Evliya Çelebi (1611 -1682/85) is the most famous Ottoman Turkish traveler and explorer. He is well-known for his ten-volume travelogue, the Seyahatnâme ('Book of Travels'), a monumental narrative of his travels spanning over 40 years. In this account, he gives a broad perspective of the Ottoman world of the 17th century. Calling himself a "world traveler" (seyyâh-ı ‘âlem), Evliya was also a musician, soldier, dervish, and conversationalist with members of the court. Instead of writing a straightforward history book, he embellished the Seyahatnâme with stories and reflections to both educate and entertain his readers.
The Seyahatnâme deserves merit for its contributions to sociopolitical, economic, geographical, cultural, and architectural history. Having written the longest known travelogue of Ottoman and West Asian history, Evliya describes his journeys in a vivid and detailed style. Due to his entertaining narrative style, some researchers have suggested that his claims are often exaggerated and unreliable. However, recent studies show that Evliya Çelebi’s records remain a vital source for understanding the Ottoman world.
Sociopolitical & Cultural Climate
Evliya Çelebi lived in the 17th century, a period of transformation and turmoil in the Ottoman Empire. Prolonged wars in the borderlands against the Safavids and Habsburgs were draining ecological and fiscal resources. Domestic uprisings stemming from worsening socioeconomic conditions hindered efforts to address these conflicts. The Celali rebellions in the countryside and the Janissary revolts in Istanbul and other cities were among the leading complications. The bandit-controlled roads were endangering commerce and transportation, putting Evliya's own life and journeys in danger many times.
The Ottoman rulers and bureaucrats tried to implement socio-economic reforms to halt this vicious cycle. While Murad IV (died 1640) and the Köprülü family (a prominent household in Ottoman policy-making, 1656-76) carried out reforms to strengthen the state, some attempts proved catastrophic, such as Osman II's bloody dethronement by the Janissaries in 1622. Despite all these problems, the Ottoman Empire did not suffer from territorial losses; in fact, it was able to protect and expand its borders in Mesopotamia, Crete, and Podolia. Art and cultural life remained vibrant; successful poets, thinkers, and musicians continued to emerge in court life.
Evliya, too, grew up in this environment and received a proper palace education in a patronage network of bureaucrats and intellectuals. Unlike in official works, however, Evliya had a colorful narrative style grounded in rich observation and wordplay. Furthermore, he witnessed firsthand the implications of all these developments in urban centers, small towns, and rural areas. He consistently took notes about them to varying degrees. This insistence on record-keeping enriched Evliya's vision and further set him apart from his contemporaries.
Early Life & Education
Evliya was born on March 25, 1611, in the Unkapanı district of Istanbul. His family had close ties to the Ottoman court. His father, Derviş Mehmed Zıllı, was the chief jeweler of the Topkapı Palace; this allowed his son to receive a proper education. Having attended the Enderun School (the imperial elite boarding school within Topkapı Palace), he studied calligraphy, languages, and music. His musical talent and witty personality attracted the attention of Murad IV, and they formed a friendship that lasted until the Sultan's death.
Although he was close to those in the palace circles, Evliya did not sever his ties with the dervish lodges. Therefore, both palace life and other social networks shaped and sharpened his education. He could learn Arabic, Persian, Greek, and a little Latin. These early experiences proved very useful in his later travels. He continued to broaden his perspective by contacting people from all walks of life, including beggars, merchants, governors, and viziers.
Although he was very attached to Istanbul, Evliya's real dream was to travel the world. He describes his feelings in 1631 as follows:
While making tours and pleasure outings to the villages and towns and thousands of parks and Iram-like rose gardens around the pleasant land, i.e., Constantinople, the desire to make extensive travels came to mind. I beseeched the Creator at every moment to grant me health of body, complete journey, and faith to the last breath, asking myself, 'How can I get free of the pressures of father and mother, teacher and brother, and become a world traveller?’
(Dankoff 2011, 3-4)
Evliya claims his travels began with a dream in which he saw the Prophet Muhammad. While intending to ask for 'intercession' (şefâat) for the afterlife, he misspoke and asked for 'travel' (seyâhat) in this dream. Regardless, the Prophet granted him permission to travel, and Evliya, using this dream to convince his family, immediately set off on his journey.
Journeys Across Three Continents
Evliya did not want to take on long-term official state duties; he accepted temporary assignments offered by local administrators to finance his journeys. Another source of income was the family inheritance. He also occasionally came under the protection of important grand viziers such as Melek Ahmed Pasha and Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha. He participated in campaigns and peace negotiations against Persia and Austria; at times, he even clashed with officials and supported the Celali rebels. These cases show that his support for the central authority varied according to circumstances.
Evliya meticulously recorded the vast Ottoman territories, excluding the Maghreb and Cyprus, in his ten-volume Seyahatnâme ('Book of Travels'). He also visited foreign lands in Europe, Asia, and Africa. However, the veracity of his travels to the Netherlands, Brandenburg, and Sweden in the sixth volume is still debated. Similarly, some of his expeditions in Africa in the tenth volume have fantastical and fictional elements. Scholar Robert Dankoff says the following on this subject:
Evliya has the reputation of being a fantasist, an exaggerator, and a liar. In recent years scholarship has tended to restore faith in Evliya’s credibility…the Seyahatname is a huge example on the literary level of this Ottoman mentality, which oscilates between a down-to-earth realism and a love for 'marvels and wonders.'
(Dankoff 2004, 214).
The most important regions and cities visited by Evliya Çelebi are as follows, based on the order of volumes:
- Istanbul with its history, districts, and surroundings
- Bursa, Anatolia, Trabzon, Erzurum, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Crimea, Crete
- Konya, Kayseri, Antakya, Damascus, Urfa, Maraş, Sivas, Levant, Sofia, Edirne
- Baghdad, Basra, Bitlis, Diyarbakir, Malatya, Mardin, Safavid Persia, Van
- Hungary, Belgrade, Gallipoli, Anatolia, Moldavia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Skopje
- Transylvania, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, Ragusa, Croatia
- Hungary, Vienna, Habsburg Austria, Wallachia, Moldavia, Bucharest, Ukraine, Circassia, Caucasus, Dagestan, Russia
- Crimea, Crete, Macedonia, Athens, Aegean Islands, Albania
- Anatolia, Izmir, Ephesus, Antalya, Rhodes, Aleppo, Damascus, Eastern Mediterranean, Hejaz
- Egypt, Cairo, Alexandria, Sudan, Abyssinia, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Tanzania
Especially in the last two volumes of his pilgrimage journey, the influences of the Islamic travel-writing tradition are evident. However, Evliya differs significantly from other Muslim travelers or contemporary geographers such as Ibn Battuta (died 1368/69) and Katip Çelebi (died 1657). He did not rely solely on the isnâd tradition (the chain of narration in Islamic intellectual history) or on existing geographical accounts. Still, he benefited greatly from his observations, encounters, interviews, folktales, and other oral narratives.
Evliya's comments about the impact of the Nile on Cairo’s daily life are an example of this style:
Because God blessed Egypt with the Nile, there is great abundance and an accumulation of imperial wealth (or tax money). This wealth is assured as long as the Nile overflow reaches 18 cubits. If it reaches 20 cubits, then the Pasha, agents, tax farmers, provincial governors, and peasants all become rich. If it does not reach 18 cubits, then – God save us! – the land is not watered, and dearth and famine ensue, the agents and tax farmers are cut off, imperial wealth is not produced, the Pasha is forced to make up the loss to the treasury out of his own pocket…
Cairo is called Mother of the World, because if the whole world is suffering dearth and famine, Egypt can feed it; but if, God forbid, Cairo suffers famine for a single day, not all the world’s crops could sustain it. For Cairo is a sea of men.
(Dankoff 2011, 357)
Çelebi crowned all these achievements by contributing to Ottoman cartography. During his final years, he likely prepared a comprehensive map of the Nile Basin in Dürr-i bî-misîl în Ahbâr-ı Nîl ('Matchless Pearl These Reports of the Nile').
The Significance of the Seyahatnâme
Evliya considered himself 'the friend of mankind' (nedîm-i beni-âdem) and examined the daily lives of different societies with a curious eye. His notes regarding the different languages, cuisines, traditions, and exaggerated legends make the Seyahatnâme a rich trove of culture and folklore. The section where he describes the cat sellers, market songs, and cat breeds in Ardabil, Safavid Persia, is a beautiful example of this richness.
By God's wisdom, because cats in Ardabil have short lives, there are very many mice, more than in other regions…So this city has a royal auction for hirre, i.e., gürbe, i.e., kutta – i.e., cats. There are professional cat-brokers, much in demand, who sell cats in cages…this is the patter they sing, in a loud voice, in the beyati mode:
You who seek a feline,
A cat to hunt your mice:
To rats it makes a beeline,
But otherwise it’s nice;
An enemy to rodents,
And yet it’s not a thief;
A pet to share your grief.
(Dankoff 2011, 66).
His travelogue is also of great importance in understanding Ottoman urban and village life. He often measured the height and width of different urban monuments in person. Otherwise, he blended his comments with available records and local hearsay.
Evliya's description of the Acropolis of Athens is just such a mixture of mathematical measurements and personal judgments:
The walled city (Acropolis) is in the middle of a broad plain, on a sheer red rock, unthreatened by higher ground. It is a very ancient construction in an oval shape, elongated from east to west. No other place on earth has such a mighty fortress, because the rock towers up 100 cubits from the ground. The stones of the fortification are dressed white marble, polished and shining, each one the size of an elephant or a bathhouse dome... The stone construction above the native rock is 50 cubits in height. The castle’s circumference measured on the outer wall is 3,000 paces...Within the wall are 300 castle-like houses, built of stone and completely covered with roof tiles.
(Dankoff 2011, 271-272)
Conclusion
Having celebrated Evliya's 400th birthday, UNESCO points out that: “Seyahatname or 'Book of Travels' is the longest and fullest travel account in Islamic literature—perhaps in world literature” (Memory of the World, Evliya Çelebi's Book of Travels). In cases where archival documents appear insufficient, historians still refer to Evliya Çelebi. His records and recollections also serve as a rich medium for researchers across different disciplines in social and natural sciences.
Unfortunately, the time and cause of Evliya's death, as well as the location of his grave, remain unknown to this day. His travelogue was also forgotten shortly after his life due to unknown reasons. The Seyahatnâme only reemerged in the 19th century through the efforts of the Austrian historian Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. Hammer-Purgstall translated the first two volumes into German and pioneered the first academic studies about Evliya. Today, Evliya enjoys a considerable reputation beyond scholarly circles. His commemoration with a special Google Doodle in 2011 and his inclusion in the UNESCO World Memory List in 2013 are just a few examples to name.
