Scholar, inventor (B.? D.?).
First person and first scientist ever achieved vertical rocket take off. Famous
Turkish scientist who was the Ancestor of missilery, succeeded to blast off a
simple air rocket with a chamber full of gunpowder in the beginning of 17th
century. The flight was presented at the birthday celebrations of the Ottoman Sultan
Murad the Fourth’s daughter in 1633. It was measured that Lagâri Hasan Çelebi
has lifted off circa
The rumours about this Ottoman scientist stating that
he flied with the help of cartridges made of gunpowder paste originate from “Seyahatname” written by Evliya Çelebi, a
traveller contemporary with him. According
to Evliya Çelebi; around years 1632-1633 he invented a seven armed cartridge
made of 50 okes gunpowder paste, during the birthday celebrations of Kaya
Sultan, the daughter of Murad IV.
He said; “My Sultan, Hudâ (God) bless you
and I’m going to talk to Isa Nebi” (the prophet Jesus). Following that he
got on the cartridge before Murad IV, then his assistants helped him to fire the
cartridge and he rose to the sky. When he was in the air, the sea surface
got enlightened as he fired the cartridges he had brought with him as long as
didn’t have any gunpowder left, after which started to fall from the sky. While
he was falling, he opened the eagle wings attached to his hands and landed on
the sea, in front of the Sinan Paşa Villa. From there swimming to the shore
he came before the Padishah. And joked “My
Sultan, İsâ Nebî
saluted you”. The Sultan gave to Hasan Çelebi a pocket of
silver coins (akçe) and he also granted him a daily fee of 70 silver coins (akçe)
as a cavalry. Again according to Evliya Çelebi’s story, he was gone to
It is understood that he was one of the closest
friends of Evliya Çelebi, because according to his writings Evliya Çelebi
called him as “Yâdigâr-ı sâdıkımız”; (‘our loyal heirloom’). And also based on
Evliya Çelebi’s tellings, it was calculated and found that taking off and
slowly landing to the sea with a primitive rocket, powered by the thrust
principle using gunpowder’s thrust power could be possible. In the light of
such calculations,
it’s estimated that Lagâri might have ascended approximately
There’s an
assessment at the web site of Turkish Air Force Academy, saying: “If we make an analysis based on the descriptions of
Evliya Çelebi; Ottoman Turks, who knew about rockets and cartridges from long
before were also aware of fireworks made of gunpowder paste as well as the
technique of increasing and decreasing the burning speed. A rocket having 7
cartridges filled with 50 okes of gunpowder weighs
REFERENCE: Yavuz Kansu / Havacılık Tarihinde Türkler (s. 40, 1971), M. Çağatay Uluçay / Padişahların Kadınları ve Kızları (s.
54-55, 1992), “Hasan Çelebi, Lagari” (Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslam
Ansiklopedisi, c. 16, 1997), Evliya
Çelebi Seyahatnamesi (Haz.
Seyit Ali Kahraman ve Yücel Dağlı, c.1, 2003),
İhsan Işık / Ünlü Bilim Adamları (Türkiye
Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 2, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People
(2013).