Evliya Çelebi

Evliya Çelebi (March 25, 1611, Istanbul – 1682/83, Istanbul) was a Turkish traveler, geographer, and historian. His mother was of Abkhazian origin. In his ten-volume Book of Travels, he provides geographical, ethnographic, economic, historical, and linguistic information about countries in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Asia, and Northeastern Africa, which he visited between 1640 and 1673. All ten volumes of the Book of Travels were published in Istanbul (1897–1938). The second volume, which contains information about the South Caucasus and specifically Georgia, has been translated into Georgian.

Evliya Çelebi first traveled to Georgia in 1640, accompanying the Pasha of Trabzon on a diplomatic mission to Samegrelo. He toured the Black Sea coast by ship and briefly described the coastal regions of Samegrelo and Abkhazia, their populations, customs, ports, and marketplaces. From his account, it appears that the Ottoman Empire considered Samegrelo part of its domain, although much of it was in fact effectively independent. The coastal area of Samegrelo had been conquered and impoverished by the Ottomans.

Çelebi provides valuable information about Georgia, particularly on the rural economy of Samegrelo. He considered coastal Abkhazia as under Ottoman control but noted that the empire’s influence did not extend into the mountains.

In 1646–47, he traveled through Eastern Georgia, which was ruled at the time by King Rostom. There was a relative degree of order under his rule, which led to a revival of trade and craftsmanship. According to Çelebi, the cities—including Tbilisi—were "very flourishing and developed." The city had inns and well-appointed bathhouses with hot springs.

Çelebi offers extensive details about trade, stating that Ottoman, Crimean and Laz merchants came to Samegrelo by sea, via the Chorokhi River, and overland. He also remarks on the widespread slave trade in Western Georgia in the 17th century. He gives substantial accounts of Lala Mustafa Pasha’s 1578 campaign and other events.

Various parts of the Book of Travels have been translated into Georgian, Armenian, Russian, Serbian, Polish, and English.

Literary works: მოგზაურობის წიგნი, გ. ფუთურიძის გამოც., ნაკვ. 1 – ქართული თარგმანი, თბ., 1971; ნაკვ. 2 – გამოკვლევა, კომენტარები, თბ., 1973.

G. Futuridze