Annals of the Turkish Empire, from 1591 to 1659. Mustafa Naima
from the same dread, penetrated the almost inaccessible mountains which form the boundaries of Transylvania. The grand vezír, now that the enemy had entirely disappeared, passed through the valley on the 20th and appeared before Bekrish, in the plains of which he pitched his tent. The churches of Bekrish were converted into mosques; and worship, according to Mohammedan usage, was performed in them. The ornaments and crosses which adorned the roofs of the churches, as well as the whole of the images and pictures which were placed in them, were totally demolished. Not a vestige of them was allowed to remain.
A Council held.—A Fortress built.
The nobles and princes having assembled in the grand vezír’s pavilion, they consulted as to the most effectual method they should adopt to prevent Valachia and Moldavia from falling into the hands of the infidels; and also as to the difficulty there existed in keeping the inhabitants of these provinces under subjection. After these matters were fully discussed, it was resolved and agreed to: 1st, That an impregnable fortress should be built at Bekrish; and 2ndly, That a similar one should be erected at the pass of Terghúshta. After the passing of these resolutions, it was thought proper to transmit a report of affairs to the court of Constantinople for its approbation; and at the same time, the government of the country was conferred on Satúrjí Mohammed Páshá. When once these things were thus settled, the grand vezír and his nobles proceeded to the suburbs of Bekrish and measured off double the space of ground on which Alexandra, the Waiwoda’s Monastery stood, and which was formerly a fortress, and made preparations for commencing the first fortress mentioned in the resolutions adverted to above. The whole was completed in the space of twelve days after it was fairly commenced. But what more relates to this fortress we must reserve till we relate the events of the following year.
Concerning the Enemy’s Operations on the Frontiers.
Mohammed Páshá, son of Sinán Páshá, having been appointed commander-in-chief on the frontiers, went, at the commencement of the month Shevál, to Buda, where he properly housed a quantity of provisions which had been sent from Belgrade; and afterwards distributed troops among the military stations along the frontiers in that quarter. He himself went to Kiris Elias, where he pitched his camp. The beglerbeg of Anatolia, of Karamania, of Sivás, of Buda, of Temisvar, of Haleb, and of Scutari, the deputy-ághá of the Janissaries, the salihdárs of the Spáhís, and all the various troops regular and irregular, assembled at Old Buda, where a distribution of provisions and of other necessaries was made to them.
About this time Osmán Páshá, beglerbeg of Yanuk, sent information that the Austrians were preparing to send a large army; and it so happened that, towards the end of Dhu’l Kada, an army of 50,000 foot and 20,000 horse laid siege to Osterghún. The Moslem serdár, or commander-in-chief, and the other beglerbegs, could muster no more than 10,000, and therefore prudently forbore attempting to offer battle to so immense a host. They accordingly took up their position on a hill opposite the enemy, and there meant to wait till they received more succour.
The Moslem Army advances to Osterghún, and are defeated.
About the commencement of the month Dhu’l hijja, the commander-in-chief, Sinán’s son, the beglerbeg of Buda; Súfí Sinán Páshá, the beglerbeg of Temisvar; Mikaeljelí Ahmed Páshá, the beglerbeg of Scutari; Teríakí Hasan Páshá, the beglerbeg of Haleb; Mohammed Páshá, and the beglerbeg of Yanuk, Osmán Páshá, advanced with the 10,000 lately mentioned to Osterghún, and took up their position immediately opposite the enemy. This was a fool-hardy step, and one for which they paid dearly: for that very day the battle commenced, and was continued for several days, when it ended in the discomfiture of the Moslem army, as might have been easily anticipated, considering the vast majority of the enemy. The following day, when the Moslems advanced to the conflict, they were encircled by a considerable body of the enemy, drawn up in regular order to receive them, but whom the Moslems, led on by Osmán Páshá, drove back, retaking at the same time Jegirdilen, a place of some strength, and spiked the whole of the cannon in it. Hitherto fortune seemed to declare for the orthodox army, but on the fourth day it experienced a reverse. In approaching Dipadilen, another place of strength, the Moslems were much annoyed by the small arms of the enemy, which played incessantly upon them. Here many of the brave Musselmans fell lifeless on the ground, and among them was Osmán Páshá. Another division of the Moslem army attacked the enemy’s trenches on the Danube, and got possession of them. Here they either slew or drowned in the river such of the enemy as fell into their hands: but alas! this act of heroism was dearly paid for; for on retiring from these trenches they were met by a strong augmentation of the enemy coming forward to the aid of those who had been in the trenches, when a most desperate and awful conflict ensued. The Serdár, thinking his Moslems were overpowered, turned his face towards Buda and set off. Others, seeing this, followed his example. Teríákí Hasan Páshá was no sooner made aware of the state of matters than he too ordered his tents to be struck, loaded his waggons with the heaviest of his baggage, caused oxen to be put to them and to his field-pieces—which had been kept as memorials of Soleimán—and moved off for Buda, whither the rest had fled.
After this signal superiority gained by the enemy they proceeded, without any further resistance from the scattered army of the Serdár, to effect their original purpose, the reduction of Osterghún. But we must defer any further account of this till we relate the events of the following year.
The Serdár Mohammed Páshá, after reaching Buda, and after his troops had found their way to that city, was in conformity to a resolution passed by a council of war, appointed to the government of Yanuk, and proper persons were also dismissed in order to assemble forces at Belgrade.
When the enemy, stationed about Novograde, heard of the defeat sustained by the Moslems they were emboldened to lay siege to Wáj, but were repulsed with great loss. Finding they were unable for the task they had undertaken, they contented themselves with carrying off what cattle they could seize or drive off. But this also belongs to the affairs of the following year.
The Apostate Michael gains a victory.
The grand vezír, Sinán Páshá, after having seen the fortress completed, which he had ordered to be erected of wood at Bekrish, as before observed, placed a garrison of one thousand Janissaries and a thousand other troops in it, besides cannon and other implements of war for defence, and on the 13th of Moharrem removed to the plains of Terghúshta. The inhabitants of this latter place having all fled before his arrival, he commenced building in it a fortress of wood, similar to the one erected at Bekrish, and ordered two deep ditches to be cut round it. The whole was completed in the space of a month; and after having placed a garrison in it, and supplied it with all kinds of necessary stores, he commenced his countermarch on the 12th of the month Sefer.
The grand vezír had scarcely reached the very first stage, however, before the atrocious Michael started out of the woods and surrounded Terghúshta with his troops. The sound of his cannon was distinctly heard in the grand vezír’s camp. After three days of violent effort he took the place. Alí Páshá, Khoja Beg, and other persons of distinction, he caused to be fixed on spits and roasted before a fire: the rest of the garrison he made prisoners, set fire to the place, and withdrew. Information of this disaster reached the grand vezír the day it took place, and awakened the grief and sympathy of the whole army. Whilst they stood deploring the fate of the garrison, and of their brethren who had fallen into the hands of their merciless enemies, three hundred of these infidels issued out of the wood, not very distant from the Moslem