These
People Are Abominable Robbers, And Look Upon Rapine As Their Highest
Glory; And As We Had Great Reason To
Be afraid of them, I gave orders to
all my people to tell whoever we met, that I was journeying
To wait upon
their sovereign, which was the only expedient for saving us from their
violence.
We arrived on the 4th of August at the city of Ecbatana or _Tauris_[3],
which stands in a plain, and is surrounded by an earthen rampart in bad
repair. There are high mountains in its neighbourhood, which are said to
be the Taurus of the ancients. I here lodged with a very good man, who
gave us two sleeping chambers, a convenience we had been long unused to.
He was quite astonished how we should have been able to escape the
dangers of our journey, as all the roads were blocked up; and on asking
him the reason, he told us that Ogurlu Mohammed[4], the eldest son of
Uzun-Hassan, had rebelled against his father, and had taken possession of
_Sylas_[5] or Persepolis, of which he had appointed his younger brother
_Khalil_[6] as governor. Uzun-Hassan had assembled an army to reduce
Persepolis and his sons to obedience; but a certain satrap named
_Zagarli_ who commanded in the neighbouring mountains, favoured the cause
of Ogurlu, and had ravaged the whole country, to the very gates of Tauris,
with a body of 3000 horse, owing to which, all the roads were obstructed
and unsafe. He farther informed us, that the governor of Tauris had one
day issued forth to endeavour to put a stop to the marauders, but had
been defeated by Zagarli, with the loss of most of his troops, and had
even great difficulty in escaping back to the city. I inquired why the
inhabitants of Tauris did not take arms in their own defence, in a time
of so much danger; but he answered, although they were obedient to the
governor, they were quite unused to war. On learning the state of affairs
in this place, I resolved to leave it as soon as possible, that I might
get to the king; but I could neither procure a guide, nor prevail on the
governor to shew me any favour. By the advice of my landlord I kept
myself very much concealed, and employed my interpreter and Augustin of
Pavia, whom I had brought with me from Kaffa because he understood a
little Persian, to purchase our provisions, in which employment they were
exposed to much ill treatment, and were often in hazard of their lives.
Some days afterwards, one of the sons of Uzun-Hassan, named Masu-beg[7],
came to Tauris with 1000 horse, to defend the city from the incursions of
Zagarli. I waited on this prince, having great difficulty to obtain an
audience, telling him that I was sent as ambassador to his father, and had
need of guides, whom I prayed him to provide me; but it was quite
ineffectual, as he hardly deigned to answer me, and took no kind of
interest in me or my affairs, so that I was obliged to return disappointed
to my lodgings.
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