An Ottoman Traveller: Selections from the Book of Travels of Evliya Celebi

492 Pages·2011·4.398 MB·English

by  Robert Dankoff

AN OTTOMAN
TRAVELLER
SELECTIONS FROM THE
Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi
TRANSLATIONANDCOMMENTARYBY
Robert Dankoff and Sooyong Kim
FirstpublishedbyElandPublishingLimited
61ExmouthMarket,LondonEC1R4QL
in2010andinpaperbackin2011
Thisebookeditionfirstpublishedin2011
Allrightsreserved
TranslationandCommentary
copyright©RobertDankoffandSooyongKim
exceptwherecreditedinthetext,acknowledgementsandbibliography
TherightofRobertDankoffandSooyongKimtobeidentifiedasauthor
ofthisworkhasbeenassertedinaccordancewith
Section77oftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988
Thisebookiscopyrightmaterialandmustnotbecopied,reproduced,
transferred,distributed,leased,licensedorpubliclyperformedorusedinany
wayexceptasspecificallypermittedinwritingbythepublishers,asallowed
underthetermsandconditionsunderwhichitwaspurchasedorasstrictly
permittedbyapplicablecopyrightlaw.Anyunauthoriseddistributionoruseof
thistextmaybeadirectinfringementoftheauthor’s
andpublisher’srights,andthoseresponsible
maybeliableinlawaccordingly
ISBN978–1–78060–025–3
CoverImage:‘Iskandarliesdying’fromtheTarjumah-iShâhnâmah
©SpencerCollection,TheNewYorkPublicLibrary,
Astor,LenoxandTildenFoundations
Contents
ILLUSTRATIONS ix
INTRODUCTION x
VOLUMEONEIstanbul 1
1.Introduction:Thedream 3
2.TheSüleymaniyeMosque 8
3.Theantiquityofsmoking 16
4.Galata 17
5.Kağıthane 21
6.Guilds’parade 24
7.LağariHasanÇelebi 30
VOLUMETWOAnatoliaandbeyond 31
1.Settingout 33
2.HotSpringsofBursa 36
3.ReturntoIstanbul 41
4.HamsiinTrabzon 44
5.BlackSeaadventure 47
6.Tabriz 55
7.Cat-brokersofArdabil 66
8.OilwellsofBaku 67
9.CathedralofEchmiadzin 68
v
Contents
10.Ankara 70
VOLUMETHREEIntheRetinueofMelekAhmedPasha 86
1.NasreddinHocainAkşehir33 89
2.Safed 91
3.SheikhBekkartheNakedontheroadoutsideDamascus 94
4.Thegirlwhogavebirthtoanelephant 97
5.Armenian 99
6.ThecatsofDivriği 101
7.WitchcraftinaBulgarianvillage 103
8.Sofia 105
VOLUMEFOURSafavidBorderlands 113
1.Diyarbekir 115
2.Bitlis 118
3.TheruinedcityofAhlat 134
4.On‘extinguishingthecandle’ 136
VOLUMEFIVEEastAnatoliaandtheBalkans 139
1.HighwaymenintheBoluPass;returntoVan 141
2.EscapefromBitlis 143
3.DiplomacyinSplit(Spalato) 161
4.ThebanditYano 167
VOLUMESIXHungaryandtheGermanCampaign 169
1.Anincidentonthebattlefield 171
2.Shkodër(Scutari) 173
3.TheSamakovironworks 179
4.AnadventurenearKomorn;TatarraidintoWesternEurope 180
5.Dubrovnik(Ragusa) 199
6.ThegreatbridgeatMostar 207
VOLUMESEVENHabsburgBorderlands,Crimeaandbeyond 211
1.Raidingexpeditionsin‘Germany’;afabuloustreeinKrokondar 213
vi
Contents
2.ThebattleontheRaabRiver(BattleofSaintGotthard,1664) 216
3.ComparisonofAustriansandHungarians 224
4.ApleasureresortnearVienna;thefreeconductofwomen 225
5.Vienna 226
6.Crimea 241
7.AmealofstrangehoneyinCircassia 245
8.Kalmyksandcannibalism 247
VOLUMEEIGHTGreeceandtheconquestofCrete 249
1.ReturntoCrimea 251
2.ReporttotheSultaninEdirne 265
3.TheGypsiesofGümülcine(Komotini) 267
4.Athens 270
5.Balibadra:AgreatcypresstreeandthefiveethnicgroupsoftheMorea283
6.SiegeofCandia:MinistrationstothewoundedandSaintGreen-Arm 285
7.AcaptivewomaninKolorya 288
8.FairatDoyran 289
VOLUMENINEPilgrimage 291
1.SettingoutontheHajj 293
2.BrigandsattheAlmanPass;Ephesus 296
3.SafedandthelandofCanaan 302
4.Jerusalem 306
5.SheikhBekkartheNakedinDamascus 325
6.TheHajjcaravan;Muzayrib,theHajjbazaar 327
7.Medina 332
8.ThePeopleofMecca 344
9.Uyunal-qasab 347
10.StCatherine’sMonasteryonMtSinai 350
VOLUMETENEgyptandSudan 353
1.Adam’sprayerforEgyptin‘Hebrew’ 355
vii
Contents
2.RelationamongNileoverflow,plentyandpoverty,crowdednessofCairo,
peopleanddonkeys 357
3.Snakemedicineandsnakecharming 359
4.Rain,snowandhailinEgyptin1083(1672) 370
5.Crocodiles 371
6.TheCairounderworldandunusualtrades 376
7.TradesandproductslackinginEgypt 381
8.Chickenincubation;SabilAllamstones 383
9.Exploringapyramid 386
10.Weddings,circumcision,etc. 390
11.MevludofSeyyidAhmadal-BadawiinTanta 397
12.MountainoftheBirds 416
13.MapoftheNile 419
14.MeetingwithKörHusaynQan 420
15.MeetingwithQanGirgis;encounterwithtwoBektashidervishes 423
16.Elephantsandmonkeys 429
17.Envoi 432
APPENDIXOutlineofJourneysandEventsintheTenVolumesoftheBook
ofTravels 433
BIBLIOGRAPHY 451
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 456
INDEX 457
viii
ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustrationsinthetext
SüleymaniyeMosquebyMelchiorLorck1
(RoyalLibrary,Copenhagen)
Entertainersatthecircumcisionofthesultan’ssons33
(TopkapıPalaceMuseum)
Awanderingdervish89
(NationalLibraryofSweden)
DiyarbekirbyMatrakçıNasuh111
(IstanbulUniversityRareWorksLibrary)
MapofSplit(Spalato)139
(NewberryLibrary,Chicago,171.5M85812(a)1)
BridgeatMostar171
(CourtesyofSpecialCollections,FineArtsLibrary,HarvardCollegeLibrary)
TheTatarKhan217
(NationalLibraryofSweden)
TheParthenon,AthensbyChristianHansen257
(akg-images)
TheGreatMosque,Medina301
(TheStapletonCollection/BridgemanArtLibrary)
AnEthiopianWoman369
(TheDavidMuseum,Copenhagen)
ix
INTRODUCTION
TheBookofTravels(Seyahatname)ofEvliyaÇelebioccupiesauniqueplacein
the literature of travel. It is probably the longest and most ambitious travel ac-
countbyanywriterinanylanguage,andakeytextforallaspectsoftheOttoman
Empire at the time of its greatest extension in the seventeenth century. It is al-
so the product of an unusual personality – a cultured Ottoman gentleman, pious
yet unconventional, observant and inquisitive, curious about everything, obses-
siveabouttravelling,determinedtoleaveacompleterecordofhistravels.
WhowasEvliyaÇelebi?1BorninIstanbulin1611,duringthereignofSultan
Ahmed,hewasthescionofanestablishedTurkishfamilywithtiestothecourt.
His father was chief goldsmith to the sultan. As a young boy he had a medrese
education. In 1623, the year in which Sultan Murad IV assumed the throne, he
was apprenticed to the sultan’s imam, Evliya Mehmed Efendi, who tutored him
inKoranrecitation.‘Ibecamehispupil,’hewrites,‘andhemademehisspiritual
son.’Perhapsheowedhisnametohisteacherandspiritualfather.2Hegoeson:
1PracticallyeverythingthatweknowaboutEvliyamustbederivedfromtheBookofTravels,since
nootherOttomansourcehasyetturnedupthatmentionshim.OnlyalistoftheretinueinKara
MehmedPasha’s1665embassy,discoveredintheViennacourtarchive,includesan‘EvliaEfen-
di’,whichmustbeEvliyaÇelebi(publishedinTeply1975;alsoinKreutel19572nded.1987,
17).RecentlyPinelopiStathiturnedupthedraftofaGreekpatriarchalletter,ofuncertaindate,
recommendingEvliyaas‘amanofhonour,andpeace.Hehasthedesireandtheinclinationtobe
atravelleroftheworld,anddescribeplaces,citiesandnationsofmen,havingnoharminhisheart
tomakeinjusticeorhurtanyone’(Stathi2005/2006,267;andseeMacKay2007).Thisissimilar
tothe‘patents’orsafe-conductsthatEvliyamentionsseveraltimes(e.g.,seeVolume7,selection
6;Volume9,selection10).Also,fiveactualgraffitihavebeenpreserved.Fourofthesehavebeen
knownforalongtime;seeProkosch1988–89forphotographs,hand-drawncopies,transcriptions
andtranslations.AfifthhasbeenreportedbyMehmetTütüncü.SeeDankoff2004,149–50for
comparisonwiththethirtyorsograffitithatEvliyarecordsintheBookofTravels.Inaddition,
amapoftheNileintheVaticanlibrarycanbeattributedtoEvliya;itwasmadeknowninRossi
1949;aneditionisbeingpreparedbyNuranTezcanandRobertDankoff.
2 Evliya, which designates the ‘friends’ (Arabic: awliya) of God who, according to Koran 10:62,
‘havenothingtofearortoregret.’Evliyaisalsothetermforsaintlyindividualswhosetombsare
theobjectsofpilgrimageandvisitation(ziyaret).Theusualtranslationinthisanthologyis‘saints’.
x