85

THE TAESCHNER COLLECTION (Or. 12.359, cont.)

f. 34b. An inscription for a copy (sürat) for a similar order to Gazï Hasan Pa§a, appointed plenipotentiary with the rank of ‘great ambassador’ (biiyiik elgilik riitbesiyle). ff. 34b-35b. A translation of a Persian letter emphasizing good mutual relations from the khan of Bukhara and sent to Sultan ‘Abdulhamfd (ruled 1187/1774- 1203/1789, 35a:8) with his envoy and ‘great ambassador’, Molla Haccf Mehmed, who is accompanied by his son, the ‘little ambassador’, Mehmed Serif (cf. 35a:3- 4), dated Muharrem 1193 (January-February 1779). ff. 35b-38a. A memorandum by Zayn al-‘Abidayn Beg who arrived as envoy of Muhammad Khan of Revan (Yerevan), dated 13 Safer 1222 (22 April 1807 - the date does not seem to agree with the contents; King Erekle had died in 1798 and the agreement between him and the Russians [of 1783] is said to have happened three years earlier, cf. 37b: 1, so that the mission probably took place in 1786, see also above). The letter requests the Porte to accept suzerainty over Revan; Erkll Khan [King Erekle] had seized power over Tiflis eight years previously and had brought in Russian troops; the Porte however had made peace with the Russians and even opened the gate of commerce for them; Erkll Khan was also stirring up trouble in Azerbaijan and Muhammad Khan feared for attacks by Erkll Khan, the khans of Azerbaijan, and the Russians, and wished for Ottoman protection; the Ottoman decision should be communicated quickly because should the khan of Tiflis hear about the mission, he may attack Revan forthwith. Details on the Qajar dynasty, the polical situation and the tribes of the Caucasus as well as its recent history are given (from f. 36b). ff. 38a-41a. A hatt-i hümayün sent to the Mora (Peleponnese) for the purpose of restoring the financial order in the peninsula and obtaining the suppression of the recent practice of witholding an unlawful percentage of tax (cizye, *avariz) income by vd/fs from which the re‘aya should profit; culpable authorities are threatened with punishment. It is followed by a series of more detailed instructions related to the same problem. The year [1]201 (1786-7) is mentioned at various places in the text. ff. 41a-43a. A hatt-i hümayün to an (unmentioned) vizier with rules based on the relevant ‘ahdname concerning the passage of Russian merchantmen through the Bosphorus and the travel of Ottoman merchants - forbidden for female re'aya (42b-43a) - to Russia on Russian and Ottoman ships, with detailed regulations on