Part 4 (1/2)
Continuing our ramble we pa.s.s through another gate, and come to an uncomfortable looking hill. We have not to mount far, however, before we approach an archway, with two sentries, rather more alert than the others whom we have seen. Officers are pa.s.sing backwards and forwards, looking fussy and important, as Turks always do when they get rid of their habitual apathy. In their small waisted coats _a la Francaise_, surmounted by the _inevitable fez_, they present a strange combination of the Eastern and Western soldier.
The house in the interior of the court-yard is the palace, usually occupied by the Mulisarif, but devoted, during his stay in these parts, to Omer Pacha, the Serdar Ekrem and Rumili Valessi, or Governor-General of European Turkey. In the vicinity of the palace may be seen the flagstaffs of the Prussian and Austrian Consulates, while that of Great Britain appears at no great distance, and in the rear of the clock-tower, which distinguishes Mostar from most other Turkish towns.
Let us now return to the main street, which continues in unbroken monotony for something less than half a mile. If gifted with sufficient patience to continue our stroll out of the town, we come upon the princ.i.p.al burial-ground. On the E. high hills hem us in, while the tiny stream of the Narenta comes winding from the N.
During my stay at Mostar the town was enlivened by the occurrence of the Emperor Alexander's birthday, or the 'Emperor's day,' as it is called.
In celebration of this auspicious event, the Russian Consul kept open house, everyone who could muster decent apparel being admitted. After the ceremony of blessing the Muscovite flag had been performed by the Greek Bishop, a select few sat down to a kind of breakfast, which did credit to the hospitality of his Imperial Majesty's representative.
Thither I accompanied Omer Pacha, who was attended by a small suite.
This was the only occasion on which I ever observed anything like display in the Turkish General. His gold-embroidered dress resembled that of a Marshal of France; his breast was literally covered with decorations, in the centre of which was the Grand Cross of the Bath, and he carried a magnificently-jewelled sword, the gift of the late Sultan, Abdul Medjid. He did not, however, remain long, and on emerging I could not help contrasting the festivities within with the signs of warlike preparation which jostled one at every turn, the first fruits, in great measure, of Russian imperial policy. Strings of ponies laden with forage, and provisions for the army on the frontier, pa.s.sed continuously, and the streets presented a more than usually gay and variegated appearance. Omer Pacha was throughout indefatigable.
Detachments of irregulars arrived daily, some of which were immediately pushed up to the scene of operations; others were retained at Mostar; but whether they went, or stayed behind, he inspected them alike, and was always received with marked enthusiasm. I must not omit to mention that amongst these reinforcements was a body of 1,000 Christians, who, however, were never sent to the frontier. Fine fellows they were, all armed with rifles of native construction. These arms of precision are mostly made in Bosnia, where there are two or three establishments for that purpose.
Thus the days wore on; and, having provided myself with horses, and such few things as are deemed indispensable for campaigning, I was delighted to receive a message from the Generalissimo, on the night of the 13th, intimating his intention of leaving Mostar at 8 (_a la Franca_) on the following morning.
But before I enter upon my personal experiences in the camp of the Osmanlis, I would fain give some account of the previous history of this agitated province; pa.s.sing in brief review those causes which combined to foster a revolutionary spirit in the country, and dwelling more especially on the events of the last four years, during which that spirit has so culminated as to convince even the Porte of the necessity which exists for the immediate employment of coercive measures.
[Footnote K: Mostar, from 'Most Star' Old Bridge.]
[Footnote L: Sir G. Wilkinson.]
CHAPTER VIII.
Bosnia--Turkish Invasion--Tuartko II. and Ostoya Christich--Cruel Death of Stephen Thomasovich--His Tomb--Queen Cattarina--Duchy of Santo Saba becomes a Roman Province--Despotism of Bosnian Kapetans--Janissaries--Fall of Sultan Selim and Bairaktar--Mahmoud--Jelaludin Pacha--Expedition against Montenegro--Death of Jelaludin--Ali Pacha--Revolted Provinces reconquered--Successes of Ibrahim Pacha--Destruction of Janissaries--Regular Troops organised--Hadji Mustapha--Abdurahim--Proclamation--Fall of Serayevo--Fresh rising--Serayevo taken by Rebels--Scodra Pacha--Peace of Adrianople--Hussein Kapetan--Outbreak of Rebellion--Cruelty of Grand Vizier--Ali Aga of Stolatz--Kara Mahmoud--Serayevo taken--War with Montenegro--Amnesty granted.
The history of Bosnia under the Roman empire is possessed of too little interest to call for any particular observation; but, considered as one of the most fertile and beautiful of the European provinces, overrun by the Moslem armies, it is well ent.i.tled to the mature consideration of all who take an interest in the important question now at issue, to wit, the fusion of the Eastern and Western worlds.
The immediate cause of the invasion of Bosnia by the Turks, was the dispute between Tuartko II. and Ostoya Christich for the throne of that country. The former called the Turks to his a.s.sistance; Ostoya, the Hungarians. A war between these two nations was the consequence, and the Turks gained considerable footing in Bosnia about 1415. Ostoya and Tuartko being both dead, Stephen Thomas Christich was elected King, and was obliged to promise an annual tribute of 25,000 ducats to Sultan Amurath II., thirteen years after which he was murdered by his illegitimate son, Stephen Thomasovich, who was crowned by a Papal legate in 1461, and submitted to the Turks. But having refused to pay the tribute due to the Porte, he was seized and flayed alive, by order of Sultan Mahomet, and at his death the kingdom of Bosnia was completely over-thrown.[M]
Previous to this, the Turks had frequently menaced the Bosnian kingdom, but it was not until June 14, 1463, that they actually invaded the country, to reduce Stephen to obedience. In vain did Mathias, King of Hungary, endeavour to stem the advancing torrent. The Turks carried all before them, until they besieged and took Yanitza, the then capital of the province, and with it the King and the entire garrison. Nor was this effected in fair fight, but through the treachery of Stephen's first minister, who opened the gates of the fortress by night, and so admitted the Turkish soldiers.
With more generosity than was usually shown by these Eastern barbarians, Mahomet agreed to leave the King in possession of his throne on condition of his paying an annual tax to the Porte. The payment of this, as I have said, was evaded by his successor, although the old national ma.n.u.scripts do not even allow this apology for the barbarous treatment which he experienced at the hands of the Turks. These affirm that the King and all his troops, as well as the townspeople, were invited by Mahomet to hear the official ratification of the agreement. But, at a given signal, the Turkish soldiers, who had been in concealment, fell upon the helpless a.s.semblage, and ma.s.sacred them in cold blood, shutting up the King Stephen in a cage, where he subsequently died of despair; and thus ended the Bosnian kingdom. That his position was sufficiently hopeless to bring about this calamitous result, can scarcely be doubted; but unfortunately the tomb of Stephen still exists, which proves tolerably conclusively that his death was of a more speedy, if not of a more cruel, nature. An inscription is upon it to the effect, 'Here lies Stephen, King of Bosnia, without his kingdom, throne, and sceptre, and without his skin.' Of all the family of the unfortunate monarch, the only one who escaped was his Queen, Cattarina, who fled to Rome, where she lies buried in the Chapel of Santa Helena.
After the death of Stephen Thomasovich the Turks destroyed Michiaz. The n.o.bles, driven from their estates, fled to Ragusa; and Stephen, 'Herzog' or Duke of Santo Saba, seeing that Turkish garrisons had occupied Popovo, Rogatiza, Triburio, Tzeruitza, and Kerka, became so alarmed, that he offered to pay increased tribute; when, his ministers refusing to consent to this arrangement, he was obliged to send to Ragusa for his eldest son Stephen, and give him up as a hostage to the Porte: he having afterwards abjured Christianity, received the name of Ahmet, married a daughter of Bajazet II., and was made a Vizier. The Kingdom of Bosnia and the Duchy of Santo Saba from that time became provinces of Turkey, the latter under the name of Herzegovina, which it still retains, and which it had received from the t.i.tle of 'Herzog' or Duke, given by Tuartko to its first Governor.
The apostasy of the Bosnian n.o.bles which occurred shortly after the Turkish conquest, may be regarded as the only event of importance which has since marked the history of these provinces. The deteriorating effects which have ever followed the adoption of Islamism are here conspicuously apparent; for in proportion as the country has sunk into insignificance, so the moral state of the people has fallen to a lower standard. Nor is this so much to be attributed to any particular vices inculcated by the Mahomedan creed, as to the necessary division of religious and political interests, and the undue monopoly of power by a small proportion of the inhabitants. That this power has been used without mercy or consideration must be acknowledged; but be it remembered that
'Their tyrants then Were still at least their countrymen,'
and that the iniquities perpetrated by the renegade Beys cannot be with justice laid to the charge of their Osmanli conquerors. It would, indeed, be strange had four hundred years of tyranny pa.s.sed over this miserable land, without leaving a blight upon its children which no time will ever suffice to efface.
As years wore on, other and more important conquests absorbed the attention of the Mussulman rulers, and the rich pasture-lands of Bosnia, and the sterile rocks of Herzegovina, were alike left the undisputed property of the apostate natives of the soil. Thence arose a system of feudal bondage, to a certain extent akin to that recently existing in Russia, but unequalled in the annals of the world for the spirit of intolerance with which it was carried out. Countless are the tales of cruelty and savage wrong with which the old ma.n.u.scripts of the country abound, and these are the more revolting, as perpetrated upon those of kindred origin, religion, and descent. The spirit of independence engendered by this system of feudality and unresisted oppression could only lead to one result--viz. the increase of local at the expense of the central authority. The increasing debility of the paternal government tended to strengthen the power of the provincial Magnates; and the Beys, the Spahis, and the Timariots, stars of lesser magnitude in their way, could not but be expected to adhere to the cause of the all-powerful Kapetans rather than to the transient power of a Vizier appointed by the Porte.
This last-named official, whose appointment was then, as now, acquired by successful intrigue or undisguised bribery, was never certain of long tenure of office, and invariably endeavoured by all the means in his power to remunerate himself while the opportunity should last.
The disregard entertained for life in those times, and the indifference manifested by the Ottoman government for this portion of the empire, often rendered it the safer policy for the Vizier to make common cause with the recusant Kapetans, who were too powerful to be subdued by force, and too wily to be entrapped by treachery or fraud.
But another and more self-subsistent power had taken deep root throughout the Ottoman dominions, and nowhere more than in those provinces which lie between the Save and the Adriatic. 'In Egypt,' says Ranke, 'there was the power of the Mameluke Beys revived immediately after the departure of the French; there was the protectorate of the Dere Beys in Asia Minor; the hereditary authority of the Albanian chieftains, the dignity of the Ayans in the princ.i.p.al towns, besides many other immunities--all of which seemed to find a bond of union and a centre in the powerful order of the Janissaries.' Of all the provinces of the empire Bosnia was perhaps the most deeply imbued with the spirit of this faction, the last memento of that ancient chivalry which had carried fire and sword over a great part of civilised Europe.
But to that same spirit of turbulent independence, the very germ of existence of the Janissaries, and so predominant among the natives of Bosnia, may in a great measure be attributed the successes of the Turkish arms in Europe in the campaign of 1828, an era fraught with danger to the whole Ottoman empire, dangers which the newly-organised battalions of the imperial army would have been unable to overcome but for the aid of the wild hors.e.m.e.n of the West. That the same spirit exists as did in bygone times I do not say; but whatever does yet remain of chivalrous endurance or reckless daring is to be found among the Mussulman, and not amongst the Christian, population.