Travels of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa

33. The Prince's company journeying towards Constantinople

Sfântu Gheorghe (Sepsiszentgyörgy, al-Fanīka)
Title
The Prince's company journeying towards Constantinople
Short description
The Prince's company journeying towards Constantinople accompanied by musicians.
Text on source
وعلى ساحل هذا الخليج الثالث مدينة الفنيكة (واسمها بفاء مفتوحة ونون وياء مد وكاف مفتوح)، وهي صغيرة لكنها حسنة مانعة، وكنائسها وديارها حسان والأنهار تخرقها والبساتين تحفها ويدخر بها العنب والإجَّاص والتفاح والسفرجل من السنة إلى الأخرى، وأقمنا بهذه المدينة ثلاثًا والخاتون في قصر لأبيها هنالك، ثم قدم أخوها شقيقها واسمه كفالي قراس في خمسة آلاف فارس شاكين السلاح، ولما أرادوا لقاء الخاتون ركب أخوها المذكور فرسًا أشهب ولبس ثيابًا بيضاء وجعل على رأسه مظللًا مكللًا بالجواهر وجعل عن يمينه خمسة من أبناء الملوك وعن يساره مثلهم لابسين البياضأيضًا وعليهم مظللات مزركشة بالذهب وجعل بين يديه مائة من المشائين ومائة فارس قد أسبغوا الدروع على أنفسهم وخيلهم وكل واحد منهم يقود فرسًا مسرجًا مدرعًا عليه شكة فارس من البيضة المجوهرة والدروع والتركش والقوس والسيف وبيده رمح في طرف رأسه راية، وأكثر تلك الرماح مكسوة بصفائح الذهب والفضة وتلك الخيل المقودة هي مراكب ابن السلطان، وقسم فرسانه على أفواج كل فوج فيه مائتا فارس، ولهم أمير قد قدم أمامه عشرة من الفرسان شاكين في السلاح، وكل واحد منهم يقود فرسًا وخلفه عشرة من العلامات ملونة بأيدي عشرة من الفرسان وعشرة أطبال يتقلدها عشرة من الفرسان ومعهم ستة يضربون الأبواق والأنفار والصرنايات وهي الغيطات [ص. ٢٤٥-٢٤٦]
English translation
On the bank of this third channel is the city of al-Fanīka, which is small but pretty and strongly fortified, and its churches and houses are beautiful. It is traversed by running streams and surrounded by orchards, and in it grapes, pears, apples and quinces are preserved from one year to the next. We halted in this city for three nights, the khātūn staying in one of her father's castles there. After this her uterine brother, whose name was Kifālī Qarās, arrived with five thousand horsemen, bristling with arms. When they were about to meet the khātūn, this brother of hers, dressed in white robes, rode on a grey horse and carried over his head a parasol ornamented with jewels. On his right hand he placed five sons of kings, and on his left the same number, all dressed in white also, and with parasols embroidered in gold over their heads. In front of him he posted a hundred foot-soldiers and a hundred horsemen, clad in long coats of mail covering both themselves and their horses, each one of whom led a horse saddled and armoured, carrying the arms of a horseman, namely a jewelled helmet, a breastplate, a quiver, a bow and a sword, and held in his hand a lance with a pennant at the point of its head. Most of these lances were covered with plaques of gold and silver, and those led horses were the riding beasts of the sultan's son. He divided his horsemen into squadrons, two hundred horsemen in each squadron. Over them was an amīr, who had preceding him ten horsemen bristling with arms, each of them leading a horse, and behind him ten particoloured standards carried by ten horsemen, and ten kettledrums [aṭbāl] slung over the shoulders of ten horsemen, who were accompanied by six others sounding coiled trumpets [abwāq] and straight trumpets [anfār] and zurnas [ṣurnāyāt], which are [the same as] ghaitas [ġayṭāt]
Folios/Pages
502-503
Date
1333 circa
Observations on the events description
The number of musical instruments might be conventional. The identification of the town of al-Fanīka mentioned by the author with the Romanian Sfântu Gheorghe is uncertain.
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.

Participants
Name
Role
Notes
Edit
Delete
Hatun, Nilüfer
Travel fellow
Valide Hatun


How to quote
Pintimalli A., "The Prince's company journeying towards Constantinople" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 07 15.

doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.130

This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0