The Question of the Transfer of Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatnâme (Book of Travels) to the Topkapı Palace Library

Abstract

Although so many important studies have been carried out about the Seya- hatnâme (Book of Travels) of Evliya Celebi until now, they haven’t been benefited from Turkish archives during these studies sufficiently. Correspondingly, it is clear that lots of problems can not be clarified without using these sources. In this study, on the basis of estates, new findings have been established about how and when author’s edition of Seyahatnâme passed to Topkapı Palace Library. Besides with the help of these estates it has been revealed that Morali Besir Aga who was one of the chief harem eunuchs pos- sessed the author’s edition and they were transported to the Palace by confiscation