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TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

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doomsday’. 1158 The people of Anatolia and the Balkans could not sleep in their beds for<br />

two months; they slept in gardens. Many constructions were demolished in Edirne. Two<br />

quarters of Çorum were completely sunk under the ground and all of the mescids and<br />

minarets in this city were pulled down. 1159 But the most destructive results of the<br />

earthquake were seen in Constantinople. A number of mosques, minarets, castles,<br />

ramparts fell to the ground. One thousand and seventy houses collapsed and five<br />

thousand people passed away. 1160 It created such awful air in Constantinople that<br />

Bayezid II decided to move to Edirne. But a second earthquake took place on 9 Receb<br />

915/23 October 1509 in Edirne, which was as strong as the former one. 1161<br />

A third earthquake appeared on 3 Şaban 915/16 November 1509, which was not<br />

much weaker than the former two. This earthquake was followed by intense rains and<br />

torrent started on 19 Şaban 915/2 December 1509. The river of Tunca overflowed;<br />

Yenişehir was sunk into the water. ‘Ali records that not such a torrent had been seen<br />

around the region since the founding of Edirne. 1162<br />

The sources do not include clear indications of how people of the empire<br />

interpreted all these natural disasters. But there are some accounts on how Bayezid II<br />

himself interpreted them. An anonymous history records that after these earthquakes<br />

Bayezid II summoned known astronomers and specialists on natural sciences and asked<br />

them the possible hidden reasons of this wrath of the ground. He also demanded whether<br />

or not these catastrophes might include clues for the future. The present scholars said<br />

that there would be fierce wars all over the world and that much blood would pour on<br />

1158 KPZ8b, pp. 36-39; ALI, p. 920.<br />

1159 ALI, p. 920.<br />

1160 Ottoman chronicles give details of destruction. See KPZ8a, pp. 279-280; ALI, pp. 920-21; ANMH, p.<br />

43; SLZ1, pp. 435-6; ANMB, pp. 157-159. Consider also UZC2, pp. 233-4.<br />

1161 ALI, p. 921. See also TNSB, pp. 8-11.<br />

1162 ALI, p. 921.<br />

352

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