effectual resistance to any of his plans of innovation was removed, so he determined on uniting the divided parts of his great city. Among the modes by which many of his improvements were effected, was availing himself of the services of some rich subject. When navigation by steam was introduced into Europe, Mahmoud ardently wished for its adoption in Turkey. He was one morning agreeably surprised, by seeing a noble steam-boat moored under the Seraglio, and he was told it was the gift of Casas Aretine, a rich Armenian. In the same way an individual completed for him this bridge, when the caïquegees no longer dared to oppose it.

On the 20th of October, 1837, it was opened for passengers, and the ceremony was attended with another extraordinary innovation on Turkish manners. He not only attended himself with his sons, but his harem was thrown open, and ladies dressed in their gayest attire appeared in their arrhubas, mixed with the spectators, and mingled in the fête with all the freedom and gaiety of a similar event in Paris or London. The novelty and brilliancy of the spectacle form a new era in the society of the Moslem capital. As it was almost the only level way in the city, it became a favourite carriage promenade; and the Sultan himself was seen to abandon his caïque, and frequently drive across it in an European carriage.