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Çelebi's Seyahatnâme as source of knowledge about the mosques and other Islamic religious structures in Ottoman Croatia of the 17th century

This paper analyses information about mosques and other religious structures (smaller mosques, musallas, tekkes, medresas and turbes) that Evliya Çelebi recorded from 1660 to 1664 in his Travelogue while passing through numerous Croatian towns ruled by the Ottomans. He mentioned all told 196 ritual structures at 33 Croatian sites. This is without a doubt the most important Ottoman narrative source from the late period of Ottoman rule in this area, describing as it does the urban features of the settlements of the time, and the appearances of many essential buildings that have disappeared in the meantime. Because the tapu- defters of the 17th century are sporadic and unsystematic, the literary and narrative documents constitute essential historical material for the period. Although Evliya’s notes are subjective and sometimes susceptible to impressions and the wish for a finer literary idiom and accordingly not completely reliable, the recently published autograph of the Seyahatnâme will enable the verification of unconvincing information – the exaggerated number of mosques for example – which a preliminary review has already shown to be the result of copying, editing and printing errors in earlier editions.

Evliya Çelebi, Seyahatnâme, mosques, Islamic architecture, Ottoman heritage

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