Remembering two historic journeys

This week we celebrate the anniversaries of two famous journeys, three centuries apart. While Evliya Çelebi began his 40-year journey that would be documented in his travelogue Seyâhatnâme in 1630, Sadun Boro and his wife Oda set sail in 1965, becoming the first ever Turkish people to globetrot in a boat Three centuries apart, renowned travelers began their journeys from the land that is now Turkey - two journeys that would both go on to make history. In 1630, the Ottoman Turk Evliya Çelebi began his journey in the Ottoman Empire and its surrounding lands, which would last 40 years and be documented in his travelogue Seyâhatnâme. In 1965, Sadun Boro began his own famous journey, becoming the first Turkish sailor to globetrot with his boat Kısmet.

Coming from a wealthy family and educated in court, Evliya Çelebi began his travelogue long before he began his journey of four decades. He began by recording his fascination with the architecture and culture that defined 17th century Constantinople. The Seyâhatnâme eventually turned into a 10-volume work of some of the earliest travel writing, taking in Constantinople, Anatolia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Russia, the Balkans, Greece, Egypt and Sudan.

While Seyâhatnâme borders on fiction with exaggerated accounts in many parts, Evliya Çelebi’s notes remain a crucial guide to the period, encompassing a crucial portion of the known world in the 17th century. All 10 volumes have never been translated into English, but the longest single English translation, Evliya Efendi, was published in 1834 by the Austrian orientalist Ritter Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. The translation includes parts from the first two volumes, covering...