A Traveler’s Account as an ‘Ego-Mirror’: Some Observations on the ‘Self-Consciousness’ of Arab Travelers in the Ottoman Empire in the 16th Century -The Case of Badr al-Din al-Ghazzî-

Abstract

People tend to give clues regarding themselves when they attempt to narrate their physical and spiritual environment from their own perspective. This is the reason why we can also interpret a narration of the other to be something of a narration of one’s self as well. On the other hand, many people throughout history have travelled to foreign lands for reasons such as military reconnaissance, obtaining knowledge of a discipline, fulfilling the obligation of Hajj, serving as an ambassador and more. By means of these travellers who have documented their experiences through itineraries, it is possible to learn about regions and their peoples which had no previous extensive documentation. Furthermore, this literature provides the reader, to the extent the traveller allows, the worldview of not only the inhabitants of the lands they visit but also of themselves. This can be applied to the cases of the itineraries of scholars of Arab descent during the Ottoman era. In their works, these scholars and travellers paint a comprehensive picture of themselves, of the societies they originate from, and of the places they have travelled through. In this study, from the itineraries of the 16th century enabling the examination of the experiences of two societies living together which were written after Arab-inhabited lands became part of the Ottoman Empire, the itinerary of Badr al-Din al-Ghazzî (1499-1577) named al-Matâli‘ al-badriyye fi al-manâzil al-Rûmiyya will be reviewed and analysed according to the aforementioned principles. The information regarding the traveller’s self will be picked out: his own portrait, albeit indistinct, will be drawn through the portrait he attempted to draw of the places, people and relationships he experienced. Thus, within the set framework, this study will present itineraries as works viable to be studied as narrations of travellers’ own selves.