[1] 132


.Nīşān-ı hümāyūn oldur ki:


.Ḳıdvetü ümerāʾi’l-milleti’l-mesīḥiyye Romā imperāṭorı× ṭarafından büyükilçilik ile āsitāne-i saʿādetüme gelen Cenerāl Ġrūf
.de Virmond× ḫutimet ʿavāḳibühū bi-l-ḫayr südde-i saʿādetüme ʿarż-ı ḥal gönderüb

biñ elli ṭoḳuz senesinde virilen ʿahdnāme-i hümāyūnda
.münderic olduġı üzere pāpişta meẕhebinden Trinitari ve [? dellā redemeçīris] [1] taʿbīr olunur pāpāslar ve ruhbānlar
5 ve yezūvītelere ẓulm ve teʿaddī olunmamaḳ üzere mesṭūr olub

ve bundan māʿadā daḫī ḳaradan ve deryādan varub
.gelüb sākin olduḳları meskenlerine kimesne taʿarruż eylemeyüb ve evlerini taʿmīr eyledükde kimesne daḫl eylemeye ve āyīn
.ve ʿibādetlerini Lātīn dīni üzere eyledüklerinde beglerbegiler ve ḳaḍīlar ve sāʾir ḥükkāmdan yollarda ve meskenlerde ve ḳadīmden
.żabṭ eyledükleri kelīsālarınde kimesne daḫl ve taʿarruż itmeyüb ve nāsuñ ṣadaḳasından ġayrı geçinecekleri olmamaḳla ticāret içün
.getürdükleri eşyādan ġayrı gendülerüñ esbāblarından resm bāc u ḫarāc ve sāʾir tekālīfden bir şeyʾ ṭaleb itmeyeler
10 ve aralarından birisi mürd olduḳda esvāb ve eşḳāllerine beytü’l-māl emīni ṭarafından daḫl olunmaya ve mürd olduḳlarında
.ṣandūḳ aḳçası nāmıyla gendülerden bir şeyʾ ṭaleb itmeyeler ve sākin olduḳları maḥallerde ḳan düşürülmeye kan
.bahāsın edā eylemek bahānesiyle ḥabs olunmayalar ve ẕikr olunan ruhbānlar ve yezūtīler ve sāʾir Lātīn pāpāsları
.Rūm ve Ṣırf ve Bulġār pisḳoposlarından daḫl olunmayub ḳadīmden berü ḥālā żabṭlarında olan kilīselerinde
.ve gendülere tābiʿ olan reʿāyānuñ ḫidmetinde anlar gibi bunlardan daḫī gendü kilīselerinde Lātīn dīni üzere [1] 70
.āyīn ve ʿibādetlerin idüb Rūmdan ve Ṣırfdan kimesne daḫl ü taʿaruż eylemeye ve varub gendülerin ġamz
.idüb aḳçaların almayalar diyü sene sitte ve sebʿīn ve elf cemāẕiye’l-ūlāsı evāḫirinde baʿdehū sene isnā ʿaşere
.ve-miʾe ve elf rebīʿü l-āḫirinüñ evāḫirinde nīşān-ı hümāyūn virildügin bildürüb tecdīdin ricā itmegin


.mūcebince tecdīd olunub bu nīşān-ı hümāyūnı virdüm ve buyurdum ki fī-mā baʿd daḫī vech-i meşrūḥ üzere ʿamel olunub
5 ḫilāfına rıżā ve cevāz gösterilmeyüb min baʿd şerʿ-i şerīfe ve muḳaddemā ve ḥālā virilen nīşān-ı hümāyūna
.muġāyir kimesneye iş itdürmeyeler şöyle bileler.

fī evāsıṭ-ı Ẕā[[Ẕi’l-ḳaʿide]] sene 1131

[1]

So is the imperial sign (nīşān-ı hümāyūn):

General [Damian Hugo] Count of Virmont× —may God end his days propitiously—who came to my gate that is the center of state as grand ambassador from the Roman emperor×, the paragon of the great commanders of the community of Messiah, sent a petition to my threshold of felicity:

As included in the imperial letter of agreement (ʿahdnāme-i ḥumāyūn) that was issued in 1059, the priests and clergy from the papal order of Trinitarians and the priests and clergy who are called redemptionist fathers(?) [1] as well as Jesuits shall not be wronged and oppressed.

Besides, they shall travel to and from their residences over land and sea and no one shall molest them. When they repair their houses, no one shall interfere. As they conduct their rites and worship according to the Roman Catholic religion (Lātīn dīni üzere), no one from among the provincial governors, judges, and other administrators shall interfere and molest them on roads, houses, and churches in their possession since old days. Since they do not have anything to live on other than the charity of people, except for the commodities they brought for trade, [the aforesaid officials] shall not demand tax, tribute and contribution, and other levies from their own requisites. When someone among them dies, the superintendent of the inheritance department at the public treasury shall not interfere with the deceased person’s garments and personal possessions (eşḳāl). When they die, nothing shall be demanded from them on the pretext of treasury money (ṣandūḳ aḳçası). No blood shall be shed in quarters where they live and they shall not be jailed on the pretext of paying blood compensation. The Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian prelates shall not interfere with the aforesaid clergy, Jesuits, and other Roman Catholic priests (Lātīn pāpāsları). Just as the Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian churches, the Roman Catholics too shall perform in their own churches, which they have owned from the old days to the present, their rites and prayers as per the Roman Catholic faith in the service of the subjects that follow them. [1] No one from among the Greeks and Serbians shall interfere and molest them or get their money by fraud. The ambassador reported that an imperial sign (nīşān-ı hümāyūn) dated November 29 – December 8, 1665 and, after that, another one dated October 5 – October 14, 1700 were issued. He requested a renewal.

It has been renewed and I issued the present imperial sign (charter). I order that, from now on, [all] shall act in the described way and no consent or permission shall be shown to the contrary. From now on, no one shall [be allowed to] do a thing in violation of the canonical law of Islam and the imperial signs that were issued formerly and the one issued now. So shall they know!

September 25 to October 4, 1719




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