B A J 



195 



B A J 



rupees, the annual amount of the Scliiek's revenue, is 

 scarcely sufficient to support the fortifications of 

 Bahrin, and maintain the garrison. We are iuformed 

 by Niebuhr, that at some distance from these islands, 

 at the depth of '2\ fathoms, the fishermen have found 

 good spring water, and are in the habit of diving to 

 the bottom to fill their bottles. The whole group 

 of islands contain about forty or fifty mean villages. 

 The inhabitants are Shutes, and speak the Arabic 

 language. E. Long. 48 10', N. Lat. 26 40'. See 

 Niebuhr's Travels, sect, xxiii. chap. vi. and Peuchet's 

 Diet, de Geograph. Commerg. See also Aval, (j) 



BAIJE, or Baias, now Baia, an ancient village 

 of Campania, now the province of Lavora in Italy, 

 celebrated for its hot baths, and for the mild tempe- 

 rature of its climate. Owing to the vast demand for 

 buildings, and to the srr.allness of the place on which 

 they could be erected, the sea was driven back by huge 

 moles and buttresses, and Baia became a large and 

 opulent city, and flourished till the time of Theo- 

 doric. After the irruption of the northern hordes, 

 however, Baia declined in wealth and splendour. 

 The sea broke down the barriers which confined it, 

 and frequent earthquakes completed the devastation 

 of this enchanting retreat. See Martial, xiv. ep. 81 ; 

 Horace, i. ep. 1 ; Strabo, lib. v. ; Keysler's Travels, 

 vol. iii. p. 144, '145 ; Kotzebue's Travels in Italy, 

 and Swinburne's Travels, vol. iii. p. 42. (o) 



BAIANUS Sinus. See Swinburne's Travels, 

 vol. iii. p. '48, and Pozzvjolo. 



BAJAZET I., Sultan of the Turks, arid a cele- 

 brated warrior, was the son of Amurath I., whom 

 he succeeded in the throne of Bursa, in the year 

 1389. He was 44 years of age when he assumed 

 the government, and, during a period of 14 years, he 

 ravaged alternately, with 6avage'fury and enthusiasm, 

 the continents of Asia and Europe. Bred in the 

 camp of his father, his youth was spent in the exer- 

 cise of arms. He had shared the dangers, and he in- 

 herited the warlike spirit, of the victorious Amurath ; 

 but the mildness and modest demeanor of the father, 

 was lost in the haughtiness and cruelty of the son. 

 The first act of his reign was marked with the blood 

 of his brother, whom he accused of aspiring to the 

 throne ; and Lazarus, prince of the Servians, was be- 

 headed in his presence, to expiate the guilt of his 

 countrymen, who were charged with the death of 

 .Amurath. The love of conquest was Bajazet's ru- 

 ling passion, and Christian and Moslem equally felt 

 the effects of his ambition. After having overrun 

 Caramania, and the northern regions of Anatolia, he 

 crossed the Hellespont, and reduced to subjection 

 the Bulgarians and Servians. Passing the Danube, 

 he overthrew Stephen, prince of Moldavia, on the 

 banks of the Siret ; but the triumphant Othman was 

 checked in the career of victory by a handful of 

 Moldavians. Stephen, animated by despair, having 

 collected 12,000 of his countrymen, returns to the 

 field of battle, disperses the enemy scattered abroad 

 in quest of plunder, and afterwards defeats them with 

 dreadful slaughter near his capital Jassi. The sultan 

 of Bursa, the terror of the world, is compelled to 

 fly with a few attendants to Adrianople ; and seven 

 huge piles of Turkish bodies proclaim the valour of 

 Stephen, and the disgrace of Bajazet. Disturbances 



in Caramania demanded his immediate presence in Bajuzetf. 

 Asia ; and the haughty Othman, more enraged than 

 discouraged by his Tate disasters, hastily raises an ar- 

 my in Europe, and, by the incredible rapidity of his 

 march, falls upon the astonished Caramanians, while 

 they believed that he was still on the north of the 

 Hellespont. 



The Grecian empire was confined by Bajazet with- 

 in the walls of Constantinople, which was suffering 

 all the horrors of a blockade. The princes of Christ 

 tendom, moved by the suffering situation of their 

 brethren, determined to crush at once the presump- 

 tuous Moslem, who had threatened to annihilate the 

 power of the emperor of the East. Sigismond, king 

 of Hungary, commanded the bravest knights of Ger- 

 many and France, who were eager to try their prow- 

 ess against the " usurping infidel ;" and 100,000 

 warriors boasted, that if the sky should fall, they 

 could uphold it on the points of their lances. Baja- 

 zet met them at Nicopolis. The Christians were 

 routed. The greatest number were either slain or 

 drowned in the Danube, and Sigismond escaped only 

 with his life. A train of noble captives graced the 

 triumph of the Othman sultan ; and 200,000 ducats 

 redeemed the Count of Nevers, and twenty four lords 

 of France. It was stipulated, that they should never 

 carry arms against the person of their conqueror ; 

 but the pride of Bajazet relieved them from the un- 

 generous restraint : " I despise," said he to Nevers, 

 " thy oaths and thy arms. Thou art young, and 

 mayest be ambitious of effacing the disgrace or mis- 

 fortune of thy first chivalry. Assemble thy powers, 

 proclaim thy design, and be assured that Bajazet will 

 rejoice to meet thee a second time in a field of battle." 

 Bajazet now returned to the destruction of Constan- 

 tinople. His haughty mandate was delivered to the 

 emperor : " Thou hast nothing left beyond the walls 

 of your capital. Resign that city, and stipulate thy 

 reward, or tremble for thyself and thy unhappy 

 people." But this city was preserved by the appear- 

 ance of an enemy equally hostile to the Christian 

 powers. Tamerlane the Great had entered Arme- 

 nia with a mighty army, and demanded of Bajazet 

 submission and obedience. The epistle of the Tartar 

 breathed defiance and contempt, and concluded with 

 these insulting words : " Thou art no more than a 

 pismire ; why wilt thou seek to provoke the ele- 

 phants ? Alas ! they will trample thee under their 

 feet." Bajazet had been accustomed to the language 

 of adulation and dependence, and could ill brook the 

 scoffs of an equal. The feelings of his indignant 

 soul burst forth in the keenest reproaches. He 

 branded Tamerlane as the thief and rebel of the de- 

 sert, who had triumphed only by his perfidy. He 

 dared him to try the arrows of his flying Tartars 

 against the scymitars and battle-axes of his invincible 

 Jauizaries : " The cities of Arzingan and Erzeroum 

 are mine," said he, " and unless the tribute be duly- 

 paid, I will demand the arrears under the walls of 

 Tauris and Sultania." The armies of the rival chiefs 

 encountered on the plains of Angora. Bajazet dis- 

 played all the qualities of a soldier and a general, but 

 he could not prevent the flight and desertion of his 

 troops, some of whom had been tempted by the pro- 

 mises of Tamerlane. After a most obstinate and san- 



