Yunus Oghuz - Nader Shah. Historical novel

In the palace, everything had to be for the state.

…The destinies of Fatime Sultan Beyim and Rize Beyim were as though they lived in darkness. There was no other way. They had to obey the unwritten laws of the palacesuicide! It was necessary without fail. The fami ly of Safavid could not be humiliated!

After Sultan Husain put the Shah’s crown on Mahmud’s head, the girls were trying to ignore that disgrace. In fact, Sultan Husain had to care about the women and girls in the palace. Before Isfahan was encircled he could have sent them to somewhere out of danger. But he did nothing. After some time Mahmud Shah came to the palace and lived there. The girls went to their cells. The nurse whom they used to call “aunt” was near them. The aunt thought about a way to save the girls but she had been able to do nothing. The glasses of poison on the niche were before their eyes. Though the girls were young, they were ready to drink poison. They knew what invading and plundering of the city meant.

Rize Beyim said to the nurse-maid in tears:

– My aunt, prepare the poison, we have to be ready for it in time. Our Shah had to take care of it beforehand.

Fatime Sultan Beyim raised her hands:

– My God, isn’t there any way-out for us? Why are we suffering in distress?

Though the heart of the aunt was bleeding, she showed herself reserved in order to quieten the girls:

– Don’t shed tears, girls! I beseech you! It was fated thus! What can we do?

Rize Beyim who had already accepted the miserable situation said, sobbing:

– My aunt, how is death? After drinking that poison will death come early, will we suffer from pains?

The aunt could no longer restrain the tears. Instead of answering Rize Beyim’s questions she cried bitterly. The girls also joined her and began to shed tears. The aunt tried to pull herself together:

– I beseech you, the death isn’t painful. Death is more durable than the real life.

Fatime Sultan Beyim:

– My aunt, shall we live there like in this life?

– No, I beseech you! There, for God all people are equal. There isn’t poor or rich.

Rize Beyim:

– My aunt, shall we see there one another?

The aunt wiped the tears of her eyes:

– If God wishes, we shall see one another, my dears!

Fatime Sultan Beyim:

– My aunt, shall we be in paradise or in hell?

The aunt understood that the girls were ready to commit sui cide:

– Why to hell, my dears! You are as sini ess as ba t bies. You are sinless at the God. He who made you suffer from distress will have to answer to the unseen God. The God will punish him.

The aunt wanted to speak much about the great God, about the divine myst erious stories in order to calm the girls. Suddenly she remembered something. She kept silent a little while and then she turned towards the girls:

– My dears, I have thought of how to save you.

Both of the girls:

– What have you thought, aunt? -They shouted together.

The aunt thought for a while:

– In order to escape you must refuse to be the daughter of Shah, – she said.

Fatime Sultan Beyim couldn’t be patient:

– My aunt, speak frankly, what must we do?

– You must be forbearing.

The girls shouted together:

– We can be forbearing, aunt!

– Are you ready to be house-maids in the palace? You must be servants during the time Mahmud is the Shah.

Rize Beyim fussed a bit and became downcast:

– My aunt, we can’t work like house-maids. How shall we be house-maids?

The aunt began to speak more passionately in order to enthuse the girls and make them stop committing suicide.

– You can learn, girls, I shall be near you too. I may tell them that you have come new to the palace and you are learning what to do. The day will come; somebody will help us escape us from Mahmud’s hands. We must bear while we must endure.

Fatime Sultan Beyim:

– Don’t they know that there is no house-maid dressed like us?

– They know, I be s eech you, they know! Be fore they come we may change our clothes and sit in one of the cells for servants.

Rize Beyim was frightened a bit:

– My aunt, I am frightened…

– Don’t be afraid, I beseech you, don’t fear! I shall always be near you!

The sisters began to think and then they began to stare at the carpets of Tabriz spread on the floor:

– What can we do if we haven’t any way-out? It is better to be a servant than to be disgraced!

After half an hour, the aunt changed their clothes so that nobody could think that they were the daughters of the Shah; even if their mother saw them she also wouldn’t know them. The aunt gathered all the servants who couldn’t escape and gave them strict tasks:

– Girls, you must endure! Mahmud has conquered only Tabriz. Shahzade Tahmasb will return back after gathering troops and will take Isfahan back. If they don’t give us the sack we shall have to work here. These girls are the new servants. The name of one of them is Jamile; the other girl’s name is Chichek.

Thus, Fatime Sultan Beyim was known as Jamile and Rize Beyim was known as Chichek.

When Mahmud entered the palace as the Shah he didn’t change the servants of Safavid on purpose. He would be pleased if the servants who served the Shahs of Safavid served him. He ordered that the servants, house-maids and man servants of Sultan Husain remain his servants, house-maids and man servants and nobody must hurt, damage or be unfair to them. How could the miserable girls know that they would serve for about seven years, firstly to Mahmud Shah, then Ashraf Shah? Their secrets would be let out only after Nader khan’s occupation of Isfahan.

Afterwards I learned that Ashraf had conflicts with the ruler of Baghdad, Ahmet pasha, and he made the Afghans withdraw troops. Ahmet pasha who was inspired from the victory (maybe he did it willingly) wrote a letter to Ashraf and informed him that the Afghans didn’t real-ze what the actual state affairs were, because they were considered “wild stock”. For that reason, he explained in his letter that he would come to Isfahan and would reinstate the power of Sultan Husain. Ashraf Shah immediately wrote a letter and sent to Isfahan to chop off Sultan Husain’s head and send it to Ahmet pasha. The order was carried out at once.

I had already a regular army of twenty five thousand. Wherever I stretched out my finger, the troop occupied that place. Instead of heavy cannons, I constructed small whirling cannons on the camels in order to be quick. In one word, all was ready to occupy the capital. Before all of the preparation it was essential to infuse courage and experience in the army. I could achieve it within a short period. I sent persons to the cities which were conquered by the Afghans and spread a rumor that Tahmasb Shah and Nader khan were coming to those cities. Ashraf who heard that news in Isfahan sent groups to those cites in order to strengthen them. In this way, by sitting in Meshed we weakened the main forces in Isfahan. Before mov-ng towards Isfahan I had a talk with Tahmasb Shah in Meshed. I felt sure about our victory which was why I asked the Shah with what prize he would reward me.

Firstly, Tahmasb Shah thanked me:

– Nader khan, -he said. We have achieved much success after combining our forces. Our force has been increased; some of the cities are under my control. Before us there is a probl em of honor, that is to say, to occupy the capital of Safavids. Will we be able to occupy Isfahan?

I said with assurance:

– Yes, Your Majesty! Isfahan will be occupied in no less than one year.

When the Shah heard my words his eyes shone:

– If it is thus, what do you want?

I didn’t hesitate:

– Your Majesty, for my service I want you to give Khorasan, Kirman and Mazandaran to my ascendancy and property.