THE BOOK OF NAVIGATION
Kitab-i Bahriye, The Book of Navigation, is a manual
written in 1521 by the Turkish seaman Piri Reis, who is regarded
as the father of Turkish mapmaking. It was unprecedented in its
time, and not until the 19th century were navigation manuals charting
and describing the Mediterranean in greater detail produced in the
West. Such manuals known as portolans had been in use since the
13th century, both produced and used by Mediterranean seamen. Since
they were based on first-hand observations and experiences they
were of more practical use than other contemporary maps and charts.
So that they would be resistant to damp and salt, they were executed
on parchment.Portalan charts were characterised by seventeen compass
roses representing compasses placed at specific points. They represented
a revolution in cartography at the time, and today are a valuable
source of information for historians due to the pictures they bear
of flags, armorial devices, cities, ships and symbols. Kitab-i Bahriye
was a remarkable guide for sea captains navigating the Mediterranean
and the Aegean.
Its author Piri Reis sailed every corner of the
Mediterranean with his uncle, the famous corsair Kemal Reis, from
the 1480s onwards, and his manual was based on 25 years of practical
experience at sea. He prepared the text and charts while serving
as steward of the shipyards in Gelibolu, the Ottoman Empire's most
important naval base, completing the work in 1521. Nearly 40 copies
of the manual have survived to the present day, bearing witness
to the wide extent to which it was used at that time.
When Piri Reis was appointed navigator to the Ottoman
fleet sent against Egypt in 1524, its commander Ibrahim Pasa, Sultan
Süleyman the Magnificent's grand vezir and son-in-law, saw
him using his manual. He was so impressed that he asked Piri Reis
to make a copy for presentation to Sultan Süleyman. When Piri
Reis returned to Gelibolu, he revised his book, adding an introductory
section in verse devoted largely to an account of world geography
and geographical terms, and additional charts.
The finished manuscript was presented to Sultan
Süleyman by Ibrahim Pasa in 1525.In the introduction Piri Reis
explains his reasons of writing the manual and the benefits of the
navigational sciences for sailors, and gives accounts of storms
and winds, the compass, nautical charts and their symbols, the different
seas and oceans, Portuguese colonies on the shores of the Indian
Ocean, voyages of exploration along the African coast and in the
Sea of China, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic, and the discovery
of America.The manual proper begins with a description of Çanakkale
Strait (the Dardanelles), and its forts of Sultaniye and Kilitbahir.
Piri Reis goes on to describe in detail the fortresses, islands,
coasts and harbours of the Mediterranean and Aegean, including those
of Greece, the Morean Peninsula, the Adriatic, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia,
Corsica, France, Spain, the Canaries, North Africa, Egypt and the
Nile, the eastern Mediterranean, Crete, Cyprus, southern and Aegean
Turkey, Gelibolu and the Gulf of Saros.
As well as information about water depth, anchorages,
coastal vegetation, sources of drinking water and shipyards, he
describes the local inhabitants, their religions, the political
powers of each region and trade. He even includes information about
ancient sites. There is a large-scale chart for each harbour and
island, and drawings of buildings and important monuments in the
coastal towns.Kitab-i Bahriye is a matchless nautical guide to the
Mediterranean, and a primary source of biographical information
about Piri Reis himself. Later copies were enlarged to include the
coast and islands of the Marmara Sea, and Istanbul. Copies of the
original edition of 1521 and that produced for Sultan Süleyman
in 1525 are to be found in major libraries around the world as well
as in museums and libraries in Istanbul. One of the most outstanding
Kitab-i Bahriye manuscripts is that with 232 charts now in Istanbul
University Library.
* Kemal Özdemir, is a researcher and writer
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