Seyahatname

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Seyâhatnâme (سياحت نامه) is a Persian term, also used in Ottoman Turkish, which means Book of travels, denoting a literary form and tradition whose examples can be found throughout centuries in the Middle Ages around the Islamic world, starting with the Arab travellers of the Umayyad period.

An outstanding example of this literary form is the 17th-century Seyahâtnâme of Evliya Çelebi, the Turkish traveller who wrote in ten volumes, his travels starting in native city of Istanbul and covering Anatolia, Persia, Ottoman Europe, North Africa, Austria and Cairo. Because of the value of his work, the general term of Seyâhatnâme may often refer to Evliya Çelebi's books in particular, as far as the Turkish language and studies are concerned.

A related genre, specific to the journeys and experiences of an Ottoman ambassador is the "sefâretnâme" (سفارت نامه), whose examples were edited by their authors with a view to their presentation to the Sultan and the high administration, thus also bearing a semi-official character, although they remained of interest for the general reader as well.