Seyahatnâme

Seyâhatnâme (Persian: سياحت نامه, "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).

The Seyahâtnâme of Evliya Çelebi is an outstanding example of this tradition. Evliya was an Ottoman Turkish traveller, and the ten-volume Seyahâtnâme narrates his travels, starting in his native city of Constantinople and covering Anatolia, Safavid Persia, Ottoman Europe, North Africa, Austria and Cairo. Because of the value of his work, the generic term of Seyâhatnâme is often refer to Evliya Çelebi's books in particular, as far as the Turkish language and studies are concerned.

Other than the Seyahâtnâme of Evliya Çelebi, other seyahatnames include the Mirat ul Memalik ("Mirror of Countries") by the Ottoman admiral Seydi Ali Reis.

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.

See also