the profoundeft obfcurity. Selim was too much J.C 15t Heg. 918. interested in his difcovery, not to exert every effort. The unfortunate Korcut was betrayed, and his brother had him ftrangled before he marched against Achmet. After this first facrifice to his fafety, he fent a fmall force to Amafia, in order to arrest the two fons of Achmet, as yet in their infancy. The vizier Mustapha, touched with compaffion, caufed the governors of these princes to be fecretly advertised of it, who had time to call fome of their father's fervants to their affiftance. They attended, well armed, the bashaw who was to furprise them, and executed on him the lot that he intended for them. The fultan, having learned the death of his bafhaw, and that his two victims were retired, the one to the foudan of Egypt, the other to the king of Perfia, foon discovered by what means they had efcaped. The grand vizier Muftapha paid with his head for this pretended treason. This was not the only one that the emperor had to punish. Several officers of his army wrote to prince Achmet to march as foon as poffible against his brother, without waiting for all the reinforcements which the king of Perfia gave him hopes of. They promised to declare themselves in his favor at the first action, and to turn against Selim the corps that they fhould command in his army. The fultan having intercepted these letters, and noticed their contents, carefully forwarded them Heg. 918. J.C.1512. to him. Before he put their authors to death, he obliged them, by force of torments, to write ftill more preffingly to his brother. Achmet, deceived, haftened his arrival in Natolia at the head of fifteen thousand men only. He placed vanquished his firmeft hopes in the refources that he thought Achmet is at the head thoufand of fifteen to have in the army of his brother; but he learnmen, and ed, when it was too late, that all his friends had Strangled been discovered and punished. The two armies of battle. arrived in prefence of each other: Achmet's, on the field though on a fingle line, feemed to prefent the two flanks to be enveloped; for Selim, who had all the forces of Afia and part of thofe of Europe with him, had caused all the back parts and narrow paffes, by which the enemy might escape, to be guarded. In this extremity, Achmet propofed to his brother to terminate their quarrel by fingle combat, in order to fpare the blood of their fubjects. But Selim was determined to vanquish, and not expose hirnfelf; he chose rather to oppose a hundred and fifty thousand men against fifteen thousand, than run the risk of an equal combat. Achmet's little army was cut in pieces; himself having had a horse killed under him, and being very corpulent, he could not difengage himself from the expiring animal; he was taken after having received fome wounds, and his brother had him ftrangled on the field of battle. Heg. 919. ditates a the Per This was not all the blood that Selim thought .C. 1513himself interested in fhedding. The two fons of Achmet who had fled for refuge to Perfia and selim meEgypt, excited his inquietude, and furnished him war with with a plaufible pretext to arm against two pow-fians. erful neighbours. The fultan, in order not to have too many enemies at a time, was willing to confirm the ancient treaties with the European powers. He fent ambaffadors to Venice and the king of Hungary, as it was highly requifite for him to prevent an attack in Europe, whilft he should be setting Afia on fire, and particularly to preserve the liberty of the fea. As it was yet doubtful which of the two powers Selim would attack first, the king of Perfia fent him an embaffy to treat of the interefts of Solyman, the eldest son of the ftrangled prince Achmet. Among the presents, cuftomary on fuch occafions, the Perfians prefented, for the firft time, the new Alcoran corrected by their fecond prophet, and a lion of an uncommon fize. Selim, whom the object of this embaffy difpleafed, made the presents which accompanied it a pretext for giving vent to his hatred. He fent in his turn ambasfadors to carry as prefents to the king of Perfia the ancient Alcoran and the Sunna, which the followers of Ali don't admit. The ambaffadors were likewife charged to prefent the Perfian monarch with two large maftiffs, affuring him, that Kk J.C.1513 that thefe/maftiffs, well trained, ftrangled the most terrible lions. Heg. 919. After thefe fymbolical declarations, the two princes thought only of arming against each other. Ishmael's kingdom contained, at that time, Perfia, Media, Mefopotamia, Affyria, and the further Armenia. Nevertheless, his forces were not comparable to thofe of the Ottomans. Ishmael could raise a hundred thousand horse, but all this cavalry was not equally well difciplined; besides, the Perfians did not understand fighting on foot, and wanted gunners and cannon. Their principal defence confifted in the extent and aridity of their deferts. For feveral days journey beyond the frontiers, the road was over burning fands, where there were neither houses, nor provifions, nor forage; no water any where, and no fhelter from the fcorching heat of the fun, but by clouds of fand raised by the wind, which blinded the travellers and horfes. The mountains of Armenia, a country as arid as the frontiers of Perfia, feparated this ftate from the Ottoman empire; feveral tributary fovereigns. divided, at that time, this poor province.. Aliadoulet, the most confiderable of them, though the friend of the Turks, refufed to join his troops to Selim's; he offered him only a paffage, which his weakness did not permit him to refufe. He promised likewise for his army all the provifions that this wretched country fhould be able able to furnish; but his promifes were far from J.C. 1513. Heg. 919. fincere. Aliadoulet, whofe eftates were not fe parated from the Ottoman empire, as they were from the kingdom of Perfia, by impracticable deferts, was much more afraid of Selim than Ifhmael. All his hopes therefore were to fee the Turks overcome. The Turkish emperor carried two hundred and thirty thousand men to Perfia; but, in such a diftreffing march, scarcity and the intemperature of the air were fufficient to destroy the finest army. Heg. 920. He mar ferts, con trary to the advice of his vizier whom he causes to be He lofes a foldiers in deferts, his march & in the The Turks advanced along the borders of the J.C.1514. Euphrates, and fent on scouts before to examine the country and fee if the Perfians were coming ches against them towards them. They informed Selim that the in the defew inhabitants of this fteril country had abandoned it, after having burnt their cottages and his even the herbs that grew around; and that all the -wells were empoifoned or filled up. On this strangled. report, Camden, the new vizier, strongly oppofed number of the army's entering thefe impracticable maintaining, that there would be too much difadvantage to make an offenfive war in fuch a country: • the Perif the Perfian comes to us, faid Camden, he will Tauris; not arrive 'till he has feen three parts of his troops perish. If he wait for you in his best provinces, will you engage on an equal footing, when fatigue and famine fhall have destroyed half your army? Will your remaining foldiers be capable of vanquishing fresh and numerous troops? This advíce, Kk 2 battle that he haswith fians near the field of battle is left him. |