Seyahatname (Ottoman Turkish: سياحتنامه, romanized: Seyāḥatnāme, lit. 'book of travels') is the name of a literary form and tradition whose examples can be found throughout centuries in the Middle Ages around the Islamic world, starting with the Arab travellers of the Umayyad period. In a more specific sense, the name refers to the travel notes by the Ottoman Turkish traveller Evliya Çelebi (1611–1682).
Cover of Seyahatname by Evliya Çelebi, 1895 edition
The Seyahâtnâme of Evliya Çelebi is an outstanding example of this tradition.
The author's personal name is Derviş Mehmed Zilli, and “Evliya” is his pen name, which he adopted in honor of his teacher, Evliya Mehmed Efendi. Evliya Çelebi's father was the chief jeweller to the courts, and thanks to the talent of his father Evliya was allowed to enjoy the favor of the court. Because of his gift in reciting the Quran, Evliya was presented to Sultan Murad IV and admitted to the palace, where he received extensive training in calligraphy, music, Arabic grammar, and tajwid. Shortly before Murad IV's expedition to Baghdad in 1638, Evliya was appointed a sipahi of the Porte.[1] Despite his diverse talents and the opportunity to climb the social ladder, Evliya had a keen interest in geography and invested his wealth into life goal of traveling. He set out on a journey to assemble a complete description of the Ottoman Empire and its neighbors and to provide a complete record of his travels as a first-person narrative.[2]
Evliya prefers legend to bare historical fact, and at times exaggerates or creates anecdotes designed for comic effect. His Seyâhatnâme thus appears as a work of 17th-century light literature, which was intelligible to a wide circle thanks to the mixed use of the colloquial Turkish of the 17th century with occasional borrowings of phrases and expressions from the ornate style. Such attempt to appeal to a wide audience may explain the author's lack of concern for historical truth. He even recorded certain occurrences as though he had seen or experienced them himself even though a close examination reveals that he knows of them only from hearsay or literary sources, which he does not cite.[4]
In spite of these reservations, Evliya's Seyâhatnâme offers a wealth of information on cultural history, folklore, and geography. The significance of the work lies in the fact that it reflects the mental approach of the 17th century Ottoman Turkish intellectuals in their attitudes to the non-Muslim Occident, and sheds light on the administration and internal organization of the Ottoman empire of that time.[5]
Because of the value of his work, the generic term of Seyâhatnâme is often used to refer to Evliya Çelebi's books in particular, as far as the Turkish language and studies are concerned.
Translations
Aside from several translations into modern Turkish, substantial portions of Evliya's Seyâhatnâme have been translated into Arabic, Armenian, Bosnian, Greek, Hungarian, Romanian, Russian, and Serbian.[6] The most recent English translation is Robert Dankoff and Sooyong Kim's 2010 translation, An Ottoman Traveller: Selections from the Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi, which includes sections from all volumes.[7]
A related genre, specific to the journeys and experiences of Ottoman ambassadors, is the sefâretnâme (سفارت نامه), whose examples were edited by their authors with a view to their presentation to the Sultan and the high administration, thus also bearing a semi-official character, although they remained of interest for the general reader as well.[citation needed]
^Mordtmann, J.H.; Duda, H.W.. "Ewliyā Čelebi." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online, 2016. Reference. Northwestern University. 23 May 2016
^Çelebi, Evliya. An Ottoman Traveller: Selections from the Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi. Trans. Dankoff, Robert and Kim, Sooyong. London: Eland, 2010., XXI-XXII.
^Mordtmann, J.H.; Duda, H.W.. "Ewliyā Čelebi." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online, 2016. Reference. Northwestern University. 23 May 2016
^Mordtmann, J.H.; Duda, H.W.. "Ewliyā Čelebi." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online, 2016. Reference. Northwestern University. 23 May 2016
^Mordtmann, J.H.; Duda, H.W.. "Ewliyā Čelebi." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online, 2016. Reference. Northwestern University. 23 May 2016
^Çelebi, Evliya. An Ottoman Traveller: Selections from the Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi. Trans. Dankoff, Robert and Kim, Sooyong. London: Eland, 2010., XXVI.
Fotić, Aleksandar (2021). "Receptions of Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname in Serbian Historiography and Challenges of the Original Manuscript". Evliya Çelebi in the Borderlands: New Insights and Novel Approaches to the Seyahatname. Zagreb: Srednja Europa. pp. 149–163.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evliya Çelebi.
Seyahatname in Ottoman Language - Contributor Robarts - University of Toronto
March 16, 2023
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Seyahatname news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Seyahatname Ottoman Turkish سياحتنامه romanized Seyaḥatname lit book of travels is the name of a literary form and tradition whose examples can be found throughout centuries in the Middle Ages around the Islamic world starting with the Arab travellers of the Umayyad period In a more specific sense the name refers to the travel notes by the Ottoman Turkish traveller Evliya Celebi 1611 1682 Cover of Seyahatname by Evliya Celebi 1895 edition The Seyahatname of Evliya Celebi is an outstanding example of this tradition The author s personal name is Dervis Mehmed Zilli and Evliya is his pen name which he adopted in honor of his teacher Evliya Mehmed Efendi Evliya Celebi s father was the chief jeweller to the courts and thanks to the talent of his father Evliya was allowed to enjoy the favor of the court Because of his gift in reciting the Quran Evliya was presented to Sultan Murad IV and admitted to the palace where he received extensive training in calligraphy music Arabic grammar and tajwid Shortly before Murad IV s expedition to Baghdad in 1638 Evliya was appointed a sipahi of the Porte 1 Despite his diverse talents and the opportunity to climb the social ladder Evliya had a keen interest in geography and invested his wealth into life goal of traveling He set out on a journey to assemble a complete description of the Ottoman Empire and its neighbors and to provide a complete record of his travels as a first person narrative 2 Contents 1 Volumes and content 2 Features and limitations 3 Translations 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources 7 External linksVolumes and content EditIn his ten volume Seyahatname Evliya describes 3 Volume I the capital city of Istanbul his birthplace and its surroundingsVolume II Bursa Izmir Batum Trabzon Abkhazia Crete Erzurum Azerbaijan Georgia Volume III Damascus Syria Palestine Urmia Sivas Kurdistan Armenia Rumelia Bulgaria and Dobruja Volume IV Van Tabriz Baghdad BasraVolume V Van Basra Hungary Russia Anatolia Bursa the Dardanelles Adrianople Moldavia Transylvania Bosnia Dalmatia SofiaVolume VI Transylvania Albania Hungary Nove Zamky Belgrade Herzegovina Ragusa Dubrovnik Montenegro Kanizsa CroatiaVolume VII Hungary Buda Erlau Temesvar Transylvania Wallachia Moldavia the Crimea Kazak South Russia the Caucasus Dagestan AzakVolume VIII Azak Kafa Bahcesaray Crimea Istanbul Crete Macedonia Greece Athens the Dodecanese Peloponnesus Albania Valona Ochrida Adrianople IstanbulVolume IX Pilgrimage to Mecca south west Anatolia Smyrna Ephesus Rhodes south Anatolia Syria Aleppo Damascus Medina Mecca SuezVolume X Egypt with historical excursus Cairo Upper Egypt Sudan Abyssinia Features and limitations EditEvliya prefers legend to bare historical fact and at times exaggerates or creates anecdotes designed for comic effect His Seyahatname thus appears as a work of 17th century light literature which was intelligible to a wide circle thanks to the mixed use of the colloquial Turkish of the 17th century with occasional borrowings of phrases and expressions from the ornate style Such attempt to appeal to a wide audience may explain the author s lack of concern for historical truth He even recorded certain occurrences as though he had seen or experienced them himself even though a close examination reveals that he knows of them only from hearsay or literary sources which he does not cite 4 In spite of these reservations Evliya s Seyahatname offers a wealth of information on cultural history folklore and geography The significance of the work lies in the fact that it reflects the mental approach of the 17th century Ottoman Turkish intellectuals in their attitudes to the non Muslim Occident and sheds light on the administration and internal organization of the Ottoman empire of that time 5 Because of the value of his work the generic term of Seyahatname is often used to refer to Evliya Celebi s books in particular as far as the Turkish language and studies are concerned Translations EditAside from several translations into modern Turkish substantial portions of Evliya s Seyahatname have been translated into Arabic Armenian Bosnian Greek Hungarian Romanian Russian and Serbian 6 The most recent English translation is Robert Dankoff and Sooyong Kim s 2010 translation An Ottoman Traveller Selections from the Book of Travels of Evliya Celebi which includes sections from all volumes 7 A related genre specific to the journeys and experiences of Ottoman ambassadors is the sefaretname سفارت نامه whose examples were edited by their authors with a view to their presentation to the Sultan and the high administration thus also bearing a semi official character although they remained of interest for the general reader as well citation needed See also EditPiri Reis and his Kitab i Bahriye Turkish literature Evliya Celebi WayReferences Edit Mordtmann J H Duda H W Ewliya Celebi Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Edited by P Bearman Th Bianquis C E Bosworth E van Donzel W P Heinrichs Brill Online 2016 Reference Northwestern University 23 May 2016 Celebi Evliya An Ottoman Traveller Selections from the Book of Travels of Evliya Celebi Trans Dankoff Robert and Kim Sooyong London Eland 2010 XXI XXII Mordtmann J H Duda H W Ewliya Celebi Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Edited by P Bearman Th Bianquis C E Bosworth E van Donzel W P Heinrichs Brill Online 2016 Reference Northwestern University 23 May 2016 Mordtmann J H Duda H W Ewliya Celebi Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Edited by P Bearman Th Bianquis C E Bosworth E van Donzel W P Heinrichs Brill Online 2016 Reference Northwestern University 23 May 2016 Mordtmann J H Duda H W Ewliya Celebi Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Edited by P Bearman Th Bianquis C E Bosworth E van Donzel W P Heinrichs Brill Online 2016 Reference Northwestern University 23 May 2016 Celebi Evliya An Ottoman Traveller Selections from the Book of Travels of Evliya Celebi Trans Dankoff Robert and Kim Sooyong London Eland 2010 XXVI An Ottoman Traveller Eland Books Sources EditFotic Aleksandar 2021 Receptions of Evliya Celebi s Seyahatname in Serbian Historiography and Challenges of the Original Manuscript Evliya Celebi in the Borderlands New Insights and Novel Approaches to the Seyahatname Zagreb Srednja Europa pp 149 163 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evliya Celebi Seyahatname in Ottoman Language Contributor Robarts University of Toronto Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Seyahatname amp oldid 1138789147, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
