1611-1682
The following event is recorded by writer and historian Evliya Celebi (traveler), an eye witness to the feat, in his book Seyahatname (a book of travel):
Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi (sometimes spelled Hazarfen Ahmed Celebi) the most famous Turkish flyer, inspired by the studies by Leonardo Da Vinci and with some corrections and balancing adjustments, derived from studying the eagle in flight, finally, after nine experimental attempts, gave shape to his wing apparatus. His flight took place in 1638 from the 183 foot tall Galata Tower near the Bosphorus in Istanbul, during the reign of the Turkish Sultan Murad IV. The flight was successful. Hezarfen Celebi landed on the other side of the Bosphorus. With this success Hazarfen proved to be 200 years ahead of his time since it was two centuries later that comparable developements took place elsewhere. The word Hezarfen means expert in 1000 sciences, in-fact, a reward of 1000 gold pieces was given to Hazarfen for his achievement.
THE INCESSANT TRAVELER
Evliya Celebi, born on March 25, 1611 in Istanbul, was the son of Dervis Mehmed Zilli, the chief jewellery designer of the Ottoman palace. After primary school, he continued his education in the medrese - an educational facility in Islamic countries where education is carried out in conformity with the principles of Islam - for seven years. During this time, he worked in his father's workshop. While his father taught and trained him in many branches of traditional Turkish art such as tezhip (the art of decorating book pages with paint and gilding), hat (the art of beautiful writing) and nakis (the art of decorating walls and ceilings), Evliya Celebi learned Greek from his father's apprentice.
For the next four years, he attended the Enderun - an educational facility for training people to be employed in the Ottoman palace. He was then taken into the service of Murad IV in 1636 with help from his uncle Melek Ahmed Pasa.
The desire to travel flourished in him when he was very young During many entertaining nights, he listened with fascination to the adventurous tales of different lands told by his father, who had served and travelled with many sultans, including Suleiman the Magnificent, and prominent people from the Ottoman court. In the introduction to his Seyahatname - which means 'book of travel' - Evliya Celebi tells of a dream he had in 1630, which he deems to be the reason why he started to travel. In his dream, Evliya Celebi saw the prophet among a huge congregation in Ahi Celebi mosque in Istanbul, upon which he grew very excited. Due to his excitement, he asked for a life of travel instead of a healthy life. He was granted his wish and told to write down all that he saw.
The very next day, Evliya Celebi consulted the famous sheiks of his time, one of whom told him to write about Istanbul. For the next ten years, Evliya Celebi travelled all around Istanbul and recorded everything he could gather on religious and cultural buildings, markets and shops, musical and literary circles, festivals, all types of drinks and drugs and the people of Istanbul. Thus, he put together the first volume of his work.
In April 1640, he went to Bursa with a close friend, his first visit outside Istanbul. This was the beginning of a lifelong journey which would take him to the four corners of the Ottoman Empire and abroad, sometimes accompanying top state officials appointed to rural areas, sometimes taking part in wars and sometimes carrying out special duties for the sultan.
After a brief journey to Izmit, he went to Trebizond (modern-day Trabzon) on the Black Sea Coast with Ketenci Omer Pasa who was appointed governor of the province. During his stay, he witnessed the unsuccessful attempt to conquer the Azov castle. He then moved on to Crimea where he spent the winter and returned to Istanbul only after the Ottoman army was able to conquer the Azov castle.
In 1645, he accompanied the Ottoman army in a war against Crete, and then came back to Istanbul. After a rest lasting four years, he travelled extensively in Anatolia and was able to see parts of Azerbaijan and Georgia during a war against a local lord in the area.
He travelled around Gumushane, a province in the northeast of Turkey, as he was acting as a messenger between top officials. After spending the winter of 1647 in Erzurum, Evliya Celebi was assigned the duty of gathering forces and carrying messages when the Ottoman state was dealing with the Vardar Ali Pasa revolt, one of the many in Anatolia the Ottomans faced in the 17th century. While carrying out his duties, he got lost in a snowstorm and ended up meeting many of the leaders of the revolt. This enabled him to write comprehensively on the Vardar Ali Pasa revolt.
Between the years 1648-1650, Evliya Celebi journeyed to Damascus. He got the chance to explore many parts of Syria and Palestine as he was once again employed to deliver messages between government officials. Then he tramped on in central and eastern Anatolia, and later went back to Istanbul.
When his uncle, Melek Ahmed Pasa, was appointed prime minister, Evliya Celebi became his closest confidant, which enabled him to witness the many tricks and plots in the Ottoman palace, all of which were routine elements of life. Accompanying the prime minister on his many trips, he was able to visit the Balkans between the years 1651-1653.
When Melek Ahmed Pasa was removed from his office, Evliya Celebi returned to Istanbul with him and set off on a new Anatolian tour when his uncle was appointed to Van in March 1655.
He wandered through much of eastern Anatolia and Iran, where he spent some time with the Yezidis- an Islamic sect, the members of which believe Ali, the son of the prophet, was God in human form - and provided much information on them.
After spending some time in the service of Mehmed Giray IV, the Crimean Khan, Evliya Celebi took another trip to the Balkans, this time journeying down to Bosnia with Melek Ahmed Pasa. Then he joined Mehmed IV's Anatolian expedition, which gave him the chance to see the coastline.
In 1660, he took part in an expedition headed by Kose Ali Pasa. During the expedition, he explored Albania, Bohemia and neighboring vicinities. After spending the winter in Belgrade, he returned to Istanbul. He then joined Fazil Ahmed Pasa's army on its expedition against Austria. Even though Evliya Celebi claims to have witnessed every stage of the expedition and seen many lands such as Sweden and the Netherlands, many experts argue that it was impossible for him to have embarked on such a journey under the conditions of his time.
He then took a trip to the Balkans and visited many cities including Edirne, Komotini and Salonika. Passing down to Greece, he voyaged to Crete and witnessed the success of the Ottoman army. He then travelled on to the Adriatic coast via Albania and came back to Istanbul in 1670.
Feeling regret that he had not made the pilgrimage to Mecca, Evliya Celebi prepared for his last trip. He set out with his slaves to visit places he had not gone to before. Traveling through western Anatolia, Scio and Rhodes, he passed on to south Anatolia and joined the pilgrims in Syria. After his pilgrimage, he went to Egypt via Suez with Egyptian pilgrims. The last volume of Seyahatname deals with Sudan and Ethiopia, where he stayed for a long time.
It is not known for certain where he died, but historians say that he died in either Egypt or Istanbul after 1682.
SEYAHATNAME: the 10-Volume Masterpiece
His continuous traveling produced a work entitled Seyahatname, amounting to 10 volumes in which he describes in detail what he saw and heard in the lands he visited, his impressions, and the life-styles and cultures of many communities. Seyahatname, a comprehensive collection of travel notes depicting life in the 17th century, is one of the most prominent examples of Turkish literature in that Evliya Celebi has fully employed his skill in using Ottoman Turkish, achieving a clear and fluent narration, reflecting on many interesting subjects.
What renders Evliya Celebi's work interesting is that he employed a very clear and dynamic language. In his work, Evliya Celebi used the vernacular in two senses. First of all, free from any 'artistic' worries, he did not attempt to use sophisticated words, which were not a part of the vocabulary of common people, and secondly, he did not refrain from making grammatical mistakes, so common in spoken language.
Seyahatname is useful in reflecting the Ottoman Empire's relations with other states and in describing foreign cultures. Thus, it has been and remains an invaluable source, containing lots of information on history, geography, folklore, language, ethnography, sociology, architecture and economics. Evliya Celebi put down on paper not only what he witnessed and heard, but tried to illustrate the progress mankind had achieved in every field up to that time. He wrote of traditions and life-styles of people, important buildings and their costs, biographies of important characters, characteristics of regional languages, and beliefs of the period.
The first eight volumes of Seyahatname were published during 1896-1928 in Arabic, and the last two volumes were published during 1935-1938 in the Latin alphabet.
Besides Seyahatname , which has been translated into English, German, French, Russian, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Greek, Armenian and many other languages, it is rumored that Evliya Celebi has a second work entitled Sakaname, which has not been found yet.
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