The Ottoman Empire, which ruled for over six centuries, left behind countless geographic and cartographic legacy that spanned a vast territory from the shores of Algeria to Georgia in the Caucasus, and from Hungary to Yemen on the edge of the Indian Ocean. During this time, the Empire developed political, commercial, and cultural relations with many countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Since its establishment, the Ottoman Empire has become a focal point for geographers and cartographers worldwide, inspiring countless studies in this field.
In the early centuries of the Ottoman Empire, geography and cartography studies primarily followed the Islamic geographic and cartographic traditions. However, This process completed a period of evolution within itself until the end of the 16th century. During this period, translations from Arabic and Persian were made, while travelogues and itineraries were written to meet the needs of the time, particularly regarding sea and land routes. Early geographical works mainly consisted of topographic texts and drawings based on practical needs. Scholars like Ali Kuşçu (1403?-1474) and Fethullah Şirvanî (1417-1453), who were trained in the school established by Uluğ Bey (1394-1449) at the Samarkand Observatory, laid the foundation for astronomy and geographical sciences in the Ottoman Empire.
“Acâ’ibü’l-Mahlûkât,” written by Ali bin Abdurrahman shortly after the conquest of Edirne is accepted as the first piece of Ottoman geogrraphy. This translation, based on the famous work of Kazvini (1268-1338) with the same title, attracted the attention of later geographers and marked the beginning of a tradition that would be followed. Afterwards, Rükneddîn Ahmed, Ahmed Bîcan, Surûrî Muslihiddîn Mustafa Efendi, and Rodosîzâde Mehmed Efendi continued this tradition. Ahmed Bîcan’s “Dürr-i Meknûn is one of the early geographical works. Although the scientific value of Ibnü’l-Verdî’s work “Harîdetü’l-Acâ’ib ve Ferîdetü’l-Garâ’ib” was considered weak, it attracted attention for its geographical information and was translated into Ottoman Turkish by Mahmud Şirvânî. |
