The Battle of Özü—A Survivor's Testimony

Extract

In the year 1150 (1737–38) the recorder of the Prophet's Meccan biography by Veysi Üskübi, may God's mercy be upon him, the humble and deficient Defter Kethüdasi Mehmet ibn Mustafa Efendi, was by an imperial order with the army of the Bosnian province at the battle of Özü. On the 14th day of the month of Rebiülevvel of that year, which was a Saturday, the large ammunition store situated in the citadel of the city fortress was hit by a spark of fire and in an instant the citadel was turned upside down, and inside the fortress and on its walls many men, women, and children perished flying into the air and [scattering] on the ground. After this, the next day, on Sunday, all that was left of the army of the aforementioned province, the governor of the abovementioned fortress, his Excellency the Honorable Vizier Yahya Paşa, his household, the people of four Rumeli sancaks, five Janissary regiments from the imperial headquarters, and all of the garrison forces and its inhabitants, together with women and children, by the will of God Almighty all [fell] prisoner to the Muscovite infidel, most of them with their heads uncovered and barefooted…