The History of Varadin in the Time of Sultan Ahmed- Son of İbrahim Han

Abstract

The 1694 Austrian military expedition was carried out on the Fortress of Varadin (Serbian: Petrovaradin, Hungarian: Pétervárad), which had been conquered by the Ottomans in 1526 and held for 161 years. The expedition commanded by Grand Vizier Surmeli Ali Pasha was supported by Crimean Khan Selim Giray and the Central Hungarian King Imre Thököly. The siege lasting for 23 days was finally removed due to poor weather conditions.

The Siege of Varadin was the subject of an anonymous Ottoman chronicle entitled Târîh-i Varadin Der Zemân-i Sultân Ahmed bin Ibrahim (The History of Varadin in the Time of Sultan Ahmed- Son of Ibrahim Han). Although the name of the author is not given, it seems to be one of Grand Vizier Ali Pasha’s attendants who participated in the expedition. This chronicle gives a daily account of Austria’s campaign and siege of Varadin. The work includes information on a wide range of topics such as the numbers of the soldiers in each army, their route and incidents that took place on their way, their weaponry, safety precautions, navy and their vessels as well as regiment ceremonies and divan meetings. In addition to presenting the 1694 Ottoman-Austrian expedition in detail, Târîh-i Varadin is also an extremely important resource in terms of the representation of a military expedition organization in the Ottoman Empire. The present study aims at evaluating and providing a full transcription of this manuscript held at Topkapı Palace Museum Manuscript Library under registry number Revan 1312.