Evliya Celebi

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Evliya Çelebi (also known as Derviş Mehmed Zilli) (March 25, 1611–1682) was one of the most famous Ottoman travelers, who traveled throughout the territories of the Ottoman Empire and the neighbouring lands over a period of forty years.

Born in 1611 in Istanbul as the son of a jewellery designer for the Ottoman court, he received an excellent education. After initially traveling in Istanbul and taking notes on buildings, markets, customs and culture, he started his first journey outside the city in 1640. His collection of notes of all of his travels formed a ten-volume work called Seyahatname (Book of Travels). Although many of the descriptions in this book were written in a quite exaggerated manner, his notes are widely accepted as a useful guide to the cultural aspects and life style of Ottoman Empire in the 17th century.

The Seyahatname contains the first transcriptions of many Caucasian languages and Tsakonian, and the only extant specimens of written Ubykh outside the linguistic literature.

He died in Istanbul.

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