The Pre-Kosovo Events From Hešt Bihišt by Idris Bitlisi

Abstract

This is a translation of those sections from the historical work of Hešt Bihišt which deal with the more important events ill the Balkans in the period between the first incursions of the Ottoman troops into the territory of the Balkan Peninsula and the famous battle of Kosovo (1389). As it is generally known, the Hešt Bihišt is a great Ottoman history concerning the first eight Ottoman rulers, i. e., from Osman to Selim I (1310-1512), written in Persian by Idris Bitlisi, the great Ottoman historian and court chronicler (waq'a niwis) of Bajazid II (1481-1512), who lived at the end of the 15th and at the beginning of the 16^th centuries.

These events, one by one, were crucial for the history of the Balkans: all of them together represent a preparation for the final clash on the Kosovo in 1389 and, later, the fall of south Slavic and other Balkan peoples under the Ottoman power.

In comparison with the earlier Ottoman historians and his immediate predecessors, Idris Bitlisi gave the fullest account of all these events.

This translation has been made according to the manuscript of this work, which is kept in the Archives of Socialist Republic of Croatia, in Zagreb. The manuscript itself was acquired from the inheritance of the late Franz Ottenfels, the Austrian diplomatic representative in Istanbul in the first half of the 19^th century. It reached this Yugoslav institution by accident, together with the rest of Ottenfels's books.

A description of the pre-Kosovo events, with which we are concerned here, was given by Bitlisi in the third “bihišt” of his work, in which he also dealt with the age of the third Ottoman Sultan, Murat I (1359-1389). This third ”bihišt” (which in the Zagreb manuscript bears the title Dastān-i sulṭān Murād-ghāzī), contains, in addition to introductory parts, eighteen »dastāns« or narratives.

This translation relates the pre-Kosovo events from those “dastāns” which deal with them. Thus in the dastāns 2-5 (pp. 263-281, according to our own pagination marked on the photocopies), among other things, the following is described: the first campaign of the Sultan (Murat I) in the lands of Rumelia (the Balkans) and the capture of some fortifications; the capture of the cities of Edirne and Dimotika; the capture of the fortresses and cities of Plovdiv, Zagora, Gumuldjina and the surrounding regions; the battle of the Marica.

The dastāns 7-12 (pp. 286-315) speak of the following events:the designation of the city of Edirne as the Sultan's capital; the conquest of the town of Cirmen; the capture of the towns of Ajtos, Vize, Krk kilise (Lozengrad) and Hirebolu; the occupation of the region of Konstantiniya (Byzantine areas around Constantinople) by the Sultan himself; the capture of Serez, Kavala, Drama, Zihna, Fortress Borul, Iskena and Maruliya; the Sultan's campaign in Serbia and the attempt of Prince Lazar to organize resistance; the victory of the Sultan's army and the capture of Niš; Lazar's consent to pay a three-year tribute; the Sultan's campaign in Šišman's land and Prince Bajazid's marriage; the later conquests and capture of the towns of Manastir (Bitolj), Prilep, and the region of Karli-ili.

Dastān No. 14 (pp. 318-320) deals with the conquest of the city of Sofia by the army commander Balaban-beg.

In dastāns 16-17 (pp. 328-337) the following is described: Lazar's rebellion against the Sultan's deputies after the return of the Sultan's Army from the Akkerman campaign; the defeat of Lala Shahin in his campaign in Lazar's land; the successes of Ali-pasha in his conquest of Lazar's fortresses and towns; Šišman's repentance for his disobedience and Ali-pasha's mediation with the Sultan; Šišman's repeated refusal of obedience and Ali-pasha's conquest of Šišman's lands.

Dastān No. 18 speaks of the battle of Kosovo. This dastān was published in translation in the same periodical, No. XIV-XV, Sarajevo, 1969, pp. 329-351.

Additional information on Bitlisi and his work the Hešt Bihišt was published in the same author's article entitled “Bitlisi's Description of the Balkan Peninsula”, POF XII-XIII, Sarajevo, 1965, pp. 209-218.