tf tKH.iT LIBRARY UNIVERSITY Of CALIfORNIA 4a p v» A GRAMMAR TURKISH LANGUAGE A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF THE TURKISH NATIONS, A COPIOUS VOCABULARY, DIALOGUES, A COLLECTION OF EXTRACTS IN PROSE AND VERSE, AND LITHOGRAPHED SPECIMENS OF VARIOUS ANCIENT AND MODERN MANUSCRIPTS. ARTHUR LUMLEY DAVIDS, MEMBER OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF PARIS, &C. &C LONDON: SOLD BY PARBURY & ALLEN, BOOKSELLERS TO THE HONOURABLE EASTINDIA COMPANY AND JOHN TAYLOR, BOOKSELLER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON. 1832. LOAN STACK Mi J LONDON : PRINTED BV R. WATTS, CROWN COURT, TEMPLE BAR. ?L 12| 1232. y> jZ+\£J$t^ j>j-M* j&-+&£ j^;^ J&jit J^i* §j&\ *&->* £*»^> *Uj^ ^ *Uj jXA *Im\j 'I ■ _ 436 TO HIS SUBLIME HIGHNESS SULTAN MAHMOUD KHAN, BY WHOSE GENIUS AND TALENTS THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE HAS BEEN REGENERATED, AND BY WHOSE INSTITUTIONS IT HAS BEEN RAISED TO A DISTINGUISHED RANK AMONG THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE AND ASIA, THIS GRAMMAR OF THE TURKISH LANGUAGE IS, BY HIS SUBLIME HIGHNESS'S GRACIOUS PERMISSION, HUMBLY DEDICATED, BY HIS SUBLIME HIGHNESS'S MOST OBEDIENT HUMBLE SERVANT, ARTHUR LUMLEY DAVIDS. CONTENTS. PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. GRAMMAR: p m . Of Letters 1 Alphabet 2 Pronunciation of the Letters 4 Of Vowels &c 7 Of Nouns — The Article 9 Gender, Number, Declension 10 Case 11 Paradigm of Declension 12 Of Adjectives 16 Numeral Adjectives 17 Of Pronouns — Personal 21 Demonstrative 23 Relative &c 24 Possessive 26 Of Verbs 30 Auxiliary and Irregular 34 The Defective Verb jjl Im 35 The Verb Substantive Jfvijl Olmak, 37 The Verb Negative ,J»w>j1 Olmamak, 43 The Tatar Verb JfUjJ Bolmak ... 46 The Irregular Verb .'. Far 49 Analysis of the Tenses 51 Conjugation of Regular Verbs : CXj } ii Dogmek 59 i^ji' Korkmak 67 Conjugation of the Verb Negative, 74 Conjugation of the Verb Passive . . 81 Of Derivation and Composition : Nominal Derivation 88 Verbal Derivation 92 Compounds 94 Of Adverbs 99 Of Prepositions and Postpositions .... 103 Of Conjunctions 105 Of Interjections 106 Of Syntax 107 VOCABULARY : P , ge Of Days. Months 119 The Universe. Time 120 The Stars, Natural Phenomena, &c. ... 121 The Elements. The Seasons. Mankind, 124 Parts of the Body 125 The Soul. Properties. Diseases 126 Imperfections of the Body. Kindred . . 128 Arts, Trades, and Professions 129 Dignities 131 Diversions. Beasts 132 Birds 133 Fish '. 134 Reptiles, Insects, and Amphibious Ani- mals. Trees and Shrubs 135 Fruits 137 Herbs and Vegetables 138 Colours. Metals, and Minerals'. Of the Earth 141 Naval Affairs. Military Affairs 142 Of a City 143 Household Utensils and Furniture. Parts of a House 144 Clothes. Of Fire 145 Of Writing. Eating and Drinking. . . . 146 Precious Stones. Qualities 147 Verbs 148 Countries, Kingdoms, Nations &c 150 DIALOGUES: Modes of Salutation 155 Of Eating and Drinking 157 To Speak Turkish 159 Of Writing 160 Of Buying and Selling 161 Of Dressing 162 Of Travelling J64 Conversation between Friends 165 Of the Weather 168 CONTENT S— continue d. EXTRACTS : ,„, I. Ouigour : from the Balcktiar Namek .... 171 Kaoudat kou Bilik. ... 178 Miradg 180 Tezkerei Evlia 181 II. Jaghataian: from the Baber Nameh 182 Abulghazi 189 Mir Ali Shir Nuvai. .191 Page EXTRACTS : III. Kaptchak — (kasan): from Ibrahim Khalifi's IV. Osmanli :— A Ghazel of Baki 195 Mesihi 196 Extract from Evlia Efendi 197 Hadgi Khalifeh's }j&\ '&*s? 200 Naima 202 Adgaib al Makhlukat .... 204 Humaiun Nameh 206 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. THE inhabitants of the vast countries of Central Asia, extending from the The name Northern Ocean to the confines of Persia, India and China, and from the Gulf to the Turkish of Corea to the shores of the Caspian, have received from the nations of Europe the undistinguishing name of Tartars a . This appellation, unknown to most of the people to whom it is applied, is a corruption of the Oriental J3S Tatar, the designation of a tribe derived, according to Abulghazi " and other Mohammedan authors, from a prince of that name, who, with his brother Mongol, was de- scended from the race of Turk. Some of the Eastern writers have derived the name ^li'lS Tatar from a river, on the banks of which was the original seat of this tribe ; but all coincide in employing the term as the designation of a particular body of people, and not as that of a race. The alteration of this name into Tartar, by the Latin writers of the thirteenth century, appears to have arisen from the similarity of its sound to their own Tartarus ; the corruption being rendered somewhat appropriate by the terrors which the incursions of Tchingis Khan and his descendants excited . The term Tartar is therefore not only vague and indefinite, but also improper; and can only be compared to the equally undistinguishing name CJjji Frank, by which, as if actuated by a desire of retaliation, the Orientals designate the various nations of Europe. In reducing to its proper compass so extensive an appellation, Physiology ( a ) Remusat Recherches sur les Langues Tartares, torn. I. p. 1. (*) J J jsA> i_jW Abulghazi Bahadur Chani Hist. Mongol. etTartar. nunc prim. ed. a C. M. Froehn. fol. Casan, 1825. Hist. Gen. des Tartars, &c. p. 27. ( c ) The words of St. Louis to his Mother are remarkable : " Erigat nos, Mater, cceleste solatium, quia, si perveniant ipsi, vel nos ipsos quos vocamus Tartaros, ad suas Tartareas sales unde exierunt retrudemus, vel ipsi nos omnes ad coelum advehent" Ap. Balk Intr. a V All. Ethnogr. p. 150. B ( ii ) and Language must be our guides; each of which will enable us to draw a strongly marked line between the race of the Mongols and that which has been termed Caucasian d . To the former, admitting the greatest extent we can allow the name, the appellation of Tatar must be confined : to that part of the latter which is the subject of this essay we apply the more comprehensive name of Turks. or the Turks. Of all the people who have issued from Central Asia, the Turks are perhaps the most interesting. They present to us materials for the study of the human race. Emerging from a primitive state of society, we view them passing through the various gradations which mark the progressive advancement of mankind, until arriving at the highest degree of civilization that the Asiatic race has ever attained. While the accomplished Osmanlis are making rapid strides towards rivalling the most learned and polished of the European States, then- wandering brethren in the farthest North, whose language is the only proof of their relationship, are plunged in the depths of primitive ignorance and barbarism ; and these form the two extremities of that extended chain of society and civiliza- tion, of which the connecting links are regularly formed by the various inter- mediate nations of Turkish origin. The Scythians of antiquity, the Tartars and Turks of later ages, they have influenced the destinies of half the globe. Overturning empires, founding kingdoms, they possessed themselves of some of the fairest regions of the earth. Bending beneath the rushing tide of conquest, the Empire of China laid its tribute at their feet. Italy, Germany, France, and all the countries of Northern Europe, felt their power. The thrones of Persia, India, Syria, Egypt, and Arabia, were theirs. The dominion of the Khalifs was crushed beneath their feet ; and the ruins of the Eastern Empire formed the foundation of a powerful kingdom, which all the united strength of Christendom could not subvert, and which still maintains a great political consequence in the eyes of Modern Europe. But the possession of those arts which do not elevate the man above the brute creation would entitle them to little of our attention. The beasts of the desert might equally have effected the destruction of mankind: and it is only when we view them cultivating the arts of peace, encouraging and pro- tecting literature, and making advances in science and learning, that we discover an object worthy of our contemplation. C 11 ) "La race Caucasienne d'une conleur plus ou moins blanche, a joues colorizes, a cheveux longs, plats, et plus ou moins bruns, a menton et front plus saillans que la bouche. " La race Mongole couleur de froment, peu de cheveux noirs et roides, les paupieres fendues et comme gonflees, la figure plate, et les poramettes saillantcs." — Klaproth Mem. relatifs a TAsie, torn. II. p. 1. ( iii ) The clouds of darkness which surround the early history of all ancient nations Ancient history have veiled in obscurity the origin of the Turkish race, while the want or mixed with destruction of early national annals has left a fruitful soil for the production of fable. The opportunity thus afforded has not been neglected, either by the Turks themselves, or by the Chinese, Persians, Arabians, or even Europeans ; and fanciful genealogies, monstrous traditions, and unfounded theories, have been the abundant offspring of a soil so well adapted to their propagation. These, how- ever, though little deserving a place in the page of the historian, are still valuable ; inasmuch as they serve to indicate the antiquity of the people to which they relate, as well almost by their existence, as by the express accordance of the traditions themselves. The earliest of the Mohammedan writers from whom we can acquire any Traditions of knowledge of the ancient history of the Turks is Rashideddin e . This author dans respecting was Secretary to Gazan Khan, a descendant of Tchingis, who reigned in Persia antiqultyof the about the end of the thirteenth century. He was directed by this prince to Turks- compile a history of the Asiatic nations : and his accounts of the early history of the Turks are partly drawn from ancient annals then existing in the archives of the state, and partly from the traditions the most aged men had received from their ancestors. Unfortunately, in the execution of this work, the author has intermingled and confounded the traditions of the Turks with those of the Mongols; and has so mixed these up with the religious genealogies of the Moslems, that it is now almost impossible to separate them. It is from this work that Abulghazi and the other Mohammedan writers have drawn their materials ; and they have, consequently, fallen into the same errors. We can, therefore, expect nothing unalloyed by this mixture of nations and fables, in the accounts of the Mohammedans ; which, however, will give us the most ancient opinions of Persia and Arabia respecting the Turks : for though, in imitation of the Book of Genesis, the Believers of Mohammed have ascribed the origin of nations to indi- vidual princes, there is little doubt they consulted the general opinion of the East with regard to relative antiquity, and that it is the genealogy alone that is fabricated. The origin of the Turkish race is ascribed, by most of the Mohammedan writers, Turk, son of to a son of Japhet, named Turk ; to whom they assign the rank of primogeniture Japbet - among the children of that patriarch ; styling him, by way of pre-eminence, Jitj] C^iu Yafet oghlan, or " the son of Jafet ;" while Japhet, the father of so ( e ) JC.Lx'1 jkL»- Dgemau AUavarikh. ( iv ) ■■o illustrious a son, receives the appellation of CJji Jl^l Abou'l Turk, "the father of Turk." There are some few writers indeed, but not of equal authority or im- portance, who deny the claim of Turk to primogeniture ; awarding that distinction to his brother Tchin, the ancestor of the Chinese: but the preponderance of testi- mony in favour of the right of Turk does not allow us to give much credit to these authors. Making due allowance for the accuracy of the genealogy, one fact alone remains evident — that all the Mohammedan writers assert the antiquity of the Turks, and that they are only doubtful whether to declare them or the Chinese the more ancient. The establishment of the Turks as a nation, and the founding their seat of empire, are likewise assigned to almost as early a period. After the death of Japhet, we are told that the knowledge and attain- ments of Turk rendered him the superior of his brethren, and he was universally acknowledged as sovereign over all the countries which their families inhabited. Turk being thus situated, turned his mind towards founding a seat suited to the grandeur of his empire ; and made the tour of his dominions, in order to select a place adapted to his purpose. He at length discovered a beautiful valley, on the banks of a lake, encompassed by mountains ; and being pleased with the situation, he built a city of wood and earth. The place in which this city was built, our authors tell us, was called, by the Turks and Chinese, Selinga, and by the Arabians Siluk. It may be urged, in support of this tradition, that the Chinese annals, and the most ancient accounts of the Turks themselves, also place the ori- ginal seat of the Turkish race in the neighbourhood of the Toula and Selinga ; and there is little doubt of the correctness of this position : but whether it was the seat of a Turkish empire at so early a period as that winch is assigned for the age of Turk must be determined by better authority. Chinese tradi- The annals of the Celestial Empire do not display a much greater degree of thToriguTand^ information, in their accounts of the origin and antiquity of the Turkish race, than theTurks"^ the authors of Persia or Arabia. Traditions of a wolf or a tree giving birth to the ancestor of the Turks seem but little superior to the precise genealogies of the Mohammedans, though they equally favour the presumption of an origin nearer the age of fable than truth. The first nation of Tatary f noticed by the Chinese carries us back to a period as remote as that assigned by the Moham- medans for the commencement of the empire of the Turks. Yen-yue, the son of 2436 b.c. the Emperor Ty-ko, or Kao-sin, who commenced Ins reign 2i36 years before the ( f ) It is rather for want of a better designation, than from a consciousness of its propriety, that this indefinite name is employed. Central Asia might perhaps, with some propriety, be substituted ; but custom has not yet attached a sufficient definite idea to warrant its usage. ( v ) Christian aera, is said to have been the progenitor of the Toum-hou, or Oriental Tartars g : but with so few data as we possess, it is difficult to decide whether this nation may be considered as part of the Turkish Family ; and it is not until about 1763 B.C. that we discover historical traces of a nation of undoubted Turkish 1763 B.C. origin. The writers of the East have not been singular in attributing a great degree M. BaiUy's of antiquity to the Turkish race. The ingenious and learned M. Bailly h applied his ingenuity and research to prove that the plains of Tatary had given arts, sciences and civilization to the world, and that its ancient inhabitants were the enlightened preceptors of mankind. It cannot be supposed that such an hypothesis, unsupported by historical proofs, and formed by a chain of theories, however ingeniously connected, could command the attention of the unpre- judiced : but although we must reject the system as a whole, we are yet forced to admit that great and incontestable proofs exist of the advances made by the inhabitants of Tatary in knowledge. The invention of the cycle of animals, the use of metals and the works executed to obtain them in the bowels of the earth, the existence of monuments whose ruins still attract the curiosity of the Learned, and the early possession if not the invention of alphabetical characters, at least evince a certain degree of science : but that this should entitle them to become the preceptors of mankind, even the ingenuity of M. Bailly will fall far short of proving. In the absence of information from the annals of China, we must again turn Mohammedan -ii accounts of the to our Mohammedan guides ; who, as usual, can till up the lacuna with the utmost descendants of exactitude. Turk, we are informed, was succeeded in his kingdom by Tunek, the eldest of his four sons, who was the author of many useful inventions. He is said to have been the cotemporary of Kaiumars, the first king of Persia. The fourth in descent from Turk was Alingeh Khan. In his reign, the nation forgot the faith of their ancestors, which is represented as a pure Theism, and became idolaters. He had two sons, Tatar and Mongol ; and it is from these princes that the tribes which they governed took their names. From Alingeh Khan, until the eighth descendant of Turk, we read of nothing very remarkable : but the birth of Oghuz, which is fixed at 2824 B.C., seems to be the com- 2824 B.C. mencement of the national traditions of the Turks. The birth of this illus- trious descendant of Turk was preceded by the most astonishing prodigies. At the age of one year, when Kara Khan, his father, was about to give him a (*) Visdelou Hist, de la Tartarie, p. 1. ( h ) Lettres sur l'Atlantide de Platon, &c. ( vi ) name, in the presence of the chief men of his kingdom, he anticipated him by declaring aloud that his name was Oghuz. In his cradle he was a believer in the Unity of the Deity ; and refused to receive the nourishment of his mother until she had professed the same faith. Kara Khan, infuriated that his son should renounce his idols and worship an Invisible Being, gave orders that he should be surrounded and taken prisoner wlule hunting. Oghuz received information of his father's intentions ; and some of his friends having come very opportunely to his assistance, Kara Khan was overthrown, and killed by an arrow. These friends, from the timely assistance they afforded him, Oghuz named Igour or Ouigour, signifying " auxiliaries" or " assistants." Being declared king on the death of his father, Oghuz endeavoured to propagate the faith he professed. Those who became converts were loaded with favours ; but those who still adhered to the worship of idols were either put to death or compelled to fly. A neighbouring prince declared war: Oghuz was victorious, and, entering his country, possessed himself of all his treasures : these were so great, that Oghuz was unable to transport them to his own territories, until some of his soldiers invented a sort of car or chariot in which the spoils could be conveyed. Oghuz named the inventors Kangli ; which became the appellation of a large tribe. He reduced the kingdoms of Khathai, Tangut, and Kara Khathai ; but was not so suc- cessful against the dominions of a prince named Itborak Khan : Oghuz was there obliged to act on the defensive, and to take up an advantageous position to prevent defeat. It was in this expedition that Kaptchak received its name, from a circumstance connected witli " a hollow tree ;" which was the signification of that name in the language of the Oghuzians. Seventeen years after this first attempt, Oghuz again invaded the dominions of Itborak Khan, and became master of his territories. Samarkand, Bokhara, and Balkh, submitted to his arms; and he advanced against the town of Khor in the midst of winter. The snow having fallen very deep, his troops were much harassed with the fatigues of the march, and a party who had lost their camels and horses were unable for some time to join the main body. These troops, on their arrival, were interrogated by Oghuz as to the cause of their absence. They replied, that so large a quantity of snow had fallen in their line of march, that their beasts had perished, and they had with difficulty accomplished the object on foot. The Khan, in derision of sucli a cause preventing their joining him in his engagement with the enemy, gave them the name of Karlik or "snowy;" and thus the tribe of Karlik acquired its name. The Prince of Kashmir successfully opposed his attacks for a whole year, but he was at length defeated. The next expedition Oghuz undertook was directed ( vii ) against Iran. The reduction of Khorassan, the conquest of the cities of Irak, Azarbijan, and Armenia, added fresh laurels to his brow ; and these appear to have been among the last of the exploits of Oghuz Khan. In this expedition the tribe of Kaladg received its name. Some stragglers having remained behind, to provide food for their families, were surnamed by Oghuz, Kal-adg, from two words signifying " remain" and " hungry," and were dismissed to their homes to super- intend their domestic affairs : they afterwards became a tribe, and retained this appellation. In the same manner, almost all the Turkish tribes ascribe the origin of their names to Oghuz, who seems to have been very liberal in bestowing appellatives. The six sons of this monarch were named, Ghin, signifying "the sun;" Ai, "the moon;" Yolduz, "a star; 11 Giuk, "heaven;" Tag, " a mountain ;" and Tengiz, " the sea." Some time before his death, Oghuz commanded a trusty atten- dant to bury a golden bow in the eastern part of a certain forest frequented by the young princes in their hunting excursions ; and three arrows, of the same metal, in the western part. The princes, in following the chase, divided into two bodies : the elder brothers took the path which led to the eastern part of the forest ; the younger pursued that of the west : the former became the possessors of the golden bow; the latter discovered the three arrows. The spoils of the chace, and the treasures they had found, were, on their return, delivered to their father ; who immediately issued orders for the nobles of liis kingdom to assemble, and made a great feast at which he invited them to attend. During the banquet, he commanded the golden bow and arrows to be brought forth ; and dividing the bow into three parts, he bestowed one on each of his three eldest sons ; the younger receiving each an arrow. Accompanying the gift with its explanation, Oghuz told them, that in ancient times the bow was among them the symbol of sovereignty; the arrow typified the Minister or Ambassador. To Giun, the eldest of his sons, he committed the supreme and immediate government of his kingdom ; the descendants of his two other brothers being only entitled to the throne in case of failure of the descendants of Giun ; while the three younger brothers were to remain the Ministers of the elder for ever. The possessors of the broken bow were named, from that circumstance, Butchuk, which signi- fies "broken:" the three younger brothers were surnamed Utchok, or the "three arrows'." The death of Oghuz took place shortly after this event; ( ' ) In a philological point of view, the traditions preserved hy the Chinese and Persians are of much value, as they frequently enable us to determine with some degree of certainty, notwithstanding the confusion introduced by mixing up the traditions of the Mongols and Turks, to which of those people they belong, by that best of proofs, the identity of language. The above account demonstrates the identity of ( viii ) and, after a reign of 1 16 years, he was succeeded by Giun, the eldest of his six sons. Though the history of Oghuz is thus embellished with fiction, his reign, the purity of his faith, and the laws which he established, were long remembered throughout the extent of Tatary ; and his birth forms the first epoch of national Turkish tradition and chronology, detached from the genealogies of the followers of Mohammed. In the reign of the thirteenth descendant of Turk the kingdom was entirely destroyed. The son and nephew of the prince, with the remnant of their people, escaped from the fury of their enemies, and fled for safety into the most in- accessible fastnesses, the wild-goats acting as their guides. Having, with the greatest difficulty, succeeded in gaining the summit of the mountains, they disco- vered an immense valley, abounding in fertility, but only accessible by a very narrow defile or ravine, through which a man could scarcely pass. Tempted by the security this valley offered, the princes there made a settlement ; and one by one their followers entered the defile. In the space of 450 years, during which the Turks remained in this valley, they became a great people : its limits were no longer equal to their subsistence or ambition. Determined on quitting their retreat, they attempted to pass their barriers ; but the same impracticable rocks which denied access to their enemies from without equally precluded egress from within. The ravine by which they entered had been closed by some convulsion of Nature : it was no longer visible, and all attempts to overcome the difficulty which opposed their passage proved fruitless. By some accident, however, it was at length discovered that the mountains in a certain part were of little thickness, and formed principally of iron ore. A daring spirit conceived the idea of procuring an opening by means of fire : innumerable bellows adding fury to a pile of blazing wood and fuel, accomplished his design ; and a crown rewarded his advice. Under Bertezena, their new chief, the Turks sallied forth from their of the language of Oghuz with the modern Osmanli : thus, Kaladg is derived from Jlj' Jcal, Imperative of sjli' kalmak, "to remain," and I adg, " hunger;" Jfl,V» Kar!ik,"snowy," from p kar," snow ;" Jjyij) Kabuk, "the bark of a tree," diminutively 2s?±ii Kabukdgak, is probably from the same root as Kaptchak or Kabdgiak. The names of the sons of Oghuz are pure Osmanli : & Giun, "the day ;" ^j\ Ai"the moon;" jjJ^j Yolduz, " astar;" L^ JS Grafc," heaven ;" elAa Tagh," a mountain ;" jSii Dehiz, "the sea." The names given to the three brothers give us the derivation of the Osmanli words for "great" and "small ;" ^-jS kotchek," small." ( ix ) valley; and the neighbouring kingdoms were not long in ignorance of their existence and power. The Chinese Annals relate the history of the Turkish people under various The Chinese <• m • !•••<• • i_ history of the names; the revolutions of Tatary causing many divisions of tribes or nations, who Turkish people, either took the titles of their leaders, or derived their appellations from some circumstance connected with their origin. The Chinese, actuated by the hatred and dread they entertained of the Turks, have corrupted these appellations into expressions of ill-will, by using words somewhat similar in sound to the names which the Turks applied to themselves, but having usually a very different sense'. Some of these, however, are purely arbitrary, and entirely of Chinese invention ; the same people receiving different titles under successive dynasties, and the cause of their application being stated by the Chinese authors. The relations of the Chinese, though they throw great light on the history of the Turkish race, and, by preserving fragments of the languages of the people they describe, have enabled us to form juster notions concerning them, must yet be received with caution. Their hatred, their jealousy, their idea of all beyond the bounds of the Celestial Empire being barbarous, and their means of intelligence, must always be considered, in examining the accounts which they have preserved of the nations of Tatary. The most ancient nation which is ascertained to be of Turkish origin, mentioned Hiun-yo or by the Annalists of China, is that of the Hiun-yu, or Hioung-nou. The first loun 8~ nou monarch of this nation is said to have commenced his reign about 1763 B.C.'; 1763 B.C. but beyond this single epoch we find nothing but an immense and irreparable lacuna, until within a few centuries of the Christian aera. About 250 B. C. the Hioung-nou "VV/ |X| had extended their sway over all Tatary, and formed a powerful empire. From within ten degrees of the Polar Circle, to the Chinese provinces of Chensi and Chansi, the power of their Tanjou was acknowledged ; and his empire was bounded on the east and west by the Corea and the Caspian. The Great Wall opposed but a weak barrier to his advance ; and the " golden lances" of China parried, but were unable to repel, his attacks. ( k ) The meaning of the appellation Hioung-nou is, " Bad Slaves ;" that of Thou-khiu, " Insolent Dogs." — M. Salverte, in his rules for the interpretation of the names of nations, says, " Jamais peuple ne s'est donne a lui-meme un nom peu honorable : tant d'humilit^ ou de sottise n'est pas dans la nature. Un nom offensant pour la nation qu'il designe, lui a ele impose par un autre peuple, et non accepte par elle, ou bien, il ne nous est parvenu que traduit inexactement" Essai sur les Noms Propres. Paris, 1824. ( ) Herodotus says the first Scythian king did not live above a thousand years before Darius Hystaspes invaded Scythia, which was in the year 514 B.C. ; so that the age of that king would be about 1514 B. C, very near the time mentioned by the Chinese Annalists. c ( x ) The power of the Hioung-nou did not continue long after the Christian aera : civil dissensions added force to the attacks of hostile nations ; famine and pesti- lence assisted in the work of destruction; and the haughty Tanjous were compelled either to submit to the monarch of China or to seek safety in flight. A part of the remnants of the Hioung-nou, after various attempts to regain their lost power, retired, with Assena their Prince, among the Jouan-jouan ; and established themselves in a valley of the Kin-chan, or Golden Mountains, called, by the Turks, Altai m . They there built a city, at the foot of a hill, which, in form, resembled a casque or helmet: and as, in their language, says Ma-touan-lin, the Chinese historian", a casque was called Thou-khiu, the people took that name. or the origin of The name -A^* Vdi* Thou-khiu, or Tou-kiue, thus applied to this remnant of the the name Turk. JTsZ /./A rr Hioung-nou, is the Chinese transcription of ^Js Turki, by which they appear to have called themselves. The transcription is perfect, according to Chinese ortho- graphy, which in the same manner writes Posse for \j~)j Pars or \_~J> Fars, Tou-loun for ^ } f Touroun, suppressing or changing the letter R °. Singular as the Chinese derivation may be considered, it is corroborated by the fact, that in the Modern Turkish the word alluded to by the Chinese historian does actually exist, and in the very sense he applies to it. The word ^Jj> terk, read with ustun, sig- nifies a casque or helmet ; which serves to support the testimony of the Chinese author, at the same time that it gives a far more probable etymology than that of a descent from an imaginary Patriarch p . Even the derivation from the Arabian t^Jj terk, " to forsake or wander," which the more learned have adopted, is perhaps mistaking the effect for the cause, and deriving the name from a word which was ( m ) jjijjUl Allun means " Golden," in Modern Turkish. ( n ) Wen-hian-thoung-khao, K, 342. p.l. Remusat Rech. 12. (°) The Chinese, in transcribing foreign words, always either suppress the letter R, or change it into L. Thus, in the Chinese and Ouigour Vocabulary in the Bibliotheque du Roi, we find Teng-he-li for Tangri, Ha-eul for Khar. Rem. Rech. 256. Visdelou, Suite des Observations, &c. p. 145. ( p ) Klaproth sur les Thou-khiue. Meninski Onomasticon, torn. I. art. \^Jy. M. Remusat considered that the word alluded to by the Chinese author was j (jo and )o, and in Ouigour u» also; but the Syriac has * exclusive of the SO- The Syriac has the letters ,X Ain and v*a Cheth, which are wanting in Ouigour : and we find in the Ouigour MSS., written after the conversion of the Turks to Islam, that whenever these letters are required to represent the Arabian proper names, they use the letters Alif and Kof, and put the harsh Arabian letters under the line a . A very slight examination will shew that a greater analogy exists between - the Zend and Ouigour than between that and the Syriac : and we may rather conclude that the sixteen letters of the Ouigour either gave birth to the Zend, or were derived from it, than that the Nestorian Syrians carried their Alphabet, and that alone, to the country of the Ouigours, and there left it, without any other gift and without deigning any instruction in its use. Ahmed ben Arabshah, who wrote about 1440 A.D., describes the Ouigour writing then used among most of the Turkish nations as nearly as possible as we now have it. He says — si>» j \ijo-JLc- &*ij) t3±Cj jyY^o ^y^' ($k y> 3 jfi£ l _s»"*i (& flA* S?^*'' ^ 3 x )y) JjU i ,lall JoU 3 JJ] Jju ^J^sJl <_j» «*/£yl "-J^ 1 ^ ^3 ^ flr^" ^^ 3 f&jiJiAx*) i^uil/o j f^f &3*^.. ias 1 ' li^J j M\ i Jl^ ,1311 JLo } lila] } (: ^J'_5 U jjy^j ^U-lj p? "is") (*>M^3 (^=^3 f*>J"^3 f&Ofj ^^°3 f>jte*) f^^*3 ( a ) See Extracts from Ouigour MSS.— Lithographic Plates, at the end of the Grammar. ( b ) A Specimen of the Characters is given, in the original, exactly of the same form as in the Ouigour MSS. ( xvii ) " The Jagataians have a writing named Ouigour, which is also known as the writing of the Mongols : it consists of fourteen consonants, of which the following is the division . The reason of the consonants consisting only of this numher is, that they write all the gutturals in the same manner. They do the same with the other letters which belong to similar organs; such as, v-J and i_», j, <-. and , d, and )o. It is with these characters that they write their diplomas, their edicts, their ordinances, their books, their regulations, their measures, their annals, their poems, histories, public and judicial acts, the prices fixed by the law, and, in general, all that concerns the government and the law of Tchingis Khan. He who is acquainted with this writing will not want among them, for he possesses that which is the key of wealth.' 1 Rubruquius, and the other Missionaries who travelled into the interior of Tatary Rubruquim. in the 13th and 14th centuries, also speak of the language and characters of the Ouigours. Rubruquius gives the following account of them : — " Their letters," says he, " the Tartars use as well as they. They begin to write at the top of their paper, drawing their lines right down; and so they read and multiply their lines from the left hand to the right. Mangu Khan hath sent letters unto your Majesty (St. Louis), written in the language of the Moals or Tartars, but in the characters of these Jugures. The Moals received their letters or characters from them ; and they are the Tartars 1 principal scribes. The Jugures are of a middle stature, like Frenchmen. The language of the Jugures is the original and root of the Turkish and Comanian languages d ." Mohammed Kafour Khan e , a Persian author, has the following passage Mohammed respecting the writing of the Ouigours : Ij t$ Jj^u, *^j <*£;$ ^*" ij^- i**J 'H £ 7 I * e^~«1 g)j lasyL/s iJImSj ^Ix* JU- " The Ouigour writing adopted in the time of Oghuz Khan is the same as at present generally used in Turkistan." Prior to the reign of Tchingis Khan, the Mongols had no letters ; but that prince, after the conquest of the Ouigours, ordered them to teach the nobility and cliiefs of his people their Alphabetical characters : and from this we may date the adoption of the Ouigour Alphabet by the Mongols and Mandshus ; who finally made some additions and alterations, to suit the nature of their language. Abulfaragius, or Bar Hebraeus, records this event, in his Syriac Chronicle : — Abuifaragiiw. " The Mongols, having no letters to write, Tchingis Khan ordered that the . Ighours should teach their characters to the Tartar youth. Thus they commenced ( c ) See preceding Note. ( d ) Harris's Collection of Voyages, vol. I. London, 1744. ( e ) MS. in the Bibliotheque du Roi, quoted by M. Klaproth, Mem. rel. a VAsis. D ( xviii ) to write the Mongol language in the Ighour characters, as the Egyptians wrote in those of Greece, and the Persians in the Arabian f ." The Chinese historians have also preserved an account of the same circum- stance. " At the defeat of Tayang Khan, king of the Naiman, Tchingis Khan made prisoner the Ouigour Tata-tounggou, who was the secretary of that prince. He took him into his service; and gave him the same office, ordering him to instruct the Mongol princes, and the chief of his nobility, in the writing, the language, and the laws of the Ouigours C The Ouigours anciently wrote in perpendicular lines, and not in the horizontal direction in which the manuscripts that have been preserved are found. But as they multiplied their lines from left to right, the direction of the writing was the same as at present ; and on merely altering the page to an horizontal position, it would be read from right to left, in the same manner as the Modern Turkish. It is more than probable, as the direction of the writing was the same as at present, the lines alone being different, that this was an imitation of the Chinese style of writing, and was perhaps first used in making interlinear translations from that language. On the Litera- Of the ancient literature of the Ouigours but little has been preserved : the few ture-ofthe . Ouigonrs. manuscripts in the Ouigour dialect, known to the Learned of Europe, have all been written since their adoption of the religion of Mohammed ; and the oldest manuscript we possess is not of earlier date than the tenth century. We have already seen the account of a prejudiced authority, the Chinese author a. d. 1200. Ma-touan-lin, who wrote about A. D. 1 200 ; in which he tells us, that the Ouigours had " the Chi-king, the Lun-iu, the Hiao-king, the Poets and Historians of the dynasties ;" that " their youth, and the sons of their Chiefs, were instructed in schools ; and they not only learned to read, but they also composed verses and poems." We should not have gained this confession from a Chinese author re- specting the literature of the Ouigours, had not its existence been too well known to admit of concealment : yet M. Abel Remusat h , from this same passage, draws a contrary conclusion : it is thus given at length by him, paraphrasing the work of a.d. 478. Ma-touan-lin: — " Towards the year 478 A. D., the king of the Tchhe-sse (Ouigours), who was named Kia, acquired great power. The people of Yerkiyang having been beaten by the Ye-tha, demanded of him a king ; and Kia gave them his second son for a Governor. This circumstance increased his influence ; and ( f ) Asseman. Bibliotheca. Orient 7. III. Part 2. p. 470. («) History of the Youan, published at Peking, 1646 : ap. M. Klaproth sur les Ouigours. ( h ) Rem. Rech. sur la Langues Tartares, 284. ( xix ) he sought to extend it by ruling his kingdom after the model of that of China. He had a great many Mandarins; and he established, in marriages, funerals, and services of the people, customs which had a great analogy with those of the Empire. Kia caused to be painted in his council-chamber the conversation between Lou and Confucius, on the art of Government. He established public historians, charged to take note of the events of his reign. The characters which his subjects made use of were the same as those of China ; but they also employed the ' barbarous letters.' They had the Chi-king of Mao-tchi, the Lun-iu, the book of Filial Obedience, and several chronicles. The sons of the Mandarins were assembled together in colleges, where they learned the spirit of these works. They were also given to poetry." M. Remusat then adds : — " The taste of the Ouigours for the literature of China became augmented ; and under the reign of Hiao-ming (515 — 528) the Ouigours sent an ambassador to demand the ' Five 515—528. King 1 and different historical works, They prayed the Emperor to permit a doctor of the Imperial College, named Lieou-sie, to visit their country, to teach them the elements of the letters ; which was accorded them. 1 ' Instead of these extracts proving, as the learned author who quotes them sup- poses, that the Ouigours were not then a literary people, they seem rather to indicate that they were a people possessed of that relish for literature which its study and cultivation alone can give. By the same reasoning as M. Remusat draws his inference respecting the Ouigours, we might attempt to prove that the French and English have no literature, because they are represented, in the Annals of the Celestial Empire, " to have sent to China for the Chi-king, the Lun-iu, and the Annals of the Empire.' 1 Or if it is discovered that we are stated " to use the Chinese characters, and also our own barbarous letters, 11 what conclusion must we draw ? Not certainly that of M. Remusat ! Besides, unfortunately, in the Chinese author himself we find a slight discrepancy : probably in page 1 5 he had forgotten his statement in page 14. In the one, he tells us that the characters they made use of " were the same as those of China," but that they also employed the "bar- barous letters t" in the other, the same people are represented demanding a doctor of the Imperial College to teach them " the elements of the letters. 11 A striking proof of the existence of ancient Ouigour Annals is exhibited in the identity of the relations preserved by the Chinese and Persians — two people whose intercourse has never been such as to admit of our believing that the one was indebted to the other for its information. This is fully illustrated by two extracts given by M. Klaproth; the one from the Chinese, the other from the Per- sian; which are singular specimens of the ancient traditions of the Ouigours. ( xx ) The following is the translation of a fragment from the Chinese' Chinese " Idoukhou is the title of the kings of the Kao-tchhang (Ouigours), who anciently inhahited the country of Ouigour. In this country is Khorin (Kara- korum, hy which all the mountains situated in the neighbourhood of the Orkhon, the Toula, and the Selinga, are generally designated). Two rivers here take their rise; the Toukhoula and the Sielinga. One night, a supernatural light descended upon a tree which grew between these two rivers. The in- habitants of the neighbourhood, repairing to it, found the tree much swollen. After nine months and ten days, it was delivered of five boys. The people of the country were full of astonishment, and brought up the new-born infants. The youngest received the name of Bouka Khan : he was strong and brave : the neighbouring people submitted to him, and he became their king. His suc- cessor in the thirtieth generation was Jouloun Tieghin. The account of the events which took place until his reign has not come to us. Jouloun Tieghin was very powerful and valiant : he made frequent war against the Thang 618-907. (a Chinese dynasty which reigned from 618 A.D. to 907), who were much afraid of him; and sought his alliance by marriage. In fact, they affianced the Princess Kiu-liau with Gali Tieghin, the son of Jouloun, who lived in the neigh- bourhood of Khorin, in a place named Bili-Polida, or ' Mount upon which dwells the bride. 1 There was in this country another mountain, which bore the name of Tengeri-yu-takh k ; that is ' Mount of celestial right.' 1 To the south of this was the Khouli-takh ', or ' Mountain of goodness.' When the ambassador of the Thang had arrived at the frontier of the two countries, he learned that the prosperity of Khorin was attached to the existence of this mountain, and that if he could destroy it the kingdom would be annihilated. The Chinese ambas- sador then addressed these artful words to the king : — ' As you are the father of the bridegroom, I have a right to make a request of you, which you must accede to. The rock called the Mountain of Goodness is of no use to your kingdom : the Chinese desire very much to become its possessors, and they ask it of you as the price of the marriage.'' Jouloun agreed to his request ; but, as the rock was very large, it was impossible to convey it away entire. They therefore made a great fire around it, until they caused it to redden ; after which they poured vinegar over it, (') " Su-houng-kian-lou," by Tchao-yuan-phing. Sec. xxix. fol. 14, verso ap. M. Klaproth sur les Ouigours. ( ) clL &£ X> Tengriyeh tagh, in Osmanli, " The mountain towards heaven." (') silb it)1 Eiuli tagh, " The mountain of goodness." ( xxi ) which caused it to shiver into small fragments, with which they loaded chariots to transport them. After the departure of the Mountain of Goodness, the birds and the animals of the country lost the faculty of motion, and sent forth cries which announced the greatest disasters. Jouloun Tieghin died seven days after : innu- merable calamities and troubles afflicted the country; and, after several generations, the increase of these calamities forced the inhabitants of the country to expatriate. They settled in the neighbourhood of Kiao-tcheou, or Ho-tcheou (100 li to the west of the town of Tourfan). Their principal establishment was at Bish-balik. To the north they extended as far as the River Ashou : to the south they had the Chinese Principality of Thsieou-thsiuan-kiun : to the east they were the neighbours of the Goudoun-Gachiklua; and to the west, of the Sifan (Tibetians)." The Persian version of this tradition, preserved by Alaeddin m , is as follows :— Persian ■ At Koumlandgou, a place situated at the confluence of the rivers Tougola and Selinga, which have their source in the mountains of Kara-korum, there were two neighbouring trees; the one named Fistouk, like a pine, the foliage of which resembled that of a cypress, with fruit of the form and savour of the pine-apple ; the other was a birch-tree. The two trees were much swollen ; and were illumined by a celestial light. Continuing to increase, they became like a mountain, and emitted harmonious sounds. Every night they were surrounded by a vivid light, to the distance of thirty steps. When they arrived at their utmost size, an opening became visible, with five chambers similar to tents, surrounded by a cord of silver ; in each of which a child was seated, fed by means of a tube suspended above its mouth. The Chiefs of the tribes, struck with astonish- ment, came to admire, and pay adoration to these prodigies The five children were treated by the people of this country with the respect they paid to their kings. The eldest was named Sounkour-tekin ; the second, Koutour-tekin ; the third, Boukak-tekin ; the fourth, Or-tekin ; and the fifth, Boukou-tekin. The Ouigours, persuaded that they were sent from Heaven, resolved to elect one of them for their sovereign. Boukou seemed to them to be endowed with the greatest beauty, spirit, and capacity ; he was also well versed in languages : the Ouigours chose him for their Khan, and placed him upon the throne with great rejoicings. At this time, Boukou Khan had a new dream : he saw a man dressed in white, holding in his hand a baton of the same colour, who gave him a fragment of jade in the form of a pine, and said : ' If you can preserve this stone, you will rule over the four regions of the globe.' ( m ) The Vizier Alaeddin, author of the ^\&S ^lya- f.j3 ( xxii ) Boukou Khan was succeeded by one of his sons. In his reign, the domestic and wild animals, and the very infants, were heard to utter the sounds, Getch ! getch .' n 'Fly! fly!' Warned by this signal, they quitted their habitations, and emi- grated: but at every place where they stopped, they heard the same sounds; until they arrived at the place where Bish-balik was built, where these sounds ceased. They established themselves in this place, and built five quarters, to which they gave the name of Bish-balik, or ' The Five towns.' " A comparison of these traditions will be sufficient to prove their derivation from a common source, and that both the Chinese and Persian authors must have drawn their accounts from the same materials — the Ouigour Annals. No two nations, as unconnected as the Chinese and the Persians, could have agreed in the manufacture of such an extraordinary recital. The position of the Ouigours between the Toula and Selinga — the descent of the luminary upon the tree — the birth of five children, the youngest of whom, named in the one Boukou, in the other Bouka, is elected king — the dependence of the kingdom on the preservation of a rock or stone — the disastrous cries of the animals — and the emigration of the people to Bish-balik — all but the first and last being fabulous, are such a series of events as no two authors, unless they derived their materials from a common source, could coincide in imagining. Their Religion. The Religion of the Hoei-hou was, in their more ancient times, the same as that of the Hioung-nou ; but Buddhism appears to have also made some progress among them. A Chinese who travelled into the country of the Hoei-hou, about a.d. 981. A.D. 981, tells us that in their capital there were many temples of Fo, and that they had also some temples of the Moni, or priests of Pho-sse, who were no doubt the followers of Manes and Zoroaster, whom persecution in their native country had A. D. 728. driven into Tatary. About A. D. 728, a part of the Hoei-hou, together with several other Turkish tribes who had advanced towards the west, adopted the faith of Islam, which was carried by many of them into their native country °. At the same period, the conversion of the inhabitants of Samarkand was effected ; and from this time we may consider the greater part of the Turkish people as Mohammedans. ( n ) In Osmanli, J? getch is the Imperative of the Verb dA,-^r getchmek, "to fly." (°) From this circumstance, the Chinese called the new converts, as a jeu des mots on their name, 1 1^1 I ^U Hoei - hoci >' signifying " returning " or " retracing their steps ;" and the abbreviation of this into -T \tt\ Hoei-tseu has become the designation of all the Mohammedans. ( XX111 ) One of the most interesting relics of the ancient Turks is the Tchagh, or Cycle of Twelve Animals, of wliich either the Ouigours or a kindred nation — the Kirghis — were the inventors. This Cycle was composed of the names of Twelve Animals ; which have been preserved by Uloug Beg, a descendant of Timour, who lived in the 15th century. They are as follow :— Cycle of TwelveAniraals. NAMES OF THE TURKISH CYCLE. MODERN DIALECTS. JL»J Kesku, The Mouse. Preserved in the Turkish of Siberia, Kouska. t,1 6t, The Ox. Osmanli, jS } \ Okiuz. \ The same in the Osmanli. , jh.I) Bars, The Leopard. < *■'-'• ^Kasan, ^p Bars. ^jlSUjUa Taushkan, The Hare. Osmanli, ^lijlL Taushan. ^yy Lout, The Dragon. ^Ixi Yilan, The Serpent ^h Han. — a JoV Yunad, The Horse. cu I ^k Yeni at, a Young Horse. ^J Km, The Lamb. *-Sj}* K u ?i- jks^i Fitchin, The Ape. **!.jyi Buzineh. , ;v>li> Dakouk, or? ■ -.•'•■ ^" \ The Fowl Jjlls Taouk. ;-.!j Daouk, 3 (j^ol -ft, The Dog. The same in the Osmanli. jjtjds Tonghouz, The Hog. Osmanli, ^SjL Donuz. The Chinese, the Mongols, the Tibetians, the Japanese, the Persians, and the Mandshus, have all adopted this famous Cycle ; and, in translating the names into their own languages, have carefully preserved the order of the animals. To these animals not only are the years of the cycle regularly appropriated, but each day, and even the hours, have some of their characteristic attributes, real or fictitious, assigned to them. With the assistance of this cycle we are enabled to discover and correct errors in the chronology of the Eastern nations ; and thus M. Remusat has shewn that Petis de la Croix is always mistaken a year in his life of Tchingis Khan. The selection of animals is most curious ; but their utility, as a species of memoria technica, is indisputable. In this respect, the Cycle of Animals is far superior to the insignificant letters which the Cliinese have devoted to the same purpose ; which have no characteristic attributes, and wliich, consequently, are of very unequal value in multiplying the resources of the astronomer and historian. ( xxiv ) Seijukians. After the dissolution of the empire of the Hoei-he, many of the Turkish tribes, following the example of their brethren who had previously quitted their native countries, advanced towards the west ; and their Chiefs soon became the possessors a.d. 1028. of the thrones of Persia, Arabia, Egypt, and Syria. In the year 1028, the cele- brated Mahmoud of Ghizni, son of Sebektegin, founded the dynasty of the Ghaznaviah, which ruled in India and Persia during a period of 155 years. It was a.d. 1090. in the reign of the first prince of this dynasty, that the family of Seljuk, together with many other Turkish tribes, entered Khorassan. Seljuk was the son of the chief Minister of the Turkish Sultan Bigou, sovereign of Kaptchak : according to the Persian authors, he was a descendant of Afrasiab, king of Touran. The father was renowned for wisdom and bravery ; but dying while his son was very young, the Sultan, in expectation of repairing the loss he had sustained in so faithful a Minister, had Seljuk educated, and conferred on him the title of " Bassatchi,' 1 or Captain. The youth soon shewed himself of superior mind ; and being both brave and wise, he became a great favourite with the Sultan, by whom he was elevated to the highest rank. Seljuk, presuming perhaps too much on the favour of his master, on one occasion forgot the respect due to his station ; and the Sultan, beginning to dread the power of his Minister, formed a plan for his destruction. Seljuk gained intelligence of the Sultan's design ; but determined, though powerful, not to turn his arms against his late benefactor, he hastily collected together the whole of his tribe, who were much attached to their young Chief, passed the Gihon, and established himself in the countries of Samarkand and Bokhara, where they became converts to the faith of Islam. Under the standards of their valiant Chiefs, the tribes of the Seijukians became renowned among the nations of Asia. They extended their dominion from China, over Anatolia, Syria, Persia, and Egypt : and when, by the death of Malek Shah, the union of this mighty empire was dissolved, the Princes of the House of Seljuk founded the separate but powerful A.D. 1102. kingdoms of Iran, Kerman, Syria, and Roum. The kingdom of Roum, or Iconium, was the most famous of these Principalities ; and eventually extended from the banks of the Euphrates to the vicinity of Constantinople, and from the Black Sea to the confines of Syria, with Nice for its capital. After the conquests of the Crusaders had obliged Soliman to forsake this city, the royal residence was fixed at Iconium ; which continued for nearly a century and a half to be the chief seat of the Seljukian Princes of Roum, until the irruption of the descendants of Tchingis Khan overturned their empire. Tchingis Khan, The un j on f the Turks of Tatary with the tribe of Mongols, in the reign of 1162-1227. Tchingis Khan, gave rise to that invincible power which, under that prince and ( XXV ) his successors, shook the kingdoms of Asia and Europe to their foundations, and overturned so many of the Eastern thrones. Of this assemblage of the nations of Central Asia the Turks formed the most numerous and most powerful portion; for although the princes were Mongols, the great mass of the people were of Turkish origin. Jaghatai, one of the sons of Tchingis, was constituted monarch of Mawara'nahar, or Independent Turkistan : from him the Orientals have called the country Jaghatai. Khorassan, Persia, and India, became the possessions of Tuli Khan. Batu ruled the countries bordering on the Caspian ; while the Imperial horde, with the Mongols Proper, and their Chinese conquests, were governed by Oktai Khan. In the year 1 302, Gazan Khan, one of the successors of a. d. 1302. Tchingis, entirely destroyed the Seljukian kingdom of Roum, which had been pre- viously shaken by the power of the Mongols ; and thus was the last of the Seljukian kingdoms annihilated. The Seljucides gave birth to the Patzinaks, the Petchenegues of the Russian p*^ 1 "' or Annalists, whom M. Abel Remusat considers identical with the Kangar or Kangli. Towards the end of the ninth century, they occupied the countries between the Don and the Danube, and were the terror of the Greeks, Bulgarians, Khazars- Hungarians, and Russians. In the eleventh century, the Komans, uniting with the Ghuz or Ghaz, known to Komaiu, and the Greeks and Latins as the Uzes, and to the Russians and Poles under the name of Polowzer, acquired a formidable power. They occupied the country between the Wolga and the Danube. The Ghuz were a nation who invaded Khorassan in the year 1034 A.D., but were defeated by Mahmoud the Ghaznevide. About A.D. 1050, 103^1^050 they entered Mesopotamia, and took the city of Mosul : they were however obliged, by the Khalif, Caiem Bemrillah, to retire to the mountains of Azarbijan or Media. In 1170, during the reign of the SeJjucide Sultan Sangiar, they a.d. mo. established themselves in the province of Badakhshan, which was occupied as far as Balkh by 40,000 families. They were formidable to the Greeks and Russians during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, but were destroyed by the Mongols in the thirteenth. The Komans took refuge in Hungary. Separated from the great mass of their race, they have forgotten their language ; and their descendants of the present day speak nothing but Hungarian. The Kangli, the Patzinaks, and the Komans, spoke the same dialect ; of which few remains have been preserved, but still sufficient to enable us to conclude that it was not very different from the dialect of the Osmanlis. In the modern language of Hungary, traces may yet be found of the Turkish language ; and an extensive Vocabulary might be formed of words which have been introduced into the Hungarian, from that language. E ( xxvi ) The Foundation The ruins of the Seljukian kingdom of Roum formed the foundation of that of of the Ottoman J ° Empire. the Ottomans or Osmanlis. The history of their origin is variously related ; hut it seems that we must consider them as descended from the nation of Ghuz or Oghuzians, known to the Greeks and Latins under the name of Uzes. A branch of this nation, about the time of the irruption of Tchingis Khan, joined the fortunes of the Turkish Sultan of Iconium. During the revolutions of Asia Minor, they established various little Principalities ; and, while the Mongols were in pos- session of the plains, were sheltered among the mountainous districts, The first independent Chieftain of this people was Osman or Othman, who has given his name to his descendants. He was the son of Togrul, a Turkish Chief, who, like himself, had been distinguished in the army of the Sultan of Iconium. The anni- hilation of the Seljukian dynasty, the decline of the power of the Mongols, and the weakness of the Grecian Empire, were favourable to his independence and suc- cess. The political errors of the Greeks unlocked the passes of Mount Olympus, and invited him to descend into the plains of Bithynia. On the 27th of July, in a.d. 1299. the year 1299 of the Christian aera, Othman first invaded the territory of Nico- media. The conquest of Prusa, or Bursa, was effected by the valour of his son Orkhan ; and from this conquest, says a learned and elegant Historian p , " we may date the true aera of the Ottoman empire." The city, by the labours of Orkhan, assumed the appearance of a Mohammedan capital : a mosque, a college, and a hospital of royal foundation, were among the benefits it received from the change of masters. The Seljukian coin was disused, and the name of the new dynasty substituted in its stead ; and the most skilful professors of human and divine knowledge attracted the Persian and Arabian students from the ancient schools of Oriental learning ". A. D. From this period the Turks began to acquire a firmer footing, both in Asia 1 ^firt 1 IRQ ' and Europe. The conquests of Murad, or Amurat I., rendered him master of the whole of Thrace, from the Hellespont to Mount Hsemus : the Sclavonian provinces between the Danube and the Adriatic submitted to his power : and though the fortunes of his successors were momentarily obscured by the ascendancy of Timour, the glory of the Ottomans revived again, with redoubled splendor, in his a.d. 1453. descendants ; until the conquests of the illustrious Mohammed II. securely placed the Ottomans in their European possessions. Having thus taken a slight survey of the rise and progress of the Turkish race until the establishment of their power in Europe, and having sketched such an C) Gibbon. (i) Ibid. Cantemir. p. 71. ( xxvii ) outline of the nations of Tatary who have ceased to exist, as will tend to prevent our falling into error respecting them, we can now with greater accuracy proceed in the examination of the language and literature of their descendants. With this for my principal object, I have, throughout, endeavoured to compress the historical relations as much as the nature of the subject would allow ; and have merely given such details as were less generally known, and yet essential to our forming correct notions of the subject. The result of our examination of the historical fragments that have been pre- served relating to the nations of Tatary who have ceased to exist, leads us to consider the languages spoken by the Hioung-nou, the Tou-kiue, the Hoei-hou, the Seljucides, the Patzinaks, and the Romans, as sister dialects. Of these, however, we have few data to guide us to just conclusions concerning their degree of analogy ; and when we have proved that each of them formed part of the Turkish family, we have done almost as much as our materials allow. The language of the Turkish race, which is at present spread over so extensive a portion of the earth, is spoken by nations, for the most part, independent of each other, of very different grades in the scale of civilization, and whose relations with surrounding people have differed according to their relative positions. The Turkish language, acted upon by such varieties of situation at present, consists of ten divisions or dialects ; — the Ouigour, the Jaghataian, the Kaptchak, the Kirghis, the Turcoman, the Caucaso-Danubian, the Austro-Siberian, the Yakoute, the Tchouvache, and the Osmanli r . These divisions of the Turkish language comprise all the dialects which are at present known to exist ; and one or other of these is spoken by almost every nation between the Mediterranean and the frontier of China — between the utmost extremity of Siberia and the borders of India. In Egypt, in the states of Barbary, in the Levant, at the Court of Tehran, and in the northern and western provinces of Persia, the Turkish is the ruling language. In the widely-extended dominions of the Sultan, throughout the greater part of Tatary, and the extent of Siberia, the Turkish language, in one or other of its dialectical variations, is the mother tongue of the inhabitants ; and whether the relations of diplomacy, the transactions of Commerce, or the inquiring eye of Science, prompt our intercourse with these ( r ) In this division, I have followed that of M. Balbi in his Atlas Ethnographique. It seems more just than M. Jaubert's classification of the Turkish Dialects into Turkish, Yakoute, and Tchouwache ; or M. Remusat's, of Ouigour, Tchakhatean, or Boukharian, Turkish of Kasan, and Astrakhan, and that of Constantinople. — Balb. Introduction, p. 147. Rech. 249. ( xxviii ) Or the Lan- guage of the Ouigours since their Conver- sion to Mo- hammedanism. countries, a valuable and almost indispensable requisite is a knowledge of the Turkish language. The dialect of the Turkish called Ouigour may be considered as the most learned of the ancient Turkish idioms ; and being the language of a people who possessed the art of writing from an ancient period, and who early cultivated literature, it presents an interesting object, in examining the language and literature of the Turkish race. The Ouigour is still the language of the inhabitants of the coun- tries between Kashgar and Kamoul ; and the learned M. Klaproth has given a Vocabulary of eighty-seven words, which he obtained from the mouth of a native of Tourfan, whose mother tongue was the Ouigour. The differences existing between the Ouigour dialect and that of the Osmanli are, for the most part, such as the relative situation of the two people would lead us to expect. The language of the Ouigours, the primitive dialect, has been but little subject to foreign influence. The Osmanlis, in their rise and progress, as in their settle- ment in Europe, have had constant and continued connexions with other nations. In the Ouigour, the principal vestiges of the exercise of foreign influence may be traced to the vicinity of the Chinese ; but to so small an extent has this influence been exercised, that, except in some compositions, written expressly in imitation of the style of China, it is scarcely discoverable. The adoption of the religion of Mohammed might contribute somewhat to affect it, by the introduction of words to express the ideas of their new theology : but as the Koran reached the Ouigours by means of Missionary efforts, their conversion did not produce such changes as were effected in the language of those tribes who sought the religion of Islam in the country of its birth. The ancestors of the Osmanlis, on the contrary, advancing into the countries of Persia and Arabia, there received the faith of Mohammed immediately from its professors. With the religion of the Persians and Arabians, some portions of their languages were acquired ; and the adoption of the Alphabetical characters of their preceptors rendered the introduction of words more easy and frequent. The political relations of the Osmanlis with the west, and their long residence in Europe, have succeeded to this : and if there are variations and differences between the dialects of Tourfan and Constantinople, we may trace most of them to one or other of the preceding causes. But while the Osmanli has been thus enriched and improved, in point of vigour and simpli- city it is perhaps surpassed by the Ouigour : and although we must award the palm of refinement to the former, the latter must be considered as the purest of the Turkish dialects ; and, as a specimen of the ancient state of the language, it is not unworthy of attention. ( xxix ) The Ouigour dialect, though superior in simplicity to the Osmanli, is however Of the nature much inferior in beauty and exactitude of expression. The Verb in the Ouigour is not subjected to that mechanism which renders the nicety of expression so great in the dialect of Constantinople. The Affirmative, the Active, the Passive, and the Negative, appear to be the only forms of the Verb known to the Ouigours. They are strangers to the composition of Impossible, Reciprocal, Causal, and Personal Verbs, formed by the insertion of a letter or a Particle between the radical and its termination, which constitutes so material a feature in the Osmanli. The Impe- rative is the root from which the Simple Tenses are formed : the Compoimd are unknown : and the only Tenses an Ouigour Verb appears to be susceptible of, are the Present and the Preterite. The Verb Substantive in the Ouigour is not an Auxiliary ; it is always employed alone ; and is never found performing those im- portant offices which have been assigned to it by the Osmanlis. The Infinitive is terminated by J^> male, the rejection of which gives the Imperative. The Prete- rite is formed by adding to the Imperative the Particle *j<3 dim, answering to the Preterite in *•$ dum of the Osmanli ; and the mode of forming the Persons of the Verb is the same as in that dialect. The Particles in j ur and (jl** mish, and the Gerunds in ^S ken, <-— ^, ib, and «-Jj ub, are also frequently employed. The Nume- rals offer a strong proof of the Ouigour being the primitive dialect, by giving the etymology of the Numeral Adjectives at present employed by the Osmanlis, the origin of which is undiscoverable in their own language. Thus, in the Turkish of Constantinople, as in Ouigour, •/*» sekiz is " eight," and ^1 6n "ten;" but "eighty" is, in the former, i j>»^ seksen, while in the latter it is ij^j^ sekizdn, literally " eight, ten." The same occurs in the subsequent numbers ; the Ouigour shewing the derivation, which elision has rendered undiscoverable in the Osmanli. In the dialect of the Osmanlis, the Conjugation is executed throughout by the aid of the Verb Substantive and the Defective Verb *j1 im, which correspond entirely to our idea of Auxiliaries. Each of the Tenses is formed by uniting to the Verb, either in its Imperative state or in the form of a Participle, the Tenses of these Auxiliaries. +JS kilurum,"\ do," * Jolts' kilur idum, J^)^» kilur imishem, " I did, 11 *»xl» kildum, j, Aljl \jZJj> kilmish dldum," I have done," are all formed in this manner ; and are, when analysed, ^1* kilur, " doing" *! im " I am ;" J& kilur, " doing " *&>} idum " I was." This fact produces a singular anomaly, in comparing the Ouigour with the Osmanli. The Ouigour Inflexion, with regard to the Simple Tenses which it employs, is executed exactly in the same manner as that of the Osmanli ; which even appears more distinctly, on account of elision being less used. rtj^? kilurim is, in Ouigour, " I do," or literally " Doing I am ;" *> jJuw kildim ( XXX ) Of the Litera- ture of the Ouigours since their Conver- sion to Mo- hammedanism. Destruction of the Library of the Ablai-yin- Kied. '* I have done" — " to do, I have been." The singularity of this formation of Tenses consists in the Verb, which is used as an Auxiliary to produce it, not existing in the language in which it is employed. The Verb Substantive *jI of the Osmanlis is an utter stranger to the language of the Ouigours, and yet it is thus found entering into the most intimate part of their idiom. This forms a curious problem for the consideration of the Philologist. How, at what period, and from whom, have the Osmanlis derived the important addition which the possession of an Auxiliary Verb, and its employment in the formation of Compound Tenses, makes to their Grammatical system ? Or, if the Verb existed in the primitive dialect, why was its employment rejected ? If it had existed in the Ouigour, should we not have found some traces of its use ? And if at a later period it was adopted by the Osmanlis, how could it have been so generally introduced, not only into the written dialect, but even into that which is spoken by all classes ? In a language not rich in Terminations, the want of Compound Tenses consi- derably diminishes the resources of the writer ; who is unable to vary the turn of expression in his sentences, and consequently cannot avoid a certain degree of monotony and sameness in his compositions. In this respect, the Ouigour is similarly situated, but not in so great a degree, with the Mandshu and the Mongol. Reduced to the frequent use of Particles, the sense is kept up by a series of little propositions, relating the events in the order of occurrence, and seldom making a period until the close of the subject. But, however inelegant this mode of composition may be, it certainly possesses some advantages : the ideas are put together without confusion or inversion ; and simplicity and clear- ness are certainly attained, if grace and elegance are sacrificed 8 . The literature of the Ouigours has suffered so much from the ravages of time and the destroying hand of man, that but very few Manuscripts in Ouigour Cha- racters are known to exist in the Libraries of Europe. Of these, none can be con- sidered as belonging to the ancient dialect of the Ouigours ; and we must therefore place them among the more modern productions of that language. The power of the Princes of the House of Tchingis enabled them, at various periods, to procure large Collections of valuable Manuscripts in the different Asiatic Dialects ; and the Kied or Monasteries of the Lamas, so numerous in ( s ) The author is indebted for much information on the subject of the Ouigour Dialect, to the Researches of the learned M. Remusat ; whose valuable work, " sur les Langues Tartares," it is much to be regretted, still remains incomplete. 1 Manuscripts. Bakhtiar ( xxxi ) Tatary, frequently became the depositories of these literary treasures. A prince named Ablai, who had amassed a vast quantity of Oriental Manuscripts, bestowed them on one of these monasteries ; which was named, from its founder, Ablai-yin- Kied. This monastery was situated a short distance from the Russian frontier, and was known to exist until a late period. The peaceful inhabitants were at length obliged to abandon their treasures ; and the place was for some time deserted, until the barbarism of Russia effected its total destruction. M. Sokolof, a young Naturalist, found the place in the possession of a squadron of Russian cavalry; and among the ruins he was only able to discover a few torn and scattered leaves, which, strewed along the damp ground, were half obliterated. Some of these fragments, in Mongol, Tibetian, Sanscrit, and Ouigour — some printed, some written in letters of gold on a paper of a blue ground — are still preserved in the cabinets of the curious, and are the only relics of this valuable library, the latest that existed in Tatary, and perhaps the most magnificent '. Of the Ouigour MSS. at present existing, the Bodleian may boast of the pos- Ouigour session of one ; the Bibliotheque du Roi contains two ; and a third was sent from Vienna to Paris, about the year 1823, by that learned Orientalist, Von Hammer. Nameh The MS. of the Bodleian appears to be the most ancient of these. The date of the transcription is A.H. 838, answering to 1434 A.D. It was from this MS. a.d. H34. that Hyde u gave an engraved specimen, consisting of the first page ; which he misnamed Khitaian, conceiving that it was the Code of Laws of Tchingis Khan. Sir William Jones x was equally mistaken in regard to this MS.; the writing of which he stated to be evidently a bad Cufic ; and the work a Mendean one, on some religious subject. M. Langles came nearer the truth, when he stated the characters to be similar to the Mongol ; but erred, in imagining he recognised, in the formula which is prefixed to the work, words belonging to the Mongol and Mandshu languages. The MS. which has given rise to these various conjectures is, in fact, Ouigour, both in characters and language ; and the specimen given by Hyde consists of the Formula with which Mohammedan works usually commence, the Title of the book, the Division of the work into ten parts, and an account of the Contents of each as far as the sixth. The words written on the margin are " Bakhtiar Nameh," the title. The writing of this MS. is perhaps the most beautiful we possess. It consists (') Rech. sur les Lang. Tart. 229. Commentatio de Scriptis Tanguticis in Siberia repertis. Acta Erudit. Lips. 1722. Mem. de l'Acad. des B. L. torn. XXX. p. 777. ( a ) Hyde Relig. Veter. Persar. p. 552. Jenish de Fatis. Ling. Or. ■ ( x ) Asiatic Researches, vol. II. p. 27. Rem. Rech. p. 264, note. ( xxxii ) of 294 pages in folio ; and the characters and proper names are written in red. The style is simple and unaffected, but perfectly destitute of ornament ; and the frequent tautological repetitions and pleonasms, with which it abounds, shew that exactitude of expression was more the aim of the author than elegance of compo- sition. The subject of the Bakhtiar Nameh is well known, from the Persian version : the events are probable, and well contrived ; and, as a work of fiction, after the model of the East, it is not often surpassed. But though this may give it no claim to a great attention at the hands of the Learned, yet to the Philologist, as a specimen of a little-known language, it is far from being destitute of interest. Miradg, and The MS. of the Bibliotheque du Roi is a folio, consisting of 231 leaves, beauti- Tezkere'i Evlia. * ° fully written in Ouigour characters ; and contains two works on the subject of Mohammedan Theology — the Miradg, or History of the Ascension of Mohammed ; and the Tezkere'i Evlia, the Legends of the Mussulmen Saints. The date of the a.d. 1436. transcription of these MSS. is A.H. 840 (1436 A.D.) ; and they are probably some of the earliest literary efforts of the new converts in their adopted faith. Neither of these works can be considered as of great interest, except in a philological point of view. They offer no specimen of the literature of the Ouigours them- selves ; as the transcriber tells us, in his Preface, that the Miradg is a translation from the Arabic, and the Tezkere'i Evlia from the Persian. The Grammatical principles of the Ouigour, in these works, are however unchanged ; and present the same simple dialect to which we have before alluded. Kaondat-ki)l jLJyf USI, e , or "Commentaries of the Sultan Baber,* 1 sin- 1494—1531. gularly analogous in style and manner to those of Caesar, is perhaps the gem of Jaghataian literature. The original of this interesting work has fortunately been preserved ; and the Library of the Honourable East-India Company possesses a fine manuscript of it, which formerly belonged to the late Dr. Leyden. Of this work we possess an English translation 1 ; but that has been made principally, I believe, from the Persian, as it differs in many respects from the original Jaghataian manuscript. This work contains the history of the author's adventurous and eventful career, from liis ascending the throne of his ancestors to his conquest of the empire of Hindostan ; and for naivett of style, and expressive simplicity, it is not excelled by any work of a similar nature. It may be divided into three parts ; the first extending from Baber's accession to the throne of Ferghana, to the time of his expulsion from his paternal dominions by Sheibani Khan, a period of about ( c ) Rem. Rech. 233. ( d ) Every Oriental Poet lias his Takhellus, or Poetical name ; which he usually introduces in the last verse of his compositions. ( e ) It is also called the lj ol> Baber Nameh. ( f ) " Memoirs of Zehir eddin Muhammed Baber, Emperor of Hindustan, written by himself; translated partly by the late John Leyden, M.D., and partly by W. Erskinc, Esq., 4to. London, 1826." ( xxxix ) twelve years ; the second from his being compelled to quit his country, to his last invasion of Hindostan, a period of about twenty-two years ; and the third con- taining his transactions in Hindostan for about five years. Both in style and incident, the two first parts are much superior to the last, which partakes too much of the nature of a journal, in which whatever occurred, whether interesting or not, finds a place. But the two former portions of the work, the reminiscences of his youthful and adventurous days, are vivid and picturesque ; and his passionate fondness for the poetry of his native country frequently calls to his mind the verses of its Poets, suited to the varied situations in which he was placed. We also find him catching their inspiration; and some of his own compositions are not inferior to the best of his quotations. His account of the Literature of Jaghatai is highly interesting ; and the prince displays an acumen and critical taste in examining the merits of the different authors, which is frequently surprising. The account of the Court of Sultan Hussain " is very amusing ; and the sketch of Mir Ali Shir is no doubt faithful and correct. It is as follows :— " Ali Shir Beg Nuvai was not so much the Sultan's Amir, as his friend. In their youth they had been schoolfellows, and were extremely intimate. I know not for what offence, he was driven from Heri by Sultan Abu Said Mirza ; but he went to Sa- markand, where he remained for several years, and was protected and patronized by Ahmed Hadgi Beg. Ali Shir Beg was celebrated for the elegance of his manners, and this elegance and polish were ascribed to the conscious pride of high fortune : but this was not the case ; they were natural to him, and he had precisely the same manners when he was at Samarkand. Indeed, Ali Shir Beg was an incomparable person. From the time that poetry was first written in the Turki Language, no one has written so much and so well. He composed six Mesnavis in verse ; five similar to the Khamsah, and one like the Mantik ut Teir. This last he called Lissan ut Teir, ' the Language of the Birds.' He also composed four divans of ghazels or odes, entitled, Gheraib u Sigher, ' the Singularities (s) Among the musical talent of the Court, Baber gives an account of the prototype of a celebrated Modern Orpheus : — " Another (musician) was Hussain Audi, the lutanist, who played with great taste on the lute, and composed elegantly. He could play, using only one string of his lute at a time. He had the fault of giving himself many airs, when desired to play. On one occasion, Sheibani Khan desired him to play. After much trouble, he played very ill ; and besides, did not bring his own instrument, but one that was good for nothing. Sheibani Khan, on learning how matters stood, directed ^hat at that very party he should receive a certain number of blows on the neck.' — This," adds Baber, " was one good deed that Sheibani Khan did in his day : indeed, the affectation of such people deserves even more severe animadversion."— Baber's Memoirs, p. 198. ( xl ) of Infancy,' Nevader Ushehab, ' the Wonders of Youth,' Bedaia ul Vaset, ' the Marvels of Manhood,' and Faveid ul Keber, or ' Benefits of A ge.' He likewise composed several other works, which are of a lower class, and inferior merit to these. Of that numher is an imitation of the Epistles of Moulana Abdalrahman Jami, which he partly wrote and partly collected. The object of it is, to enable every person to find a letter suited to any business on which he may desire to write. He also composed the Mizan al Auzan, ' the Measure of Metres,' on Prosody, in which he is very incorrect ; for in describing the metres of twenty- four rubais, or quatrains, he has erred in the measure of four : he has also made some mistakes regarding other poetical measures, as will be evident to any one who has attended to the structure of the Persian verse. He besides completed a divan in Persian; and in his compositions in that language, he assumed the name of Fani. Some of his Persian verses are not bad ; but the greater part of them are heavy and poor. He also left excellent pieces of music : they are excellent, both as to the airs themselves and as to the preludes. There is not upon record in history any man who was a greater patron and protector of men of talent than Ali Shir Beg. Usta Kuli Beg, the celebrated Sheikhi, and Hussain Audi, who were so distinguished for their skill in instrumental music, attained their eminence and celebrity by the instructions and encouragement of Ali Shir Beg. Ustad Behzad and Shah Muzafer owed their reputation and fame in painting to his exertions and patronage : and so many were the excellent works which owed their origin to him, that few persons ever effected any tiling like it. He had no son, nor daughter, nor wife, nor family : he passed through the world unencumbered. At first, he was Keeper of the Signet ; in the middle period of his life he was invested with the dignity of Beg, and held the government of Asterabad for some time. He afterwards renounced the profession of arms, and would accept of nothing from the Mirza ; on the contrary, he annually presented him with a large sum of money, as a present. When Sultan Hussain Mirza returned from the Asterabad campaign, the Beg came out of the city to meet him : between the Mirza's saluting liim, and his rising, he was affected with a sudden stroke, which prevented him getting up, and he was obliged to be carried off. The physicians were unable to render him any assistance; and the next morning he departed to the mercy of God. One of his own couplets was liighly applicable to his situation : " I perish of a mortal disease, though I know not what it is: " In this disease, what remedy can physicians administer ? " h ( b ) Memoirs of Baber, pp. 184, 185. ( xU ) This sketch, though shorn of its native graces in the translation, will suffice to shew the style of the Vakaet Baberi ; a work which may be recommended to the attention of the Learned, as a curious and interesting specimen of the literature of Jaghatai '. " The Genealogical History of the Turks" ^y js* <—j\j£ is another important work in the Jaghataian dialect. The author was Abulghazi Bahadour Khan, fjoftm Sultan of Kharism, who wrote about A.D. 1663. Of this work we possess no accurate version; and the mangled translations existing in the various languages of Europe afford but a very imperfect notion of the original 11 . The text of Abulghazi was lately edited at Kasan, by M. Fraehn. This work, as well as the productions of Mir Ali Shir, deserve an entire translation ; and it is to be hoped that the learned Academician ', who has undertaken the one, will not relinquish his labours until he has accomplished the other. The dialect to which the name of Kaptchak has been given is that of Kasan Of the Dialect . ° of Kaptchak. and Astrakhan and the neighbouring country, the inhabitants of which are the descendants of the numerous army of Turks who, under Batou, settled in that country, and formed part of the powerful empire of Kaptchak ; which, after its division into separate khanats, submitted to Russia, about the middle of the sixteenth century. Of this dialect there are several varieties, spoken by the different Turkish tribes, subjects of Russia, in the Governments of Tobolsk, Tomsk, Perm, and Orenburgh. In many of these, the mixture of the Finnish with the idiom of the Turks is very perceptible. The dialect of Kasan is the most cultivated and polished of the idioms of Kaptchak. Some works in this dialect have been published; and we have some interesting specimens, in the Poems printed at Kasan in 1820, and in the Life of Tchingis Khan and Iksak Timour, published by Ibrahim Ben Ishak Khalifi, with other historical documents™. There are two people of Turkish origin who bear the name of Kirghiz; the OftheKirghii. Kara Kirghiz or Burut, and the Kirghiz Kaissak. The Burut are the nomade ( ' ) There is one passage which must be excepted, in a recommendation of this work, to which I need not allude. The custom of his country, or the example of greater and more learned nations, is no palliative, and is equally censurable in a Jaghataian or a Soman. ( ) Sir William Jones says : " Abulghazi, King of Khwarezm, composed in the Mogul language his Genealogical History :" Vol. I. p. 56. — Another example of the confusion of names : the work being in pure Jaghatai Turkish. (') M. Quatremere has, I believe, undertaken a translation of Mir Ali Shir. ( ) jlfela* *~jIs { ja>o fj0yemf*j*ktjy j jy£ tL-jJil _j ^U- j&>- Jl^sJ 8vo. Kasan, 1822. G ( xHi ) inhabitants of Chinese Turkestan, and possess the country between Andzidgan and Kashgar. The Kirghiz Kaissak, a numerous and powerful nation, divided into three hordes, are nominally subject to Russia, and occupy the vast tracts which extend from the Caspian Sea and the Lake of Aral to the frontier of China. The Kirghiz were anciently both a civilized and powerful nation, who cultivated science and literature. At present they possess nothing that can entitle them to any literary distinction ; and we can only view them as exhibiting that singular feature in the history of literature — a people retrograding. They are said to have possessed a peculiar character, which is supposed to be the same as that of the unknown Inscriptions found in Siberia, between the Obi and Yenesei : the invention of the Cycle of Animals is also ascribed to them by the Chinese n . In the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, the Kirghiz were called, by the Chinese, Qlf 4=J> ipa Ha-kia-szu, pronounced " Hakas." They suc- 7?¥\ 22Zm Swir* ceeded to the power of the Hoei-he, and finally to that of the Dgoungar. Since the thirteenth century they are called 3S; v^ /I*/] S* Ki-li-ki-szu, which is pronounced " Kirkis." The language of the Kirghiz differs little, in its grammatical construction, from the dialect of the OsmanUs ; and the mass of its words is derived from the same source. The modern Kirghiz are represented, by M. le Baron MeyendorfF , as fond of poetry, and listening with delight to the romantic poems of those whose profession it is to recite them. A fragment of one of the Songs of the Desert, sung by a young maiden, is thus rendered : — " Do you behold this snow I Indeed my body is more fair ! Dost thou see the blood of that slaughtered lamb, sinking in the snow ? Indeed my cheeks are more ruddy ! Beyond tins mountain you will find the trunk of a scorched tree. Indeed my hair is more black. The Mollahs of the Sultan write much, but indeed my eyebrows are blacker than their ink." Another fragment is given as follows : — " Behold that aoul (an encampment), the possession of a man of wealth : he has but one daughter. The day she remains alone in her home : the night she wanders, and has no companion but the moon.'" How far these are faithful, I have not the means of ascertaining : and as they are the only specimens of the literature of the Kirghiz 1 am able to collect, a very high literary rank cannot be assigned them. ( n ) Wen-hian-thoung-khao, K, 348, p. 7. ap. Rem. Recli. 301. (°) Voyage d'Orenburgh aBoukara en 1820, par le Baron Georges de Meyendorff. 8vo. Paris, 1 826, p.45. ( xliii ) The divisions and branches of the nomade people named Turcomans are very Of the numerous. The five principal are the Turcomans of Independent Turkestan, those of Caboul, of Persia, of the Ottoman Empire, and of Russia. The first of these, who wander to the east of the Caspian, are independent tribes, allied to the Khans of Khiva, Bokhara, and Ferganah ; the most powerful of which are the tribes of Ersaroe, Jomoud, Koelen, and Tekeh, who are the allies of the Khan of Khiva. The Turcoman tribes of Caboul are governed by their own Khans, but acknowledge the supremacy of the King of Cab,oul. The principal are the Aimaks and the Hazaris, who occupy part of Afghanistan; each being subdivided into many subordinate hordes or tribes. The Turkomans of Persia are divided into forty-two numerous tribes: they are spread over all the northern portion of the kingdom. It was the Afshars, one of these, that gave birth to Nadir Shah; and another, the Kadjars, has given Persia its reigning monarch. The Turcomans of the Ottoman Empire consist of seventy-two tribes, who occupy many of the provinces of Kerman, Halep, Damascus, Erzeroum, Van, and other parts of the empire. The Turcomans of the Russian Empire are principally found in the Caucasian Government and the Eastern Provinces. The language of the Turcomans does not differ very consi- derably from the Osmanli ; and there is little doubt that, in their ancient state, the resemblance between the two dialects was much greater. The title of Caucaso-Danubian, employed by M. Balbi, is intended to include oftheCaucaso- the dialects of three people who speak Turkish idioms having a great affinity Dialect*" with each other — the Basians, the Koumuks, and the Nogais. The combination which produces this term was caused by the two former of these people in- habiting the Caucasian region ; while the third extended towards the Mouths of the Danube. The Basian and the Koumuk dialects are spoken in Circassia and Daghestan. The Basians are divided into two tribes, one of which is very numerous. The Koumuks are considered as the descendants of the Khazars, and are governed by several petty Khans. The Nogais appear to be descended from the Mongol race ; but their language, as well as the others, classed as Caucaso- Danubian, is decidedly Turkish, and bears great affinity to the dialect of Jaghatai. Austro-Siberian is another of the Ethnographical terms of M. Balbi, and is of the Austro- employed to designate those numerous subdialects of the Turkish, more or less corrupt, and mixed with Mongol and Samoyede words, which, with the exception of the Tchoulym, are spoken in the southern part of Siberia p . The principal (P) Balbi Introduction a l'Atlas Ethnographique du Globe. Paris, 1826. ( xliv ) tribes who speak the dialects included under this term are the Tchoulym, the Barabinzes, the Kuznesk, the Kashkalar, the Kanzagnes, the Yarinar, the Yastalar, the Tubinzes, the Beltyrs, the Sayanes, the Biriousses, and the Teleutes. Many of these people cannot be considered as belonging to the Turkish race. The Tubinzes have all the traits of hyperborean descent; and the mixture of Samoyede words in their idiom sufficiently attests their origin. The Teleutes are of Mongol extraction; and are named, by the Russians, White Kalmouks. All the sub-dialects of the Austro-Siberian display great traces of a mixture of the Mongols and Hyperboreans with the Turkish race ; and we must consider many of the tribes by which they are spoken as people who have changed their language, and who, with the exception of speaking a Turkish dialect, have nothing in common with the Turks. Yakoutc. The most uncultivated, perhaps, of all the Turkish dialects is the Yakoute ; which is spoken by the Sokhalar, or Yakoutes, who inhabit the banks of the Lena, near the Northern Ocean. Separated from the body of their race, they have still preserved their language; and though much corrupted, the dialect of the Yakoute is but little different from the Osmanli. The Yakoutes are plunged in the depths of ignorance : they live by the chace ; and are, for the most part, idolaters. Tchouvache. The Tchouvaches are a numerous people in the Governments of Kasan, Wietka, Simborsk, and Orenburgh. Many of them are idolaters ; and offer sacrifices on a kind of altar, called Keremet. The language of the Tchouvaches, though it has been considered as belonging to the hyperborean family, is more properly classed among the Turkish dialects. Its Grammar approaches very nearly to the pure Turkish; and about three parts of its words are of Turkish origin; the rest belonging to the Ouralian and Samoyede languages ; and some few are entirely unknown. The principal essential differences between the Grammar of the Tchouvache and the pure Turkish dialects consists in its Plural, which is regu- larly formed by the addition of zam or zem, as in Osmanli by } ler, and in its Pro- nouns. 7, in Tchouvache, is ap or abe; in Osmanli, ^> men: but this is only in the Nominative, several of the Cases being formed by the use of men. The Conjugation of Verbs is more simple than in the dialect of Constantinople ; but the forms, which are three, Past, Present, and Future, are in general similar. The Verb Substantive is bolab, which is the same as in the Jaghataian and other Turkish dialects. They have no Passive ; and to express " I am desired," they would say man vylzam kaziavasse ; literally, " They desire me." When negation is required, the termination of the Verb is changed into mastap; as, kaziaradip, " I pray;" kaziarmastap, " I do not pray." ( xlv ) The greater part of the Turks of Siberia are entirely without literature : many oftheOsmaniii. of them are even ignorant of the use of Alphabetical characters ; and very few possess any interest to arrest the attention of the curious : it is therefore with no feeling of regret that I turn from these barren and uninteresting regions, and approach towards the contemplation of the literature of the Osmanlis ; — a people of the same race, indeed, as those of the Northern wastes, but one whose love of learning, and whose efforts towards its attainment, have raised it high above the level of its kindred. The prejudices which have so long led us to consider the Turks as ignorant and unlettered barbarians are now, for the most part, happily removed. The age is past in which the praise a Christian people would have elicited would be denied to Mohammedans ; but we have still to contend with our imperfect knowledge of the Osmanlis, added to a certain degree of prejudice, arising from our education. The difference between the genius of the East and West is almost a barrier to our arriving at an impartial judgment on the subject of Oriental literature. Formed on the model of Greece and Rome — tempered by the nature of our climature — the literature of Europe possesses little in common with the offspring of Asia. The climate of the North differs not more from that of the Oriental regions than the literary taste of their inhabitants : the beauties of the one are the blemishes of the other ; and what the one admires, the other despises. Of all the Eastern nations, the Osmanlis have made the nearest approaches towards uniting the genius of both hemispheres. Situated both in Europe and in A sia, drawing their origin from the one, but having constant and continued relations with the other, they have in some measure learned to unite the beauties of each, and will gradually succeed in effecting a more complete union. But, although the difference of genius and style is thus rendered less perceptible in the Osmanli than in any other of the languages of Asia, it is not the less an Oriental idiom ; and, if we judge it by the test of the European model, we still find it, in many respects, not consonant to our ideas. In thus trying the literature of the East, however, we are subjecting it to a somewhat prejudiced judgment; for what- ever differs from the standard we employ, must be condemned; and but little, con- sequently, will escape the censure of the critic. In the physical world we judge of things relatively : the various species of animals we judge by themselves : we do not compare the ant with the elephant, or the eagle with the fly ; each may be excellent, nevertheless in its degree : let us not, then, follow the opposite course in examining the literature of nations essentially differing from each other in taste and opinions : let us endeavour, if possible, to eradicate this prejudice of ( xlvi ) education from our minds ; and let us not hastily condemn all differing from that to which it has rendered us accustomed. There is no nation more passionately attached to literature than the Osmanlis. Instead of the religion they profess restraining their pursuit of knowledge, as the ignorant have asserted, we find their Prophet himself commanding it : — " Seek knowledge, 11 says he, " were it even to China. It is permitted to the Moslems to possess all the sciences." The mandate of the Prophet was re-echoed hy the Sultan. The library founded by the conqueror of Constantinople bears its para- phrase, as an inscription : — " The study of the sciences is a divine precept for true Believers." Neither the Prophet nor the Sultan has been disobeyed. The Osmanlis have eagerly sought science, have zealously cultivated literature ; and it will be the object of this part of my Essay to endeavour to shew that their efforts have not been entirely unsuccessful, of the Osmanii The dialect of the Osmanlis is the most polished of all the Turkish idioms — rich, dignified, and melodious : in delicacy and nicety of expression, it is not perhaps surpassed by any language ; and in grandeur, beauty, and elegance, it is almost unequalled. The perfection and regularity of its derivation, and the facility with which it may be performed, render it extremely adapted for colloquial purposes. The addition of a letter or syllable makes the Verb Passive, nega- tive, impossible, causal, reciprocal, or personal; and combinations of these are produced in the same manner, and by the same kind of mechanism. Thus, for example, til^*,^^ sevishdurmemek, from viLcy* sevmek, " to love," a word of eight letters, would require in our language ten words to express it — " to cause that we do not love one another mutually. 11 So, by the addition of a single letter, an impossibility of action will be understood : viX^^iX^^u sevishdureh- memek, " to cause that it be impossible for us to love another mutually." The derivation of the other parts of speech is not less regular : Agents, Nouns of action, locality, possession, Gentile or Patrial names, Adjectives, and Adverbs, are equally formed by the addition of a Particle to the Primitive Noun or Verb. In its Declension of Nouns it is similar to the Latin, possessing Five Cases, exclu- sive of the Vocative ; but the Osmanii Declension is more regular, the Radical being preserved entire throughout, and the Cases formed by Terminations attached. In following the natural division of Gender, the Osmanii has obviated that difficulty which the French and many other languages present to a foreigner, by the employment of arbitrary Genders : and the agreement of the Adjectives with either Masculine, Feminine, or Neuter Nouns, without undergoing any ( xlvii ) change, greatly simplifies and facilitates the construction of sentences. The conjugation is rich and regular, and is principally executed by the aid of the Verb Substantive. But the most singular feature in the Osmanli, as in all the other Turkish dialects, is the inversion of phraseology which pervades the lan- guage : the sense of a passage, suspended throughout by the employment of the numerous Participles, is determined by the Verb which concludes the sentence : the Prepositions are subjoined, instead of prefixed : and, in construction, the governed precedes the governing. These peculiarities give a gravity and picturesque effect to the periods of a Turkish composition, which adds greatly to the dignity and expression of the language q . The Osmanlis have enriched their language by the adoption of numbers of Per- sian, Arabian, Greek, Italian, and other European words ; and even traces of their original neighbourhood to the Chinese are visible. The dignity of m j£ ^ e ^ as not undergone much alteration in the ti^j Bey or Beg of the Osmanlis. The standards formed of horsetails, named fy, are identical with the Chinese jfolj Thu. The mode of forming the names of Agents by the addition of ^»- tchi answers to the Chinese y£+ tche, subjoined to a Verb. <*ZXJii dekmek, " to attain," the radical of which is . g li'. Selaniki succeeded him. His history commences with the year of the Hejira 971, Seianiki. answering to A.D. 1563; and concludes A. H. 1008 (1599). Both these works, as well as the Tadg al Tavarikh, forming the earlier Annals of the Ottoman Empire, are still in manuscript ; but the succeeding historians have been sub- mitted to the press. The first of these is Naima, the Imperial Historiographer. Naima. His Annals extend from A.H. 1000 (1591), to A.H. 1070 (1659). This work issued from the Press of Constantinople A.H. 1147, corresponding to A.D. 1734. It is in two folio volumes, and is entitled Kitab Tarikh Naima L,jjo j£ U v-jlif. ( b ) Compare it with Gibbon, Decline and Fall, vol. XII. chap. 68. ( Ivi ) To the first volume, the Editor, Ibrahim, has prefixed an excellent Preface. It commences with philosophic reflections upon the causes of the rise, the power, and the decay of empires. It shews the utility of the general study of History ; and discusses with elegance various points relating to the work. The Annals of Naima are written with elegance and perspicuity ; the events of each year and reign succeeding each other in chronological succession. His accounts of the acts and policy of other nations is also curious and interesting ; and Naima and his Raahid TcheieM continuators are capable of tlirowing much light on the history of Europe. Rashid Zadeh. continues the thread of Naima's relations ; and carries the history of the Otto- mans from A.H. 1071 (1060), down to 1134 (1721). The Tarikhi Rashid Efendi (jJoil ii£)j zifi issued from the Imperial Press in 1734; and, with its 'con- tinuation by Tchelebi Zadeh, to A.H. 1141 (1728), formed two folio volumes. The accounts of the affairs of Europe, the embassies of the various nations, and the characters of the eminent men and princes who flourished during the period of these Annals, are well worthy of perusal. The Journal of the Turkish Ambassador at the Court of Paris is given entire, and is not among the least entertaining of its contents. Sami, shagir, Sami, Shagir, and Subhi, appear next in succession, as Imperial Annalists. The history of the first of these begins with the year that Tchelebi Zadeh concludes, and the last continues the narrative of events down to A.H. 1156 (1743). They commence with a short statement of the situation of Persia; and relate the events of the insurrection against Ahmed III., the election of Mahmud his successor, the wars and victories of the Osmanlis, and the taking of Belgrade ; concluding with the arrival of Ahmed Pasha, the High Admiral, at Constantinople. These three authors were printed A.H. 1198 (1787). izzi. The continuator of the preceding historians was Izzi : he brings the Annals of the Osmanlis down to the year A.H. 1166(1751). The Tarikhi Izzi ^'jc gfi was printed at Constantinople A.H. 1199 (1784), uniformly with the annals which precede it. vasif. The most recent of the Public Annalists of the Porte is Ahmed Vasif Efendi. He is the continuator of the History of Izzi. The First Part of his work contains the Annals of the Osmanlis from the year A.H. 1166 (1752), to 1182 (1768). The second continues the history of the events to A.H. 1189 (1775). The account of Poland is very interesting ; as well as the revolt of Ah Bey, and the war which was terminated in 1774 by the Peace of Kainardgik. The Tarikhi Vasif i_Jlij KJS issued from the Imperial Press of Constantinople A.H. 1219 (1804), in one volume folio, printed uniformly with the series of preceding ( Ivii ) historians. The style of Vasif is pure and unaffected, and less encumbered with orientalism than most of his predecessors. The correctness and fidelity of his relations render his history a valuable work, and an important addition to the Annalists of the Ottoman Empire. Besides the historians of the empire, there are numerous other histories in the language of the Osmanlis. Ali Mohammed Efendi wrote an excellent account of the Turks, from their earliest times to A. H. 1004 (1595). Betchevi is the author of a valuable history, from the reign of Soliman the Great, 1520, to the death of Murad IV., 1689. Molana Idris, an elegant and accurate historian, wrote the Hesht behisht c^v£aj ei~*£-k, the Annals of Eight Ottoman Reigns, in Persian. The celebrated Hadgi Khalifeh, or Katib Tchelebi, was the author of several H«dgl KtaBfeli, excellent historical works. He was one of the most learned and accomplished 1589-1657. writers that the Ottoman empire has produced. Besides being perfect master of the languages of Persia and Arabia, he was well skilled in French, Italian, and Latin ; and he translated several works from those languages. His geographical treatises are highly esteemed ; and his Kieshef Uzzunun c , the foundation of D'Herbelot's " Bibliotheque Orientale," is a valuable Bibliographical Dictionary and Encyclopaedia of Eastern Learning. As an historian, Hadgi Khalifeh is known by five valuable works. The Tarikhi Keblri and Tarikhi Saghiri, both called Fezfikeh iX^JtXi, are two of his best productions : the former, written in Arabic, is a Universal History, from the Creation to the year of the Hejira 1065(1654): the latter is in Turkish, and extends from the year 1000 of the Hejira (A.D. 1589) down to the same period. " The History of the Maritime Wars of the Ottomans'" d is not inferior to any of his productions. This work contains an account of the naval affairs of the Ottomans, from their earliest times. It relates the naval glories of the reign of Soliman, in glowing colours ; and the accounts of the famous Khair-eddin or Barbarossa, and the Genoese Admiral, Andrea Doria, are highly curious. The geographical and topo- graphical descriptions of the theatre of war are well detailed : among the rest, is a vivid sketch of " the Citv of the Waters :" it is as follows : — ( c ) ^yiJI j <— JyW -«U i*. uj^ia-l i— ft^.> " The Test of Knowledge in Bibliography and Science." ( d ) ,Ls~l .lo*J J jlk£i\ kftsH. The First Part of this interesting work has .been translated by Mr. Mitchell, and was published by the Oriental Translation Committee : Land. 1831. The Second is in progress for publication. / ( lviii ) " Venice is a large city, built upon sixty small islands in a corner of the sea, like a lake. Its waters ebb and flow every six hours ; and some of the isles are raised, like ramparts, to prevent the water from overflowing. This city has three or four passages to the sea; and although it is not guarded by walls and towers, its being so completely surrounded by water renders it quite safe, and free from all danger. Between the houses there are roads and passages, by which passengers and boats may pass from house to house. Over the waters there are about four hundred and fifty bridges, both of stone and wood. The largest of these roads they call a Canal : it divides the city into two parts, and over it there is a wonderful bridge. Eight thousand vessels are constantly in motion, some of which are ornamented with covers, and these they call gondolas. The circumference of the city is nearly eight miles, and its principal streets are sixty-four in number. The public and private buildings are excessively grand and ornamental, especially the Church dedicated to one of the Four Evangelists, called St. Marco, and is an astonishing building. It is adorned with the most valuable and expensive stones, and its interior is gilt with pure gold. In the Treasury, which they say is a sacred deposit, there are kept the most costly and precious articles ; and affirming that the city, with all its castles and ships, belongs to it, the priests have shackled these fools, and by this artifice have brought under their power all the Christians, small and great. The city has three fine market-places, all adjoining each other : in the square of the principal one is the above-mentioned church : and close to the quay there are two massy columns, upon one of which is set up the standard of St. Marco, and upon the other the image of St. Theodorus. On the flag is represented a Lion with wings; by which, and on their coins also, they celebrate the valour of St. Marco, who is said to have been a brave and valiant person. The space between the two columns is the Hall of Justice. The centre of the city they call the Arsenal, which has a spacious building ; and being two miles in circumference, it forms a strong castle. Here naval armaments and cannons are daily manufactured and repaired; and the wrecks of fleets, the arms taken from pirates, old vessels, and colours, being deposited in this place, are exhibited to visitors. The population of Venice is estimated to be three hundred thousand ; and it is divided into three classes. Those of the first are called Patricii, and correspond to our Meshaiekh. To these belong the management of the State and the affairs of Government. Their prin- cipal is called Doge, which signifies " Duke." He enters into all questions of law, but has not a power to act until he has the voice of the people. Amongst the Christians, a Duke corresponds to the Begler-Beg of the Mussulmans; except the ( lix ) former has his own coin. Those constituting the second class are called Istadiriu (Citadini) ; and to them are committed civil affairs, customs, and education. The third class is composed of merchants and artisans. In former times, the power of this people was vested in a Consul ; but in the year 555 from the Birth of Christ (upon whom be peace !) it was committed to a Tribune, or Chief of a tribe ; and this government continued two hundred and fifty-two years, till, in A.D. 707, it became a Dukedom ; so that from the commencement of the Dukedom to the tune of the writing of this book, which is A.H. 1067 (1656), is a period of nine hundred and fifty years." Among the historical works of Hadgi Khalifeh, his Tarikhi Kostantinieh and Takvimi Tavarikh must not be omitted. The former of these is a History of Con- stantinople, from the conquest of Mohammed II. The latter are excellent and valuable chronological tables. The Dgihan Numa U { J^>-, or " View of the World," is another of this talented author's productions. It is one of the best geographical works of the Osmanlis ; and is justly celebrated for its accuracy, and the scientific and historical research it displays 6 . The Osmanlis have several curious and valuable accounts of voyages and travels. One of their best productions on this subject is the Mirat al Memalik ' CAilrJl i£j|^o or " Mirror of Kingdoms ;" a personal narrative of the voyages and Katibi Roumi, travels of Sidi AH ben Hussain, commonly called Katibi Roumi. The author was 1553—1556. Capudan, or Admiral, during the reign of Soliman the Great, a period when the naval power of the Ottomans was acknowledged by all Europe. Having received orders to take the command of the Egyptian fleet, consisting of fifteen ships, he hastened to Basra, where he joined his squadron, and set sail for Suez : but, either being unacquainted with the track, or ignorant of the monsoons, he lost the greater part of his fleet, and was driven upon the western coast of India. In returning to Constantinople, he was obliged to make his way, overland, through Hind, Sind, Zabulestan, Badakhshan, Transoxania, Kharism, Kaptchak, and Asia Minor. After innumerable difficulties, he succeeded in reaching Constantinople, having spent about three years in the journey ; and his travels and adventures ( e ) There is an Italian Translation of the Takvimi, by Jean Rinaldo Carli : Venice, 1697. M. Norberg translated the Dgihan Numa into Latin : it is entitled " Geographia Orientalis, ex Tureico in Latinum versa: Land. Goth. 1818. ( f ) Von Hammer has given a notice of this work, with some extracts, in Vol. II. of the Bombay Society's Transactions: and M. Diez has translated it entire; Berlin, 1815. See Jour. As. (Ancien), torn. IX. p. 27 et seq. ( 1* ) during this period form the subject of the Mirat al Memalik. It is a very entertaining work ; and for its historical, statistical, and geographical relations, is highly esteemed. This author also wrote a description of the Indian Seas, entitled Mohit 1sa=-* or " The Ocean ;" and an astronomical work, entitled Mirati Kainat ciAbtf C^l^c " The Mirror of the Universe." Evlia Efendi, The Travels of Evlia Efendi, in the Ottoman Empire, Tarikhi Seiah Evlia Efendi, A. D. 1634. . .. | . . I .„ . ,_y iXwl LOjl _ Xkm g^(j is another work of great interest. The author is an amusing and instructive writer ; and his work contains an account of the antiquities and topography of the Ottoman Empire, and of his travels tlirough Turkey and Tatary. He wrote about A.D. 1634. The learned Von Hammer, to whom Oriental Literature is under so many obligations, has undertaken the translation of this work into English ; a task which his well-known abilities render him every way capable of performing. Tha Sciences. Though it must be admitted that the Osmanlis are inferior to the European nations in the Sciences, they have been far from neglecting the study, and they possess numerous treatises on Astronomy, Mathematics, Algebra, and Physics. In Philosophy they have all the speculative knowledge that the Greeks and Arabians were masters of; but in Experimental Science they have made but little progress. In Moral Pliilosophy, however, and in treatises on the Art of Government and Political Economy, the Osmanlis particularly excel ; which is the more surprising, as our ideas of the Turks and their polity would lead us to imagine quite the contrary. From their earliest periods, the Osmanlis possessed the best masters of astronomical science. Salaheddin, or Kadi Zadeh Roumi, was an excellent astronomer and mathematician. He was born at Prusa, in the reign of Murad I. ; and became the preceptor of the celebrated Ulugh Beg, under whose patronage he commenced the Zidg, or Astronomical Tables which bear the name of that Prince. He died before their completion; and the work was finished by Ids son, Ali Kushdgi. Mustafa ben Ali, who lived in the reign of Soliman, was the author of several much-esteemed astronomical productions. Mohammed Darandeli composed the excellent Ephemerides, entitled Ruz Nameh L*=J I j <£»udJLa>, which comprises these sciences, forms a portion of the studies to which their schools are devoted. Bajazet II. was much attached to geometrical and astronomical studies, which he cultivated under the instruction of the celebrated Salaheddin. In the science of Numbers their proficiency is very great ; and the facility with which their calculations are performed has been frequently noticed*. On these subjects they possess many excellent works. The Philosophical productions of the Osmanlis are very numerous. Their Speculative and Metaphysical writings, Hikmet ve Kelam l»itfj ei^X*. are similar to those which issued from our Schools during the reign of the Aristotelian Philosophy ; and, like them, have usually a Theological cast. The light of Newton, and the Philosophy of modern times, has not yet shed its full lustre over the empire of the Ottoman : though, to their honour, it should be mentioned, that Raghib Pasha — the talented Vizir of Osman III. and his successor, Mustafa — the cotemporary of that illustrious philosopher, sought to procure a translation of his Philosophical system 11 . Their Moral Philosophy, which is termed Adeb i_\>1 , is however a science on which the Osmanlis seem to have bestowed some of their best energies : it is the subject of many excellent and valuable treatises. Their mode of conveying the principles of Morals by means of imaginative discourses and apologues, adds great force and beauty to the senti- ments ; and strewing the path of Knowledge with flowers, it renders its acquisi- tion at once agreeable and impressive. An elegant work of this nature is the Humaiun Nameh jl . Ah ben Emrallah, commonly called Ebn al Khannabi, composed a work on this subject, entitled Akhlak Elaii, "the excellent Morals:" it was composed C lxiii ) for Ali Basha, Vizir of Sultan Soliman. The Akhlaki Dgemal is a similar work, which was composed for Ilderim Bazajet, by Gemaleddin Mohammed al Aksarai. It is divided into tliree parts ; which treat of the Duties of Man, as an individual, in his social state, in his private relations, and in his character of citizen. The Dguahar al Ashraf l_»I^)I| />\y*- i is a much-esteemed book on Moral Philosophy. It was dedicated by Sultan Mohammed to his son Murad; and was either the work of that Sultan, or written under his direction. The writings of the Osmanlis on Government and Political Economy may also be classed among their works on Moral Philosophy, the mode of treating these subjects being very similar. The principles advocated are illustrated by the maxims and actions of ancient sages and monarchs, in many cases imaginative, but not the less valuable ; and these serve to give a relish and piquancy ; and pre- vent that dryness of detail, so little agreeable to an Oriental taste, which would otherwise occur. A Treatise on Government by Navali holds a high rank among the works of this nature: it is entitled Ferahnameh <)U>L> _,*, and is dedicated to one of the sons of Murad III., whose preceptor the author had been. The virtues which a prince should possess, the knowledge he should acquire, and the conduct he should pursue, are elegantly and ably displayed and illustrated ; and it concludes with enumerating the qualities and duties of a Minister ; the whole forming a code of morals and politics which the prince and his servants might peruse with advantage. Mueddin Zadeh and Lufti Basha are the authors of works of similar character ; but the productions of these two authors are prin- cipally addressed to the duties of Ministers, and the subordinate government of the people. A curious little treatise on the Art of Government has been translated by M. Garcin de Tassy". It is entitled Usoul al Hukem fi Nizam al Alem aXkM Jj^cl JUil illai J " The Principles of Wisdom concerning the Art of Government," by Ak Hissari, who wrote about 1595. This treatise is written with a spirit of freedom we could hardly expect, and forms an interesting specimen of the opinions of the Osmanlis on this subject. I have extracted a few passages : — " A country," says our author, " is in a prosperous state, when justice is exercised impartially, and when the police is good. The Prophet tells us, that ' it is the duty of a sovereign to govern according to equity:' his interest also requires it, for justice is the support of the empire. It is said that Ardeshir (') Jj>\ HI hj^, ^J uJlytflyt,!^. ( k ) Jour. As. (Ancien), torn. IV. p. 2 1 3 et seq. ( lxiv ) Babegan remarked, that a monarch cannot reign without troops. Now, soldiers cannot be procured without money, nor can money be obtained if the country be not prosperous and flourishing : but a country can only flourish under a good and just government ; consequently, he cannot reign, except by justice. A mon- arch ought, therefore, to treat his subjects kindly, and govern them according to the rules of equity Three things are frequently the causes producing the downfal of a State : 1. When the sovereign, carried away by the love of pleasure, does not concern himself with the affairs of his kingdom. 2. When the ministers, jealous of each other, are divided in counsels. 3. And, above all, when the army refuses to obey ; and, conscious of impunity, commits unbridled excesses. The duty of ministers is, to raise their voices, to discover abuses to the sovereign : it is the duty of the monarch promptly to arrest the evil The Sages assure us, that, in war, a man of genius is of greater value than a thousand soldiers ; for a soldier, at most, can kill but ten or twenty persons, but a man of genius may, by his skilful measures, overcome a large army. ' War is only art and stratagem, 1 says the Prophet. Less confidence, therefore, should be placed in the bravery of the soldiers, than in the conduct and ability of the general." A work on the subject of Government was among the number of the earliest productions of the Constantinopolitan Press. It is entitled, Usoulal Hukem.fi Nizam ul Umem *«c)ll karemfil, has the following verses appropriate to it : Karemfil sen kararun yok ; Guntcheh gul sen timarun yok ; Ben seni tchokden severim ; Senun benden, khaberin yok. " You are as slender as this clove ! You are like an unblown rose I " I have' long loved you ; And you have not known it" It thus forms a secret, impenetrable to those who possess not its key, which the greatest ingenuity could not discover. Von Hammer, in his Mines de VOrient, gives a Vocabulary of this " Language of Flowers ;" and the talented authoress I have just quoted has translated a Love-letter, which are the only specimens we possess . (°) Mines de TOrienl, torn. I.— Lady M. W. Montague's Letters, Vol. I. Letter xl. ( lxvii ) Among the Royal poets, Selim I. holds a distinguished place ; and the unfortu- nate Prince Dgem, the brother of Bajazet II., was the author of a much-esteemed Divan, and a Romance entitled Dgemshid ve Khorshid dJ^jjo- j >>^>v»- , which he dedicated to his father, Mohammed II. Soliman II. wrote several poems in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. Ahmed III. was much attached to poetry. He composed a beautiful inscription in Turkish verse, which was engraved, in letters of gold, on a marble fountain he constructed at Constantinople. Mustafa HI. fre- quently held poetical soiries ; which laid the foundation of an Academy of Poetry, to which the best poets were admitted, after exhibiting proofs of their talents j each receiving a title on his admission, which he assumed in his compositions. The oldest poetic writer of the Osmanlis is Aashik Pasha, the author of a collection of mystic poetry. Sheikhi lived as early as the reign of Orkhan. Baki, Nefi, Mesihi, Nedgati, Kasim, Fozouli, Misri, Kemal Pasha Zadeh, and Letifi, are considered among the most celebrated of the ancient poets. Nabi Efendi, Raghib Pasha, and Seid Reefet, hold a distinguished rank among the modern. The reign of Bajazet II. was one of the brightest epochs of Turkish poetry : some of the finest poets of the Osmanlis flourished under his protection ; and Mesihi, Nedgati, Afitabi, Bassiri, Gelali, Hamdi, and Kemal Pasha Zadeh, were distinguished among his Court. An Ode of the first of these authors, Mesihi, quoted by Sir William Jones, is not a bad specimen of his style. I subjoin a translation. i. " Listen to the tale of the nightingale — that the vernal season approaches. The spring has formed a bower of joy in every grove where the almond-tree sheds its silver blossoms. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last ii. " The groves and hills are again adorned with all kinds of flowers : a pavilion of roses, as the seat of pleasure, is raised in the garden. Who knows which of us may be alive when the fair season ends ? Be joyful, therefore ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. in. " The edge of the bower is filled with the light of Ahmed among the plants : the fortunate tulips represent his Companions. Come, O people of Mohammed! this is the season of enjoyment. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. IV. " Again the dew glitters on the leaves of the lily, like the sparkling of a bright scimeter : the dew-drops fall through the air, on the garden of roses. Listen to me ! listen to me ! if ( lxviii ) thou desirest to be delighted. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. v. " The roses and tulips are like the blooming cheeks of beautiful maids, in whose ears hang varied gems, like drops of dew : deceive not thyself by thinking that these charms will have a long duration. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. VI. " Tulips, roses, and anemonies, appear in the garden : the showers and sun-beams, like sharp lancets, tinge the banks with the colour of blood. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. VII. " The time is passed in which the plants were sick, and the rose-bud hung its thoughtful . head on its bosom : the season comes, in which mountains and rocks are coloured with tulips. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. VIII. " Every morning the clouds shed gems over the rose beds : the breath of the gale is full of Tatarian musk. Be not neglectful of thy duty, through too great love of the world. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. IX. " The sweetness of the rose-bed has made the air so fragrant, that the dew, before it falls, is changed into rose-water : the sky has spread a pavilion of bright clouds over the garden. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. x. " Whoever thou art, know that the black gusts of autumn had seized the garden ; but the King of the World again appeared, dispensing justice to all : in his reign, the happy cup- bearer desired, and obtained, the flowing wine. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season passes soon away : it will not last. XI. " By these strains I hoped to celebrate this delightful valley. May they be a memorial to its inhabitants ; and remind them of this assembly, and these fair maids ! Thou art a sweet- voiced nightingale, O Mesihi! when thou walkest with the damsels, whose cheeks are like roses. Be joyful ! be full of mirth ! for the spring season soon passes away : it will not last." Kemal Pasha Zadeh is the author of many beautiful poetical works. His Yussuf va Zuleikha Us^j j <— *^ji and his Nigaristan ^Hw/i! are much admired. The latter is an elegant production, after the manner of the Gulistan and Beharistan. ( Ixix ) Works of fiction and romantic tales are very numerous. Some of them possess great spirit and interest; and the wildness and originality of Oriental fancy give them an indescribable grace. We have an excellent example of Eastern fiction in the Arabian Nights ; which, even in our translations, cannot but be admired. The loves of Joseph and Zuleikha, the wife of Potiphar ; of Khosru and Ferhad, for Shirin or Irene, the daughter of the Emperor Maurice ; of Leili and Mejnun ; and the adventures of the ancient Princes of the East ; are the subjects of many beautiful narrations. The Tales of the Forty Vizirs — Kirk Vizir Hikaieti JulX©- jj. jjji , Khor ve Khaver jjis- j ,y±- , the Iskender Nameh k^,jJiCJ , and the Shah ve Guda \m ^ isli, are a few of their best productions of this kind. The Osmanlis possess an immense number of works of the same nature ; many of which are from the pens of their most esteemed writers, and are not inferior to the most admired compositions of their Oriental neighbours. In the adoption of the use of the Press, the Turks have advanced beyond any Of the Tjpo. ■ . o i • *■ . Rrapby of the of the Asiatic nations. The introduction of this powerful supporter of Literature ottomans, AD 1726 is placed, by Hadgi Khalifeh, in the year 1 139 A.H. answering to 1726 A.D the reign of Sultan Ahmed III. The honour of effecting so great a revolution in the literary history of the Ottomans is due to Ibrahim Efendi, a learned and inge- nious man, and Said Efendi, who was Secretary to the Turkish Embassy sent by Ahmed to France. But the chief credit is due to the perseverance and industry of Ibrahim. He performed the difficult task of overcoming the religious scruples of the Moslems : he awakened their attention, by a Treatise on the advantages of the Art : his exertions gained the permission of the Mufti and the Sultan ; and the cutting the matrices and founding the type, the effects of his own labour and ingenuity, accomplished the task. Not contented with overcoming the prejudices of the Osmanlis, and establishing the Imperial Press of Constantinople, Ibrahim diligently applied himself to augmenting their literature. He wrote the Life of the celebrated Hadgi Khalifeh ; the Nizamil Umem, a " Treatise on Government ; " and the Fiuzati Magnatisieh, on " the Use of the Mariner's Compass : " he edited the Guzevati Bosnia ; and translated Krusinski's History of the Afghans into Turkish. The labours of this useful and industrious man were nobly seconded by the Grand Vizir, Ibrahim Basha ; whose talents, and the patronage he bestowed on the new establishment, entitle him to an honourable place in the Annals of Ottoman Lite- rature. Anxious to render the Imperial Press a permanent monument for the improvement of his nation, he appointed the principal men of the State its honorary officers ; and sufficient funds were assigned for its support, from the Public Treasury. Within two years from the granting of the Imperial permis- a.d. 1728. ( Ixx ) Vankuli. Tohfet al Kebar. Tarikhi Seiali. Tarikhi' Hindi' Oarbi. sion, the first work issued from the Press of Constantinople. This was the Arabic and Turkish Dictionary of Vankuli, ^Jf^i C^Al <-J^, which was in- troduced to the Osmanlis as a specimen of the newly-adopted typography. This edition of Vankuli's Dictionary consisted of two volumes, in folio ; the first containing 666 pages, the second 756. It commences with an Abridgment of Arabic Grammar; after which follows the Dictionary, with all the Arabic words explained in Turkish, accompanied by the passages in which they occur. The original of this work was the Sehah of Gevheri, a native of Farab in Tur- kestan. His knowledge of Arabic was so great, that he received the appellation of Imamul Loghat, or " The Prince of words." Mohammed ben Mustafa, surnamed Vankuli, of Van in Armenia, translated the Dictionary of Gevheri into Turkish ; and his work is held in great estimation. The published price of this edition was, by order of the Court, thirty-five piastres : it is now become very rare. The corrections of so voluminous a work as Vankuli's Dictionary occupying a considerable time, Ibrahim, to prevent the presses standing idle, commenced two Jess extensive manuscripts ; — Hadgi Khalifehs " Maritime Wars of the Ottomans," j[s^\ JJuJt J v UXil tes? i— >H£; and his own work, the Tarikhi Seiah, —Lw* f-p* The first of these appeared almost simultaneously with Vankuli's Dictionary: the latter was not completed until some time afterwards. The " Maritime Wars of the Ottomans " was printed in one volume quarto, adorned with five geographical plates, the work of the Director Ibrahim. The Tarikhi Seiah, or " Journal of the Traveller," was translated from the Latin of the Missionary Krusinski. It con- tains the History of the Invasion of Persia by the Afghans, and the Destruction of the Persian Dynasty of Sefi, of which the author was an eye-witness. Ibrahim much improved upon the original work in this translation, and corrected many errors in the chronology and events which had crept into the original. It was printed in the year A.H. 1142 (1729), in one small quarto volume. The Tarikhi' Hindi' Garbi, ^_g>^ ^' £fi' was t ^ le next wor ' £ tnat issued from the Imperial Press. This is a "History of the West Indies," in Turkish, the author of which is unknown : by some it has been ascribed to Hadgi Khalifeh ; others have considered Ibrahim its author. It is a curious book, embellished with seventeen plates, thirteen of which are descriptive of the natives, the animals, and the plants of the New World ; the other four are geographical and astro- nomical. The author commences by reviewing the opinions of the Ancients C) The full title of this work is *[h J&y) <«-^JWjj ^/jul**! j^> J^j jii -Jj»* g.p i 1 ***-/ ( lxxi ) respecting the globe : he then details the expeditions of the Spaniards and other nations ; and gives a particular description of America and its productions. Many of the narrations approach somewhat to the marvellous ; but, on the whole, it is an interesting work. It was printed by Ibrahim A.H. 1142 (1729), and forms a small quarto volume of 182 pages. A complete and perfect copy is very rare. Immediately after the publication of the preceding work, the Tarilchi Timur Tarikhi Timur. Gurkani 1 , ,J&j£ jy*£ f-P> was presented to the Osmanlis. The author was Nazmi Zadeh, an elegant and accomplished writer, who took the History of Ebn Arabshah for his model. In this work, Timur is represented as a cruel and remorseless tyrant, staining his hands with the blood of the most innocent vic- tims — a monster, who rejoiced in the carnage of his species, and the destruction of their works. It consists of two parts ; the principal of which contains the History of Timur ; the other that of Sultan Kali, his grandson, an amiable young prince of excessive prodigality, whose love for a lady of great beauty led him into the greatest misfortunes. The style is elegant and refined ; but we must not place implicit faith in all the narratives, which are frequently too much tinged with national prejudice. Nazmi Zadeh wrote his work in 1698, but revised and cor- rected the style the following year. The latter is the text which Ibrahim has chosen, to which he has prefixed a Preface and a Table of Contents. It forms a quarto volume of 258 pages. The same year, with the three preceding works, the Tarikhi Misril Kadim Tarikhi Misr. ve'l Dgedid, JoA^I } ^jjiil^a* gjj, a " History of Ancient and Modern Egypt," issued from the Press. The poet Soheili, who held an official situation at Cairo about the year 1629, was the author. The work is divided into two small quarto volumes ; the first consisting of 130 pages, and the other of 102. The first volume, which is dedicated to Mustafa, the Governor of Cairo, contains the History of Egypt from the earliest times to the year of the Hejira 922, when Sultan Kansu was defeated by Selim I. near Aleppo. The second volume, dedi- cated to Osman Beg, Governor of Memphis, is the History of Modern Egypt. It relates the events of Egypt from A.H. 922 (1516), to A.H. 1038 (1629). This work is much valued ; the situation in which the author was placed allowing him (l) Numerous authors have mistaken this appellation, conceiving it to signify Georgian. Von Hammer translates it "grand Imp." Hist. Ott. p. 263. J6j£ or J±-j£, for it is written both ways, is a title of Central Asia, and was given to those who were allied by marriage to the Emperors of China. Jour. As. (Nouveau), No. 10. ( lxxii ) Gulsheni Khulifah. Grammaire Turque. Nizamul Umem. Fiuzati Magnatisieh. Dgihan Nuuia. Takvimi ' Ta- varikh. Tarikhi Naiina. Tarikhi Rashid Tchelebi Zadeh Ghuzevati liosna. access to the rarest documents on the subject of the history and antiquities of Egypt. Another of the labours of Nazmi Zadeh, the Gulsheni Khulifah, lali- >ii£ t__>U£» " The History of the Khalifs and the Ottoman Princes, to Ahmed II." was the next production of the Imperial Press. It was, in part, a translation from the Arabic. It was printed A.H. 1143 (1730), in folio; and contains 260 pages, exclu- sive of the Printers address and the Index. The " Grammaire Turque r ," a Turkish Grammar, in French, was next printed by Ibrahim, at the request of the Franks. It bears no authors name ; but is usually attributed to Holderman, a German Jesuit, who resided a long time at Galata. To execute this work, a complete fount of European characters was cast, in matrices executed in Constantinople : and considering that those who performed this labour, as well as the printers of the work, were ignorant of the French cha- racters and language, it is much less faulty than might be expected. — A hist of thirty-eight errata is prefixed, and as many more might be added. It is, however, a curious specimen of typography, and has of late become very scarce. It is a small quarto volume of 194 pages, exclusive of the Dedicatory Epistle to Cardinal Fleury, the Errata, the Preface, the Introduction, and the Table of Contents. In the year A.H. 1144 (1731), two works were printed at the Imperial Press, both from the pen of Ibrahim. The Nizamul Umem +>ti\ *!&, which has been pre- viously spoken of; and the Fiuzati Magnatisieh, &Xu*As[x^c t^jLiyiJ i_>lo . The former is a small quarto volume, of ninety-six pages : the latter consists of forty-six pages, with two plates. The Fiuzati Magnatisieh is a Treatise on the Power and Use of the Mariners Compass. The author treats of the virtues of the Loadstone, the invention of the Mariner's Compass, and its use : his materials were drawn from the Arabian and Latin authors who had written on the subject. The five succeeding works which issued from Ibrahim's establishment have been already alluded to : they were, the Dgihan Numa, l*J ^l^- *-r-^> and Takvimi" Tavarikh fji^ f..f^< of Hadgi Khalifeh; the Tarikhi Naima, l^ g^U; the Tarikhi Rashid, &$j£jS', and the Tarikhi Tchelebi Zadeh, ss.il; u ^i»- £,1". These were followed by the History of the Campaigns in Bosnia against the Austrians, from 1736 to 1739: it is entitled Ahvali Ghuzevat der Diyari Bosna, ( r ) " Grammaire Tvrqve, ou Methode Covrte et Facile pour apprendre la Langve Tvrqve. a Const. m.dcc.xxx." — A Vocabulary and Dialogues are attached, which, though in many instances very inac- curate, have been of much service to me in composing the Vocabulary and Dialogues appended to this work. ( lxxiii ) ij^yijj^jd uy^jc J!^»-! i-J'jS''; and bears date A.H. 1154 (1741), consisting of sixty-two pages. The author was Omar Efendi, a native of Bosnia ; but the work was edited by the indefatigable Ibrahim. It contains an account of the disastrous campaign of the Imperialists, which terminated by the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739. It differs from our historians in the date of the commencement of this war; which is placed A.H. 1149, corresponding to A.D. 1736, while our authors place it in 1737. After relating the preparations of the Austrians for the invasion of Bosnia, it describes the assembling of the army of Ibrahim the Governor, the actions and battles which took place in the three campaigns, the victories of the Osmanlis which finally drove the Imperialists beyond Belgrade, and the surrender of that important fortress to their arms. It concludes with an account of the country and its inhabitants, their manners and habits, and the editors reasons for the publi- cation of the work. The Firhengi Shiuri i^Sjy^ ii-&* / ', a Persian and Turkish Firhengi Shiuri. Dictionary, and a second edition of the Loghati Vankuli .Jy^lj &*J , were the last I^ghati Vankuii. of the labours of Ibrahim Efendi. The Firhengi Shiuri is an excellent Dictionary of the Persian Language, explained in Turkish ; to which is prefixed a Treatise on Persian Grammar. It was printed A.H. 1155 (1742), in two folio volumes; the first containing 444 pages, the second 450. The second edition of Vankuli's Dictionary issued from the press A.H. 1169 (1756); and differs but very little from the former edition, except that the paper is not so good. About this time Ibrahim died. With him the soul that animated the Press of Constantinople departed, and for twenty-eight years it continued in gloomy silence to mourn his loss. During this period no work was printed, and the establishment fell into oblivion. This cessation of the labours of the Press has been ascribed to a rebellion raised by the numerous Copyists, whose occupation was injured by the multiplying powers of the Typographic art: but the true cause was the loss of the talented and energetic Director, whose efforts had raised the establishment, and whose genius had been its support. The office of Ibrahim was conferred on his assistant, Kazi Ibrahim ; but he died without any new work being produced; and the war which broke out in 1769 diverting the attention of the monarch and the people from the pursuit of Literature, the establishment was closed. It is to Sultan Abdul Hamid that the Osmanlis owe the regeneration of (*) This work has been translated by Mr. C. Fraser, and was published by the Oriental Translation Committee. 0) ,_5^*£ JU ^^.-ijl fS^\ ^U t_>ltf L ( lxxiv ) their Typography. On the 18th of the month of Rebiul-evel, in the year of the Hejira 1158, which answers to A.D. 1745, this Sultan signed an Imperial decree for the re-establishment of the Press. By this, the privilege of printing all works in Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, except the books held sacred by the Mohammedans, was accorded to the Press. The Chiefs of the Divan became its Directors : the most talented among the Osmanlis were alone admissible as its superintendants ; and the Institution was again renewed with redoubled vigour. Since that period, numerous important Works have been produced: and I shall conclude this Essay with as correct a List of these as I have been able to obtain. 1. Tarikhi Sami ve Shagir ve Subhi, L js^° ^ J\£ j -«L* •£. J5 — The Annals of the Ottoman Empire before spoken of, from A. Hi 1141 (1728) to'"ll56 (1743). Folio. Printed 1198(1784). 2. Tarikhi Izzi, l _5') c fcfi — A continuation of the former, to the year 1166 (l75l). Folio. 1199(1784). 3. Usoul el Maeref fi Tertib el ordu^ii.J] **-^>j> ,J < >J^J^ Jy*1 — A Treatise on Castramentation ; translated from the French of Lafitte. Same date. 4. Irabil Kiafieh, 4jS&] *— >xl — Commentary on the Grammatical Treatise of Ibnil Hadgib. By Zeni Zadeh. 4to. 1200 (1785). 5. Vaban fenn Laghimdeh Bisalehsi, .untiL, iX^o "J ^l^ — A Translation of Vauban on Mining ; with Plates. Folio. 1202(1787). 6. Laghim Jtisalehsi, .^uddLu . **! — A Treatise on the same subject. 7. Fenn Harbeh Bisalehsi, ^gutbt., toj*- i — A Translation of Lafitte's Essay on the Science of War. Folio. 1202 (1787). 8. Bisalehfi Koanin Almulahet Utnla, l»c 8»JUl ^V ^ ^*"j — A Translation of Truquet's Treatise on Practical Manoeuvre. 8vo. Same date. 9. Usoul el Maeref fi Vedgeh Tesnif Sifayen Donanma vefenn Tedbir Herekatha, L^j». yoJo ~ji . L»Jb«i> li r?.^ u " <—*&*> *?~) ij •— »/*Jl Jy^t — A Treatise on the Con- struction and Manoeuvring of Ships of War. 10. A Translation from a French Military Work. 11. Kitab Lehdget el Loghat, cyUUI 'its4 u. >& — An Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Dictionary. By Mohammed Essad Efendi. Folio. 1210(1795). ( lxxv ) 12. Su Bisalesi, -~ i Ss^' — An Arabic and Turkish Vocabulary. Svo. Same date. 14. TohfehiVehbi, J&t't&sJ — A Persian and Turkish Vocabulary. 8vo. 1213(1798). 15. Tableau des Nouveaux Reglemens de l'Empire Ottoman ; compose par Mahmoud Rayf-Effendi, ci-devant Secretaire de l'Ambassade Imperiale pres de la Cour d'Angleterre. Imprime dans la Nouvelle Imprimerie de Genie sous la Direction d'Abdurrhemin EfFendi, Professeur de Geometrie et d'Algebre ; a Constantinople, 1798. Folio. 16. Tebian Nafi' terdgemehi Borhan Kati', jLls Jity X*»-J> >iL) J+6 — A Turkish Translation of the Borhan Kati. By Ahmed Aazim. Folio. 1214 (1799). 17. Sherhi Tohfehi Vebbi, JJ^ * l&s? —jm — Commentary on the Work of Vehbi. By Ahmed Haiti Effendi. 1215 (1800). 18. Telkhis uleshkial, J&SJl v**=^ — A Treatise on Mining. By Hussein Rifki Tamani. 8vo. Same date. 19. The Third Edition of Vankuli's Dictionary. 2 vols. fol. 1217 (1802). 20. Elrisalehi ftl Hindeseh, iUJOfl J *)j» — A work on Religion, by Ahmed Mohammed Emin. 4to. 1220 (1805). 36. Sherhi AvamU dgedid el Bergevi, ^Jfj&\ ^^?- (S*\j£ rJ & — A Commentary on the Grammar and Logic of Bergevi. By Mustafa ben Ibrahim. Same date. 37. A work with the same title, and on the same subject. By Hussein ben Ahmed Zadeh. Same date. 3S. El Borhan, J&jx\ — An Arabic Logic, by Ismael Efendi, 1221 (1806). 39. Eldourer Elmuntekhabet elmunsureh fi Islah ul ghalatat elmushureh, ..Jji ZjjqbJ) isjllaUjl —ho\ J *j£*J\ itekr^Jl — A Philological Work, by the Dervish Hafiz. 4to. 1221 (1806). 40. Sherhi Izhar al Israr, .Um)V JJ»] _,£ — A Second Edition of Zeni Zadeh's Com- mentaries on Bergevi's Grammar. 1224 (1809). 41. Sherh ul Fevaid Ziayeh,