TRAVELS IN THE OTTOMAN HISTORY WITH EVLİYA ÇELEBİ HIST 317, SPRING 2011 Aslı Niyazioğlu aniyazioglu@ku.edu.tr Office hours: MonWed 9.30-10.30, SOS 263 Course Requirements Preparation for each class by doing the assigned readings is an essential part of this course. You will be expected to participate in discussions, submit 5 short response papers (2 March, 9 March, 21 March, 20 April, 16 May), take a mid-term exam (March 30th), and make presentations. There will also be quizzes or assignments where you will be asked to identify major issues, people or concepts in a short paragraph. The aim of the response papers is to prepare you for the discussions. These papers will not be more than 2 pages double-spaced (Times New Roman 12). Late papers will not be accepted without a valid medical excuse. Please answer the questions clearly and briefly supporting your argument with specific examples from your readings. You have to submit both an electronic copy using Turn-it-in and a paper copy on the required date. During your presentations, you will be expected to provide a brief summary of your readings and discuss them by addressing the following questions: What is the significance of your topic for Ottoman history? How do modern historians approach this subject? What does Evliya Çelebi emphasis and omit in his descriptions? What do we learn when we compare the writings of Evliya Çelebi with the studies by modern historians? And last, but not least: What do you find interesting in your readings, why? Grading will be as follows: Presentation, Quizzes, Participation 20% Mid-term exam 30% Response papers 10% (each) Readings are electronically available at: http://libunix.ku.edu.tr search Reserves by Course under Hist 317. You could also purchase a reader in hardcopy from the photocopy center at the library. 1
CLASS SCHEDULE Week 1 (14-16 February) Introduction Cemal Kafadar, The Ottomans and Europe, in Handbook of European History, 1400-1600, eds. T.A. Brady, et at., (Leiden: 1994-5), p. 589-633. [Recommended] Week 2 (21-23 February) Travels, Travel-Writing and the Seyahatname Roxanne L. Euben, Journeys to the Other Shore, Muslim and Western Travelers in Search of Knowledge (Princeton and Oxford: 2006), p. 46-52 and 63-89. Boston: 2004): 1-6. Week 3 (28 Feb-2 March) A Curious Young Man in Istanbul Boston: 2004): 9-47. Katib Çelebi, The Balance of Truth, Translated wit an introduction and notes by G.L. Lewis, (London: 1957), 132-152, with Encylopedia of Islam article on Katip Çelebi. Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatname, Transcription by Orhan Şaik Gökyay, published as Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, (Istanbul: 1996), 9-11. [you are not expected to read the Ottoman-Turkish originals, but try to have a sense of Evliya Çelebi s style] Modern Turkish translation by Seyit Ali Kahraman and Yücel Dağlı, Günümüz Türkçesiyle Evliya Çelebi Seyatnamesi (İstanbul: 2004), 1.1., p1-5. **Response Paper I (due March 2nd) Compare the education and intellectual pursuits of Evliya Çelebi and Katip Çelebi. Think about what it meant to grow up in the mid-seventeenth century Istanbul. (What were their family backgrounds and how did it shape their educational opportunities? How and where did they receive their education? How did they access books? What kinds of career paths did they follow? In which subjects and areas were they interested?) Week 4 (5 March) John Freely, Dreams and Legends Evliya Celebi nin Istanbulu, trans. Müfit Günay, (Istanbul: 2004v): 13-52. PLEASE NOTE: For this week s lectures, we will visit Ayasofya, Hippodrome and Ahi Çelebi Mosque (setting for Evliya Çelebi s dream) on Saturday March 5th. Time to be announced. 2
Week 5 (7-9 March) Social Circles and Love at a Palace Robert Dankoff, trans., The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesmen, Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588-1662) as Portrayed in Evliya Çelebi s Book of Travels, p. 6-12, 31-36 (by Rhoads Murphey), 222-36, 259-85. **Response Paper II (March 9th) What is the intimate life of an Ottoman princess and her husband according to Evliya Çelebi? (Focus on their fears, family ties, gender relations, and being a royal son-in-law in the seventeenth century.) Week 6 (14-16 March) Raconteur of the Urban Life Boston: 2004), p. 48-56. Suraiya Faroqhi, Evliya Çelebi and Jean Baptiste Tavernier in Approaching Ottoman History (Cambridge: 1999)133-35. Week 7 (21-23 March) Looking at Istanbul with Evliya Çelebi Workshop and Group Project Readings to be selected according to each project **Response Paper II (March 21st) Discuss your visit to a neighborhood you choose from the Seyahatname and what you discovered by visiting it with Evliya Çelebi. (Rather than giving an inventory of buildings, focus on the ways in which Evliya Çelebi perceived and presented his city. Compare it with your ways of observation and narration) Week 8 (28-30 March) Robert Dankoff, trans., Sufi Lodges and Mosques The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesmen, Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588-1662) as Portrayed in Evliya Çelebi s Book of Travels, p.114-124 MIDTERM MARCH 30 th DURING CLASS Spring Break, No Class on April 4 and 6. Week 9 (11-13 April) Coffee Shops, Taverns, Bathhouses, and Excursion Spots Ralph Hattox, Coffee and Coffeehouses: the Origins of a Social Beverage in the Medieval Near East, (Seatle: c1985), pp. 72-112. Bruinessen&Boeschoten, Evliya Çelebi in Diyarbakır, (Leiden, N.Y., Kobenhavn, Köln: 1988), pp177-81 Robert Dankoff trans. Evliya Çelebi in Bitlis, (Leiden, N.Y., Kobenhavn, Köln: 1990), pp 88-91 and 369-377. 3
Week 10 (18-20 April) Salonica Mark Mazower, Salonica, City of Ghosts, Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950, (N.Y.: 2005), p. 32-63. Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatname, Transcription by Seyyit Ali Kahraman, Yücel Dağlı and Robert Dankoff, published as Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, (Istanbul: 2003), vol 8, pp 63-76.[Suggested not required] Modern Turkish version (careful: not an accurate translation) by Mümin Çevik, published as Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, (İstanbul: 1985), cilt 8, pp. 75-94. **Response Paper III (due April 20th) Discuss Evliya Çelebi s description of Salonica in comparison with the study of the city by the modern historian Mazower. (What do we learn from Mazower s work on Salonica? What does Evliya Çelebi emphasis, omit or alter in his account?) Week 11 (25-27 April) Cairo Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Egypt s Adjustment to Ottoman Rule, Institutions, Waqf, and Architecture in Cairo (16 th and 17 th Centuries), (Leiden, New York, Köln: 1994); 134-144 Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatname, Transcription by Seyyit Ali Kahraman, Yücel Dağlı and Robert Dankoff, published as Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, (Istanbul: 1996), vol 10, pp 263-66, 274-78.[Suggested not required] Modern Turkish version (careful: not an accurate translation) by Mümin Çevik, published as Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, (İstanbul: 1985), cilt 9, p. 411-413, 420,422-423. Mustafa Ali, Description of Cairo, Translated by Andreas Tietze as Mustafa Ali s Description of Cairo, (Vienna: 1975), p. 7-8, 30-31, 36-37, 40-43 Week 12 (2-4 May) Vienna Nabil Matar, In the Lands of Christians, Arabic Travel Writing in the Seventeenth Century, (New York and London: 2003), p. xiii-xlviii. Boston: 2004), p. 62-69. Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatname, Modern Turkish version (careful: not an accurate translation) by Mümin Çevik, published as Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, cild 7, (İstanbul: 1985), p. 149-153, 170-171, 180-183. 4
Week 13 (6 May) Eyüp Çiğdem Kafescioğlu A Shrine at the City s Edge in Constantinopolis/Istanbul Cultural Encounter, Imperial Vision, and the Construction of the Ottoman Capital,(University Park: 2009), pp.45-52 Cemal Kafadar, Evliya Çelebi, Eyüp te Kılıç Kuşanma Törenleri in Eyüp: Dün/Bugün (ed.) Tülay Artan (İstanbul: 1994): 50-62ı Seyahatname, Transcription by Orhan Şaik Gökyay, published as Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnamesi, (Istanbul: 1996), 168-174 [Suggested not required] Modern Turkish translation by Seyit Ali Kahraman and Yücel Dağlı, Günümüz Türkçesiyle Evliya Çelebi Seyatnamesi (İstanbul: 2004), 1. 1.,pp. 358-371. PLEASE NOTE: For this week s lecture, we will visit Eyüp on Saturday May 6th. Time to be announced. Week 14 (16-18 May) Review and Discussion of Final Papers **Response Paper V (due May 16th) Discuss Evliya Çelebi s depiction of the seventeenth century Eyüp compared with your own observations of the sites. 5