SANJAR-END OF THE SELJUKIAN EMPIRE.

the goodness as well as the greatness of Malek Shah. | his army was almost entirely cut to pieces, his family On coming out of a mosque, before he fought a battle with his brother, who disputed his title to the crown, he asked Nizam ul Mulk what he had prayed for. "I have prayed," replied the minister, " that the Almighty may give you a victory over your brother." "And I," said the sultan, "that God may take my life and crown, if my brother is worthier than I to reign over the faithful." A noble sentiment, which was crowned by the success it sought, as the reward of superior piety and virtue. But the character of this prince is marked with a stain which all his glories cannot efface. He listened to the enemies of Nizam ul Mulk, and disgraced that old and virtuous minister, who soon after fell by the dagger of an assassin. The fortunes of Malek Shah appeared to decline from this hour; and a nation which for half a century had revered the sage whom he destroyed, saw, without regret, the changed lot of his ungrateful pupil.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE-SOLYMAN.

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Jakush, the king of Kharism, who conquered Toghrul | monarchy were seized by the emirs or governors of the III., was a descendant of the prince of that country cities and provinces. These continued to exercise an who had been cup-bearer to Sultan Sanjar. At his independent authority, till their territories became graddeath, he left his kingdom to his son Mahomet, whose ually and imperceptibly incorporated with the Ottoman reign, at its commencement, was splendid and success- empire, the rise of which we are now about to notice. ful But his fortune fell before that great destroyer of Solyman, the chief of a Turkish tribe, named the the human race, Zingis Khan, and after his armies had Oguz, perhaps the same with the ancient Ouigoors and been defeated, his countries pillaged, and almost all modern Ogres, had attached himself to the fortunes his family made prisoners, he died of a broken heart, of the sultan of Kharism. When the Kharismian on a small island in the Caspian Sea. His son Jellal u power was overthrown by the Mongols, Solyman fled Deen, the last of this dynasty of kings, long bore up with his followers to the west. The fugitives were with exemplary fortitude against the torrent that had accompanied by their wives and children, and their overwhelmed his father; but at last he sunk under the sheep and cattle. They first sought an asylum in Arvicissitudes of fortune. He fled before the Mongols, menia; but after seven years' residence in this countook refuge among the hills of Kurdistan, and was try, thinking the storm of war overblown, they seized slain by a barbarian whose brother he had before put a favorable opportunity of returning to their native to death, (A. D. 1250.) land. In crossing the Euphrates, their leader, Solyman, was drowned. The command of the tribe fell to his four sons, who divided their followers among them. In consequence of this, great numbers dispersed into the deserts; but about four hundred families remained attached to one of them, named Ortogrul, or Ertogrul, who immediately determined to march westward, and seek his fortune in Asia Minor. The chieftains who then ruled over the fragments of the Seljukian empire were harassing each other with mutual wars, and could not be persuaded to combine either against the Mongols or the crusaders. Consequently a band of adventurous warriors might reasonably hope to obtain advancement and fortune in so distracted a country.

The Seljukians had extended their conquests not only over Persia, but over nearly all Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. But when the families of the generals who subdued these countries had obtained power, they threw off even the show of duty to their former masters, the sovereigns of Persia. The dynasties of Iconium and Aleppo were brought into contact with the armies of the Christian nations, which engaged in the crusades; but both these governments fell before the victorious career of Sultan Saladin, whose deeds will be related in another part of this history.

man

CHAPTER CXC.

A. D. 1000 to 1326.

Rise of the Ottoman Empire - Solyman of
Oguz His Adventures Ortogrul- Oth-
- Increase of the Turkish Power
Stories and Fables respecting Othman.
We have already stated that the arms of the Selju-
kian Turks penetrated into Asia Minor. The Sara-
cens had preceded them in the conquest of this country.
The Turks, in their wars with the Saracens, pursued
them westwardly, advanced into the interior of Asia
Minor, drove out the Greeks, took possession of the
territory, and founded here a kingdom which they
named Roum, from its having been once a part of the
great Roman empire. This kingdom extended from
Constantinople to the Euphrates, and from the Black
Sea to the frontier of Syria, comprehending the an-
cient kingdoms of Pontus, Bithynia, Phrygia, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Armenia Minor, &c.

Solyman, the first sultan of this kingdom, established his seat of government at Nice, the capital of ancient Bithynia, and his territories were confirmed to him by a treaty with the Greek emperor Alexius Comnenus. But his successor was driven from his capital by the crusaders, (A. D. 1097,) and by the loss of the battle of Dorylæum, he was stripped of the greater part of his maritime territories. The capital was removed to Iconium, an obscure inland town, three hundred miles from Constantinople. Here the successors of Solyman continued to reign for nearly a century and a half, engaged in almost incessant hostilities with the Greek emperors, till all the west of Asia was overwhelmed by the irruption of the Mongolian Tartars, under Zingis Khan and his successors. The sultan of Iconium, after a feeble resistance, fled to his former enemies, the Greeks of Constantinople, and the fragments of the Seljukian

An accidental encounter, upon this march, was attended by highly important consequences. One day, armies engaged in a fierce combat. Ortogrul, without the tribe, being on their journey, fell in with two

waiting to learn the character of the combatants, or the cause of the war, took the chivalrous resolution of joining the weaker party. He struck into the thickest of the fight, and this unexpected aid changed the fortune of the day. The conqueror proved to be a Seljukian chief, named Aladdin. He rewarded the adventurer, who had rendered him this timely service, by the present of a rich silk robe, which was a gift of honor in the East, and a grant of a mountainous district on the borders of Bithynia and Phrygia, where there was abundance of pasturage for the flocks and herds of the wandering Oguz. The first permanent establishment of these people was a camp of four hundred tents, at Surgut, on the banks of the River Sangar, (A. D. 1280.)

Ortogrul, being thus placed on the frontier of the Byzantine empire, made constant invasions into the territories of the Greeks, and being appointed general-in-chief of the armies of the sultan of Iconium, he persevered for half a century in preserving and extending his conquests in that quarter. He had three sons, the youngest of whom, named Othman, or Osman, gave his name to the Turkish empire which subsists at this day :- he is generally regarded as its founder. On the death of Ortogrul, he was chosen to succeed him, in preference to his two elder brothers, on account of his superior bravery and enterprise. The new emir was in high favor with Aladdin II., the last Seljukian sultan of Iconium, who gave him a castle, with an addition of territory, and granted him the privilege of holding as his own any Christian states which he might conquer. The young warrior did not fail to profit by this permission, and gradually extended his acquisitions on every side till he was lord

der him at the entertainment. He concealed his knowledge of this design, and sent presents to the bride, according to the custom of the East. He despatched likewise a message, stating that his mother designed to be present on the joyful occasion, and having received a courteous reply, he thus planned his revenge. It was customary for females of rank, when they paid visits, to be attended by a train of women, who were all closely veiled. Osman disguised a number of his bravest soldiers in female attire, and sent them, thus muffled up, to the castle of his enemy. The gates being thrown open, the disguised warriors passed through them; and immediately throwing off their veils, they drew their swords, and after a desperate fight, slew the wardens, and gained possession of the castle. The chief was absent, having gone with most of his people to meet the bride. In the mean time, Osman went with another band of soldiers to intercept the lady, whom he made prisoner, together with her father and relations. By this time, the disappointed bridegroom had received intelligence of the capture of his castle. He instantly set out in pursuit of Osman, met him, and was slain fighting hand to hand. The lady whose nuptials had been so tragically interrupted, became the wife of Osman's son Orchan, and was the mother of Sultan Amurath I.

Osman is a favorite with the Turkish writers, who have adorned his history with many fables and romantic exaggerations. One of these describes him as seeing-prefigured in a vision-the future glories of the Ottoman empire, and the establishment of its metropolis at Constantinople. This invention shows much poetic spirit and imagination. It is as follows:

CHAPTER CXCI.

A. D. 1326 to 1380.

Reign of Osman II. - Orchan ment of the Janizaries - Chara Turkish Conquests - Amurath with the Hungarians.

On the death of Aladdin II. without dominions were seized upon and divided Nearly the whole of Bithynia fell to the man II., who assumed the title of sultan, ( He was fortunate in winning the friendshi Greek, who embraced Mahometanism t patron, and instructed the Turkish prince government. From this renegade descen ily of Mikalogli, which so often appears in the Turkish annals. Osman was chie for the supremacy which he speedily a his rivals, to the information which he o this Greek. His vicinity to the capital of tine empire opened to him a wide field c and the civil broils between the elder and Andronicus, which at this period distracte nople, left the Asiatic subjects of the en own feeble resources; in consequence of became an early prey to the first invaders

The Christian princes, in this quarter, a progress of Osman, united their forces, and by one decisive effort to crush the rising p ambitious Turk. The hostile armies met or of Phrygia and Bithynia; but Osman wa and the city of Prusa, the ancient capital fell into his hands, and became the Turkis under the slightly altered name of Bru retains at the present day. The policy of equal to his military skill; and what he g valor, he secured by wise and salutary By the impartial administration of justice he reconciled the conquered Christians to ment; and many, who fled before his arms enjoy safety and repose under his powerfu

At midnight, a wondrous vision opened a view of the scenes of futurity to Osman. As he lay reclined in slumber, the crescent moon appeared to rise above the horizon. As she waxed, she inclined toward Osman; at her full, she sunk, and concealed herself in his bosom. Then from his loins sprang up a tree, which grew in beauty and strength ever greater and greater, and spread its boughs and branches ever wider and wider, over earth and sea, stretching its shadow to the utmost horizon of the three parts of the world. Under it stood mountains like Caucasus and Atlas, Taurus and Hæmus, as the four pillars of the boundless leafy pavilion. Like the four rivers from the roots of this tree of Paradise, streamed forth the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile, and the Danube. Barks covered the rivers, fleets the seas, corn the fields, and woods the mountains. From the last sprang fountains in fertilizing abundance, and murmured through the rose and cypress thickets of these Eden-like lawns and groves. From the valleys towered up cities, with domes and cupolas, with pyramids and obelisks, with minarets and turrets. On the summits of these glittered the crescent. From their galleries the muezzim's call to prayer sounded through the concert of a thousand nightingales, and a thousand parrots who sung and chattered in the cooling shade, the countless leaves of which were formed like swords. Then arose a prevailing wind, and drove all the points against the cities, and particularly against the impe- | demanded, and a ransom paid, they still he

Orchan, the son and successor of Osma ed with vigor the ambitious design of his defeated the Christians headed by the e dronicus in person, captured Nice and Nic extended his dominion to the Hellespont. war which followed the death of Andronic the empress Ann and John Cantacuzene gency of the empire, the latter solicited tl Turkish sultan, and secured his friendship by giving him his daughter Theodora i Orchan assisted him with a body of ten th alry, which, under the command of his so crossed the Hellespont in 1358, and made masters of Gallipoli. By the admissi Turkish auxiliaries into Europe, the By pire received a deep and deadly wound, ceeding emperors in vain attempted to Turks, as the friends of Cantacuzene, seiz fortresses of Thrace; and though their res

JANIZARIES-AMURATH I.

important of these places; and Gallipoli, the key of | the Hellespont, was peopled by a Turkish colony.

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feudal title, each proprietor being obliged to keep a horse, and a number of men for military service, proOrchan was the founder of the order of the janiza- portioned to the size of his estate. The lands were ries, a famous body-guard of soldiers, who were long generally cultivated by the conquered people, mostly the support of the Turkish throne, and who abused, to Greeks, who paid to their new landlords a certain pora mischievous extent, the power with which they weretion of the produce generally one tenth. This pracinvested. They were originally composed of young tice was so common, that a Turkish soldier would not Christian captives taken in the wars with the Greeks, accept of land in a province where the population had and were placed in military colleges, where they were been destroyed or expelled, as the people were of more instructed in the Mahometan religion and the Turkish value than the land. These estates were not heredimilitary discipline. To augment their numbers, a law tary, and might be taken away from the holder at the was made that the Christians living under the Turkish pleasure of the sultan. government should give up all their male children born in every fifth year, to be educated in the military schools, where they were taught to speak the Turkish language, to shoot with the bow, and to wrestle. As they grew up, some were appointed to attend the sultan, and guard the palace; the rest were formed into companies, and constituted a disciplined army. They received the name of janizaries from a dervis, who was commanded by the sultan to bless and consecrate the new army. Being drawn up in order, this dervis threw the sleeve of his gown over the head of the foremost soldier, and said, "Let them be called janizaries—a word signifying new soldiers. May their countenances be ever bright, their hands victorious, and their swords keen. May their spears hang always over the heads of their enemies; and wherever they go, may they return with a shining face."

While Solyman was securing a footing for the Turks in Europe, his father had brought many of the neighboring emirs, by force or fraud, to seek his protection and resign their independence. In the midst of his prosperity, a catastrophe befell him in the loss of his son, who was killed by a fall from his horse while hunting. The sultan did not long survive this bereavement. He died A. D. 1360. Orchan is extolled by his countrymen for his justice, clemency, and liberality to the poor. He adorned the city of Brusa with a magnificent mosque, a hospital, and an academy. He was the first of the Turkish sovereigns who assigned regular pay to the troops, while on duty. There was a great variety of costume and weapons in the Turkish armies at this period. Some of the soldiers wore iron helmets, and coats of armor, made of felt or cloth, quilted and stuffed with cotton, with shoulder and neck pieces of iron. Gunpowder was hardly yet known. The janizaries wore the long gown and tunic, common among the Turks, and a red cloth cap, the back of which was formed like a sleeve, and hung down behind, in memory of the dervis who gave them their name. When on service, the gown of the janizary was changed for a jacket, worn over his large trousers. Their boots were of red leather. All wore long beards, except the cavalry, who shaved their chins and wore mustachios. All the Turks, from the time of Osman, shaved their heads, with the exception of a single lock on the crown. This custom has given plenty of employment to the barbers, who are very numerous in all the Turkish towns.

The institutions of the Turks were well calculated to nourish a military spirit. By the laws of Mahomet, every true Mussulman is a soldier, and a third of all the conquered land belonged to the army. In the time of which we speak, these conquests had become so extensive, that every Turk held an estate of his own directly from the sultan, who now claimed a right over all property. He granted these lands under a sort of

On the death of Orchan, his son Amurath I. acceded to the throne, and wielded, with terrible effect, the cimeter of his warlike father. He carried his arms into Europe, and overran the whole of Thrace from the Hellespont to Mount Hæmus. He removed the seat of the Turkish government to Adrianople, where it remained till its final transfer to Constantinople, in the ensuing century. He was, however, recalled from his European conquests by disturbances in Asia Minor. Aladdin, the emir of Caramania, who had married a daughter of Amurath, and was the most powerful of the Turkish chieftains in that quarter, had taken advantage of the absence of his fatherin-law to invade his dominions. Amurath hastened to repel this aggression. The two armies engaged on the plains of Dorylæum, and after a well-contested fight, the Caramanians fled, and Aladdin shut himself up in the city of Iconium. At the intercession of his wife, he was pardoned, and had his dominions restored to him by Amurath.

Amurath now bent the whole force of his arms against Constantinople, but his attempts to reduce this capital were perpetually disturbed by the rebellions of the emirs of Asia Minor, and the incursions of the Hungarians. The former were easily quelled; but the Hungarians, led on by John Huniades, proved a more formidable foe. Amurath was compelled to retire with disgrace from before Belgrade, after a siege of six months, during which he lost many troops, “not only by the plague," says a Greek historian," but by engines cast in the form of tubes, which, by means of a dust, composed of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal, shot out balls of lead, five or ten together, each as big as a walnut." This is one of the earliest descriptions of the use of gunpowder, to be found in any history.

The resistance of the Hungarians led to a truce of ten years, during which, according to the terms stipulated, neither nation was to cross the Danube for the purposes of war. Amurath, however, conquered a great part of Greece, took Thessalonica by storm, put the garrison to the sword, and carried the inhabitants into captivity. He also compelled the Greek emperor to deliver up the cities which he held upon the Black Sea, and to become his tributary. The Ottoman dominions being now very much enlarged and settled in profound peace, Amurath resigned the sceptre into the hands of his son Mahomet, a youth of only fifteen years of age, and retired to Magnesia, a beautiful residence near Smyrna.

Scarcely, however, had he begun to taste the sweets of retirement, when the restless Caramanians, who had repeatedly rebelled against him, and as often been subdued and pardoned, took advantage of the conjuncture, and again rose in arms. The Hungarians also, instigated by the pope, and in violation of a solemn treaty, passed the Danube with a numerous