82

THE TAESCHNER COLLECTION (Or. 12.359, cont.)

for reform meant to stop the oppression and extortion of re'aya and the poor by viziers and mïr-i mirdns, which had been formulated in a gathering (meclis-i surd) of the kd’immakdm, ‘ulema and other worthies at the house the §eyhiilisldm Mevlana Mehmed Kamil (in office 1202/1788-1203/1789, cf. SO 1 IV, p. 1761), dated mid-$ewdl 1203 (4-13 July 1789). It is preceded by two headings emphasizing the exemplary value of the order in cases of gross injustice. (See also Shaw’s study, p. 72-5.) f. 21b. A series of examples for inscriptions indicating the (six) copies (sürat) to be made of the preceding decree for the various divisions (kot) of Anatolia and Rumelia. f. 22a-24b. A series of messages to be despatched to various provincial authorities to warn them against the activities of a band of 100 to 150 Albanian brigands led by, among others, Margalifli Stileyman, and operating from the surroundings of Yeni§ehir-i Fenar (Larissa); they were intent on moving to the Mora (Peloponnese) and laying waste to the peninsula. The messages are addressed to the derbendler bafbugi Kurd Ahmed Pa§a, to the muhdfiz of Agnboz (Chalkis), the va/f of Rumelia, the mutasarnf of Yanya (Ioannina), and others. In a letter to the commanders of Anatolia, the Mora and others, it was announced that the kapudan Gazf Hasan Pa§a had taken measures to have a kalyon (‘a few kalyons' are mentioned in f. 24b) ready at the Arsenal for despatch to the waters around the Mora, dated Muharrem [l]194/January-February 1780 (22b-23a). In another letter, Kurd Ahmed Pa§a is instructed to block the passes of Narda (Arta) and Yanya (22b). In the following letters, the vdli of Rumelia, local alaybegis and others are instructed to mobilize the provincial troops of 3000 men in all and prepare the necessary provisions (22b-24b). Kurd Pa§a is again urged to have the passes guarded by loyal men (23b-24a); commanders of various coastal strongholds of the Mora are instructed to have garrisons of 300 men each ready (24a); further instructions to the vdlr of Rumelia and various governors in Thessaly, Macedonia and the Mora follow on ff. 24a-b. In a last letter, dated Receb 1196 (June-July 1782), the addressees are informed that the Albanians had been prevented by the mutasarnf of iskenderfye (Shkodër) from obtaining support from that area or getting ships from the port of Ölgün (Ulcinj). f. 25a. A translation (from the French) of a letter by the re’isülküttdb to the Spanish chargé d’affairs concerning the wicked (but unspecified) behaviour of iskendenyeli Mahmüd Pa§a and his possible pardoning.