//Ed. Note: In a 'first' for TNT, rather than
in parts, herewith a rather longish but
interesting account of an Ottoman official's
journey from Baghdad to Istanbul in 1889.
The travel log, complete with tips for future
travelers, was published in 1892 and has been
transcribed-translated here by TNT.//
‘Lonely Planet 1889’ Baghdad-Istanbul
Travel Log & Guide
Unlike the route
taken in red on the map above, the
author Fehmi went overland from Baghdad to
Iskenderun and from there by ship to Izmir and
Istanbul.
Step-by-Step to Istanbul Via The Aleppo
Road
Writer: Fehmi, an official in the Baghdad Accounting Office
Printed with the permission of the Ministry of Education
Istanbul (İstipan Printer) Atik Zabtiye Street, Number 63
1308 (1892)
Owner and Publisher: Kitabcı Arakıl
The Journey
Foreword
I have written this special article, which I have taken the
liberty to have
printed and published,
for those who may wish to travel to Istanbul, so
that they may have the
benefit of my experience with regard to places to
stop along the way before
they set out on the road.
In addition, in order for the traveler to take better
advantage of certain
historic places I have presumed to include extra
information about them
to encourage thorough examination at those locales.
I hope that those who embark on this journey for the first
time will avail
themselves of the information I have provided. Because, en route to
Istanbul, they will need
to know to avoid places with no inhabitants and
no inns, and to know where they
can obtain the necessary provisions.
I implore those fine people who read this article, which has
been written
with the best of intentions,
to point out any mistakes.
Fehmi
Before I begin, I
feel the need to present some basic warnings.
In this
regard, as everyone
knows, those heading along the Aleppo road must
depart from Baghdad either in
the Spring or the Fall. This is because
there may be no suitable inns or hotels along the way in some places.
Also, it may not be possible to protect oneself
in the summer heat or
the winter cold.
Consequently, please heed this warning to make the
trip only during
Spring and Fall.
As the Prophet’s words advise, however much a traveler can
avoid
problems and hardships ahead of time the better, by anticipating and
carrying, to the extent possible, the requisite provisions he will need
in order to avoid difficulties. In this
regard, it is felt that one must
take along a sufficient supply of certain
items.
First of all, it is obvious that some travelers who bring
along family
members, servants and friends on the trip will have made excellent
preparations. Nevertheless, we think
that, although these travelers do
not need additional advice, they can take
advantage of the information
provided below to protect their health.
Those traveling lightly may think that they do not need to
take along
much but they should, nonetheless, make sure they have obtained the
necessities beforehand because finding
such simple items like a needle
and thread along the way may prove
problematic. In this regard, it is
certain
that our warnings ought to be seriously heeded.
Also, lone
travelers may want to
consider taking a tent and a servant along with
them. As we will show in the expenses section at
the end of the article,
the cost of a servant is slight, relative to the total
cost of the journey.
I am sure I do not need to advise travelers to ensure that
their animals
are healthy and sturdy, because replacing an animal that cannot
walk
or move along the route of this journey is nearly impossible.
Travelers who take along a kitchen set should be sure to
have enough
food for two people up until Aleppo. Foodstuffs should include plain
rice, salt and pepper, onions, dried plums, beans, sugar and ‘peksimet’
(hard biscuit), and twice as much tea and coffee to assuage the burdens
of the journey. Even those traveling lightly should have
enough
‘peksimet’, cheese, olives, hard-boiled eggs, bitter lemon juice and
a couple of jars of
dry dates among their provisions.
Certainly, purchasing nice clothes that are flattering to
oneself in
Istanbul, Izmir and other provinces is possible and inexpensive so a
traveler need not bring along clothes from Baghdad. However,
taking
along some rough clothes for the journey, in addition to the
clothes one
is wearing, is advisable. So
bring as many extra shirts, underwear,
socks and handkerchiefs as possible
because the traveler will gather
lots of dust and dirt between stops along the
way and a change of
clothes will be refreshing. Once one reaches the river’s edge and the
Bosphorus one has the luxury
of washing clothes to have some clean
and fresh ones.
Despite the hot weather along the route, travelers should
nonetheless
wear a woolen undershirt to ward off the coolness of the morning, and
it would not be a bad idea to have an overcoat or a ‘maşlah’ (loose
open-fronted cloak without sleeves), too.
With regard to treating various illnesses while en route,
remedies
recommended by common folk are suitable. At some point, every
traveler will need some
treatment. Therefore, the following
treatments
are recommended:
For headache and common cold: a small bottle of ammonia,
also known
as ‘nışadur ruhu’, to smell and clear the senses; some ‘solfato’
(quinine
sulfate) for malaria and fever, as everyone knows; mint sugar and a
bottle of brandy for stomach
troubles, along with cardamom and the
like; flax seed poultice and a knitting
needle to treat inflammations; and
for
eye problems, put a bit of ‘solfato’in half a glass of water, stir and
then apply with cotton to the eye. Also, wear glasses all the time.
When necessary, drink no more than three cups
of brandy.
Disclaimer
These advisory notes of ours have been written to remind
those whose
minds are awash in thoughts as they prepare for their journey.
Everyone’s constitution is different and
stamina is not the same for all.
At this
point, all travelers should prepare for their trip based on their
own
temperament and nature. Beyond that,
there is no need for me to
say anymore.
Stages of the Journey
Trusting in God, on the twentieth of April in the year 1305
(1889), the
first day of Ramazan, at around 2 o’clock we left Baghdad and
arrived
at Vişaş at 8 o’clock the same day.
Vişaş is a small tributary of the
Euphrates. We reached there comfortably and as it was
Spring, the
cloud parts in the sky served as a bridal veil for the setting
sun. The
clouds performing this service
dropped a few raindrops, as well, but
not for very long. The fierce wind blowing kept our surroundings
unsettled.
The windy weather continued until about one at night but
then the air
calmed, allowing the mosquitos to make a meal of our bodies. We
were able to withstand this onslaught for
a few hours and rose at
twenty minutes
before dawn to head out from this stream.
At about
four thirty, we arrived at Fallujah on the banks of the
Euphrates,
which is quite wide here.
There is a bridge made of wooden pontoons
that crosses the river. Additionally, there are big rowboats that
take
dead bodies across the river, making the living ones rather nervous.
These
rowboats are essentially death-traps but we crossed the river
safely and
pitching our tents, we rested.
At 10 at night, we departed and made our way with great
difficulty
through the swamps created by the Euphrates’s overflowing
waters.
After five and a half hours, we
reached Seng-i Şeriye, on the banks of
the Euphrates. There were no accommodations in the
place. A fierce
wind blew until 11
o’clock and then gave way to fine weather.
The
sound of the flowing river sounding like the moaning of a sad lover
or,
more to the point, the trembling, joyful but, nevertheless, melancholy
voice of a lovesick man asking for
forgiveness from his beloved.
At 10 at night we left this place and arrived at Düleym
(Kal’atürremad/
Ramadi) at about two in the afternoon. The district lacked order and
accommodations
but there were some shops made of mud from where
a traveler can obtain most of
what he needs in the way of provisions
and necessities. At 10
at night, we left here and reached a sandy place
called Şeriye on the Euphrates
shore at three-thirty, pitching our tents
there to rest. At
one time in the past, a cavalry company was stationed
here in a fortress and
the place was then called Nokta. As the
river
overflowed, the fortress was ruined and never repaired. No trace is left
of it now. About an hour’s distance beyond, though,
there are some
Arab tentdwellers from whom one can obtain some necessities.
In the evening of the
same day, we doubled back and arrived at the town
of Hit in Düleym
district. This town is nicer and more
well-ordered than
other towns but it is surrounded by places that bubble up
with sulfuric
acid, creating a horrid stench that we were only able to endure
for one
night’s stay. At 8 o’clock we
resumed our journey and at 4 o’clock we
arrived at a place called Bağdadi,
which is a somewhat depressed town
on the shore of the Euphrates.
This map is a good approximation of Fehmi’s
overland trek from Baghdad
to Iskenderun, although
he hugged the Euphrates a bit more between
Haditha and
the current Iraq-Syria border. Fehmi’s
Aleppo-Iskenderun route was a bit different, too.
Two hours after pitching our tents, the rain began and continued all
night until
five in the morning, which distressed us to no end. We
left this place at 7 o’clock and at 4
o’clock we reached a town called
Hadise, which is split by the Euphrates. The difficulty in crossing
the river, though,
prevented us from seeing the other portion of the
town on the opposite
bank. In any case, there is a water wheel in the
river here that
provides water for irrigation.
At two-thirty in the
afternoon we deprted and arrived at a place called
Fahimi on the shore of the
Euphrates at eight-thirty. There is a
barracks
here for the ‘zaptiye’ (soldiers of the Ottoman Ministry of Public
Security) but no trees or houses, so the place has no appeal whatsoever.
Nevertheless,
thanks to the beautiful moonlight shining on the river and
its reflection, we
passed a very lovely night there. At 10
o’clock that
night we departed and reached Ana district at 4 in the
morning. But the
‘menzil’ (stopping
point) was at the other end of the town and it took us
another two hours to pass
through, via the town’s crowded road, to
reach the desired ‘menzil’ (way
station) and pitch our tents.
Although the town was quite disorderly and untidy, it has
two lovely
gardens on either side of the Euphrates that are worth pointing
out. The
sight of them was a welcome
vision of beauty for weary travelers like
ourselves. The land here is irrigated by water
wheels. The men are
busy spinning wool
and the women equally engaged in knitting clothes
and other materials. As far as the architecture of the town is
concerned,
the homes are no different that ones in the mountains made of dry
clay.
Caravans stop here for two days so
we did the same and departed on the
third night at five-thirty, reaching a
place called Nehiye at around two-
thirty in the afternoon. There is nothing here other than a fortress
housing a few ‘zaptiye’ soldiers. We pitched our tents on the shore of
the
Euphrates but the fierce wind gave us no peace until sunset.
We left here at 3 o’clock in the morning and after a 9-hour
trek we
reached the town of Al-kaim at twelve-thirty. Besides the ‘zaptiye’
barracks, there was
nothing in the town. An hour’s distance
beyond,
though, there are a few tribes living in their tents. The fortress on the
shore of the Euphrates
was occupied inside and out by heaps of refuse,
so because of the flies and
mosquitos it was impossible to remain there
for more than an hour. At five-thirty at night, sleepless and in great
discomfort, we departed and reached
Abu Kemal district of Deyr-ez
Zor subdivision at noon. The
town is set on the banks of the Euphrates
and, although the place does not
resemble a district, its situation is
nonetheless extremely beautiful.
The prosperity of the place is reflected by the 40-50 houses
made of
mud. In any case, we left here
at five at night and arrived at a place
called Salhiya at eleven-thirty. As the consequence of a non-stop
downpour during our travel, the 6.5-hour passage through the forest
to here
was quite onerous. There is a ‘zaptiye’ barracks here,
surrounded
by about twenty Arab tentdwellers. The
view is quite
lovely and satisfying. At seven at night we left here and, after 10
hours, we reached the district of Mayadin,
where there were 200-300
houses made of brick and mud on the shore of the
Euphrates, in a very
nice setting. At
four-thirty in the morning we departed here and
arrived at Deyr-ez Zor
subdivision at nine-thirty.
This place is not yet very well-ordered. Nevertheless, some of the
streets are clean and broad. The houses reaching down to the shore of
the
Euphrates are charming and, in some cases, modern. As a result,
the view is very
refreshing. There are schools for males
and females
here and the national garden near the municipal building can be
described as quite amiable. We remained
here for two days to rest,
during which time I was only able to visit the ‘liva
naibi’ (Ottoman
lower judge of the
subdivision). This man is a graduate of
the
Mekteb-i Nüvvâb (Ottoman school for judges) and quite a praiseworthy
individual. I am very grateful for the
hospitality he extended to me.
On the third night after our arrival here we departed at
nine and reached
a ‘zaptiye’ point named Terif at four. There was neither prosperity nor
charm in
this place. At eight at night we left at
four-thirty we arrived at
a place an hour and a half’s distance from the
‘zaptiye’ barracks named
Ma’den, on the banks of the Euphrates. There is nothing worth noting
about this
place, which we left at nine at night.
At three-thirty we
reached a town called Cami Sabha, on the Euphrates
shore, with a few
shops and 30-40 Arab tentdwellers. We left here at nine at night,
arriving at a
‘zaptiye’ barracks called Mehmed Ağa at two in the
afternoon.
encountered an unusually fierce and continuous winter-like rainstorm .
All of our foodstuffs and garments were
soaked, distressing us no end.
We left
here at nine at night and arrived at a rather desolate village on
the
riverbank, a few hours distance beyond
the ‘zaptiye’ barracks at
Hamam, at five.
My health took a turn for the worse but, thanks to God,
I was able to recover after a few hours of rest. At 10 at night we left
here in the rain,
which again continued throughout our passage through
the forest.
After a very difficult 7-hour journey, we reached a
‘zaptiye’ barracks
on the banks of the Euphrates about an hour beyond the place on a
hilltop where the grave of Ebu
Hüreyre is said to be located. Opposite
the grave, on the other side of the river,
I saw Caber Kalesi (grave of
Ottoman founder Osman’s grandfather). I will not say anymore about
this historic
place here because there will be additional information
about it and other
historic sites in an addendum to this article.
At nine-thirty at night, thoroughly wet from the rain, we
departed and
reached Meskene on the Euphrates shore at five. There is a brick and
stone barracks here,
along with an unfinished inn, as well as 5-10 Arab
tentdwellers. We left here at eight-thirty at night,
bidding a sad
farewell to the Euphrates.
Putting our trust in ‘Cenab-ı
Vacib-ül-vücud’
(God), we set out and arrived at the village of Deyr-i Haf at
four-thirty.
There are about 40-50
houses in this village, all of them one-room and
made of mud, in the faux-glass
dome style.
Our caravan chose this place for a rest and there was
greenery as far as
the eye could see.
The loveliness of the green meadow and the excellent
weather made for a nice respite, although the bitter well
water we drank
dampened our spirits somewhat.
In any event, we left here at eleven-
thirty and arrived in Aleppo at
ten-thirty that night. Even though
Aleppo
is not as big as Baghdad, its buildings are made of marble and stone,
making them firm and strong and the
city’s markets are well-ordered and
clean, making them preferable to
Baghdad’s. The baths are as nice as
those in Baghdad and
in terms of orderliness, service and temperature
they are quite
desireable. The water and weather are
not as good as
Baghdad’s, though.
Aleppo in the 19th century.
We remained in Aleppo for six days and visited a number of
people
and places. I now recall them
with gladness, because of the hospitality
they showed me.
Following the Ramazan holiday, on Sunday 21 May in the year
1305
(1889), we departed Aleppo at ten and arrived at a village named İncirli
at five. This village is made up of 5-10
houses and all the owners are
innkeepers so travelers are always welcome here
and all sorts of
provisions are available.
We left here at two in the afternoon are
reached Azrin (possibly today’s
Afrin) village at nine. A person
named
Ömer Efendi has built a nice hotel, which has two floors.
There is a coffeeshop on the first floor and
ten rooms, built of wood,
above. The
rooms would remind one of ship’s cabins, except for the
size. The pure water from the river that flows in
front of the hotel
nourishes three giant
mulberry trees, making the view here most
delightful. Foodstuffs and all other desired provisions
are available
here.
At eight-thirty at night we gave our horses free rein and
arrived at four
at Kırıkhan village, resting there. A traveler can obtain provisions
from a
number of inns in the village. This
place deserves to be called
beautiful.
The inn where we stayed was built of wood and in the shape
of a bridge over a waterway. The top was covered with reeds and it was
surrounded by various types of trees.
The inn has a capacity for 15 guests.
The rushing noise from the stream as it flows over pebbles and the
natural
charm of the garden invite peace-of-mind and delight.
Nevertheless, the onslaught of millions of mosquitos that
bit like spiders
gave us not one moment of peace. Consequently, at six we fled for our
lives
and arrived at Iskenderun district at two.
The place is well-ordered
but the weather is even more oppressive than
Basra’s. Living here must
put one’s
health in jeopardy.
Iskenderun in the early 1900s.
On the third Friday after our arrival, putting our faith in
the kindness
and spirit of the Prophet, we boarded the French-flagged vessel
“Senid”. At two-thirty at night on
Saturday we weighed anchor and
headed for our destination. Seven hours later we reached Mersin
district
of Adana province and the ship anchored about
15 minutes
away from the town. However, rough seas forced us to remain on
board while cargo was loaded
on over the course of thirteen and a
half hours, so we were unable to visit
Mersin ourselves.
Finally, at 11 o’clock in the morning we departed and
continued
non-stop to Izmir, where we arrived on Monday evening. To the
extent possible, I toured the markets
and buildings. I am at a loss
to
describe the place because only astute novelists could do it
justice, rather
than a bumpkin like me. Izmir’s
prosperity, freedom,
expanse, charm, architectural splendor and overall
abundance were
beyond words for me.
Izmir in the 1890s.
In fact, for more than an hour I walked along the
marble-paved shore,
as people came and went on trams, railroads and
vehicles. The scene
of the many nice cafés,
hotels, coffeehouses and restaurants on the pier
gave me a fresh taste for
life. And the view of the sea’s natural
beauty,
coupled with the multitude of ships approaching the dock, was
complemented by the lovely ladies and girls, resembling pretty flowers,
who
strolled along the esplanade, leaving an unworldly fellow like
myself
dumbfounded.
Çanakkale (Dardanelles) Strait – upper left.
On the fourth Thursday after our arrival in Izmir, we
departed at one on
another French-flagged vessel, the “Niyamen”. Four hours later, at
5 o’clock we reached
Çanakkale. The ship stopped for just an
hour so
touring was out of the question. At six in the morning the next day we
arrived
in Istanbul, which is, of course, beyond my powers of
description. I’ll just suffice to call it “heaven on
Earth” and end my
article here.
Istanbul in 1890.
Addendum
Historical Events
Aleppo, or ‘Haleb’, province has been the site of a city
since ancient
times. It is said that the
reason for the name comes from the
Prophet
İbrahim, who had a cow named ‘Şehba’ (ash-colored). İbrahim
would
milk the cow on the hilltop where the Aleppo fortress is now and
distribute the milk to the Arab poor, who, in turn, called it “haleb-i
şehba”
(milk of the cow named ‘şehba’).
There are many mosques and religious schools within the
city. The
well-known mosque “Harem-i
Hamis” is at the city’s center and there
are many tombs and graves of saints,
as well, along with barracks.
There is an ancient barracks outside of the city, too.
Additionally,
there are more than a thousand fabric workshops, soap
factories and
more than twenty factories for printing cloth. Schools for each ethnic
group and a military high school exist, as well.
The fortress surrounded by a wall is in ruins from being
bombarded
during numerous rebellions.
North of Aleppo city there are forests of
juniper, black pine and myrtle
trees. All sorts of crops are grown in
the
fertile and productive soil, including almonds, nuts, cotton and olives,
all in abundance. With regard to other
products, beautiful quilt
coverings, velvet chairs, couches, prayer rugs and upholstery
are
produced, along with imitation Lahore shawls, felt, every kind of
‘peştemal’ (bath towels), sword belts, silver animal harnesses, soap and
all
sorts of woven goods.
Aydın-Izmir
In ancient times, the area comprising Izmir, Aydın and
Manisa were part
of “Lidia” and Menteşe was part of “Caria”. Today one can see the
historical remnants of
these civilizations. The city of Izmir
is now the
capital of a central province here.
The famous Greek poet Homer is said
to have been born here and there is
a statue of him within the city and
another statue of ‘İsklab’ outside the
city. One of the famed ‘Seven
Churches’
of the Christians is here, too.
In the year 477 (1061) the Selçuk Sultan Aydın siezed the city and in
491(1075) ownership passed
to an eastern government. In 805 (1389)
Timurlane siezed the area and destroyed it (sic, Timur was in Central
Asia at
the time). Finally, “Çelebi Sultan
Mehmed Han” annexed the
area permanently
to the Ottoman Empire.
The city of Izmir is the foremost commercial port in Ottoman Asia.
With regard to education, there are religious
schools for Moslems,
along with the schools of various ethnic groups, at the
elementary and
high school levels. There
are many fine, large buildings and an
expansive port. The province’s population is well-off thanks
to
industry and its fertile soil. All
manner of crops are raised, including
opium and cotton, and red dye and green
dye called ‘cehri’ are
available here.
Figs and grapes, pitted and
without pits, and including
‘razaki’ white grapes, are raised and the melons of
the Manisa region
are quite famous. Broadcloth,
fine taffeta, home fabrics, prayer rugs
and ‘kilim’ (flat pileless rugs) are
produced here. With regard to
mining,
there is an abundance of sulfur.
Çanakkale
This city is the prefecture of the subdivision or
‘liva’. It is known as
either Çanakkale
or Kale-i Sultaniye or Bahr-i Sefid Boğazı
(Mediterranean Strait) or Çanakkale
Boğazı (Çanakkale Strait). Since
this is
the gateway to Istanbul, there is a military command center here
to protect the
strait. Modern redoubts and fortifications
have been
constructed at this place, which is at the juncture between Ottoman
Europe and Ottoman Asia, and between the Sea of Marmara and the
Aegean
Sea. There are formidable cannon positioned
at the many
fortifications.
Caber Kalesi (Caber Fortress)
Shah Süleyman, the son of Kaya Alp, father of Ertuğrul Gazi
and
grandfather of Osman, died here when he drowned crossing the
Euphrates
River. May he rest in peace.
Caber
Kalesi, as Fehmi would have seen it in 1889.
Expenses
Herewith a list of expenses that a traveler might incur: ‘kuruş’ (piasters)
Cost of a donkey between Baghdad and Iskenderun: 228.00
Cost of ship travel between Iskenderun and Istanbul: 66.20
Since there are no formal inn-hotel accommodations, other
than the three
mentioned between Deyr-ez Zor and Aleppo and between Aleppo and
Iskenderun, besides these three inn-hotel costs the traveler should expect
to
pay some other minor costs for rest stops. 300.00
Total: 594.20
It is possible that those who adhere to my travel log might
have to pay
more than the 300 kuruş mentioned above.
END
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder