Writer of travel
literature (b. 25 March 1611, İstanbul – d. 1682, Egypt or İstanbul). For a
short period, he studied at madrasah and revised Islam theology on elementary
level and then memorized the Holy Koran. During the reign of Sultan Murat IV.,
he was educated on calligraphy, chanting Koran with proper pronunciation,
syntax and music lessons at the palace.
He accompanied the Sultans with his pleasant way of speaking and
brilliance. Because of the stories he heard from his father and other people
around him, he was willing to see the distant lands. According to the rumors,
in 1630, he met the Prophet Mohammad in his dream. He was about to seek his
interceding, he made a mistake and begged a life time travel and his pray was
accepted, and he became a traveler. He describes himself in his book Seyahatname
(Book of Travels) as: "Seyyah-ı âlem ve
nedim-i beni-âdem Evliya-yı bîrîyâ" (A world-traveller, a human being and
a trustworthy saint).
At first, he travelled in İstanbul. He
introduced the İstanbul of that era with the dervish lodges, mosques and
madrasahs, cafés of public story tellers, promenade areas like Kâğıthane and
Boğaziçi, the entertainment in those places and those of characters, who were
addicts of such amusement, in Seyahatname (Book of Travels, 1640). After
touring İstanbul for about a decade, he found the proper grounds to go en route
for the distant lands he dreamt of. He traveled across diverse cities and
regions of the Empire (such as Bursa, İzmit, Trabzon, Erzurum, Sivas, Van,
Diyarbekir, Bitlis, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Hejaz, Egypt, Sudan and the
Balkans) for numerous reasons. Sometimes he took responsibilities among state
officers appointed to small provinces, sometimes he participated in wars,
sometimes he delivered letters and sometimes he went on his own. He wrote his
impressions on his travels to foreign countries such as Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
the Caucasus, the Crimea, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Holland, Poland, Sweden,
Russia, Greece, Albania and the Crete. It is speculated that he was in Egypt or
in İstanbul when he died, but it is not known clearly.
Evliya Çelebi collected his notes of
his impressions and the narratives he heard about in addition to other sources
within more than fifty years while traveling; in the renowned series of fifty
volumes with thhe title Seyahatnâme. His book is considered to be a
precious document on history, geography, literature, folklore, ethnography and
sociology disciplines and was written in a language that can easily be
understood by ordinary people, since it was written with humorous and clear
narration, in contrary to the elaborated prose of Divan* literature. To an
extent, Seyahatname (Book of
Travels) may be considered as a story book as it includes absurd stories
(as woman giving birth to an elephant, cats freezing while jumping from one
roof to another, foretelling caves, etc.) to attract the interest of its
reader.
Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname
(Book of Travels) was
firstly published in 1935-39, first eight volumes were written in Arabian
alphabet and last two in Latin alphabet in 1935-39. Later, modern versions were
published, some of which are: Reşat Ekrem Koçu / Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi
(Reşat Ekrem Koçu / Book of Travels by Evliya Çelebi, five volumes, 1943-51) Zuhuri
Danışman / Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi (Travel Book of Evliya Çelebi,
edited by Zuhuri Danışman with a simplification of T. Temel Kuran, N. Aktaş and
M. Çelenk, eight volumes, 1982).
REFERENCE:
Adnan Adıvar / Osmanlı Türklerinde İlim (s: 132,
1943), Orhan Şaik Gökyay / Türkçede Gezi Kitapları (Dil ve Edebiyat
dergisi, 1973), Dr. W. Barthold / İslâm Medeniyeti Tarihi
(s. 76 Ankara 1973), Yüksel Yoldaş Demircanlı / İstanbul Mimarisi İçin
Kaynak Olarak Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi (1989), Haz: Yusuf Ziya Özkan / Evliya
Çelebi’nin Çocukluğu (1993), Mücteba İlgürel / Evliya Çelebi (TDV İslâm
Ansiklopedisi, c.11, 1995), Dr. Mustafa Duman / Trabzon’u Anlatan Birkaç Kitap
(Cumhuriyet Kitap, 11.7.2002), Mehmet Nuri Yardım / Edebiyatımızın Güleryüzü
(2002), İhsan Işık / Yazarlar Sözlüğü (1990, 1998) - Türkiye
Yazarlar Ansiklopedisi (2001, 2004) – Encyclopedia of Turkish Authors (2005) - Resimli
ve Metin Örnekli Türkiye Edebiyatçılar ve Kültür Adamları Ansiklopedisi (2006,
gen. 2. bas. 2007) – Ünlü Edebiyatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 4,
2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).
