ფირი რეისი – შავი ზღვის პორტოლანის აღმოსავლეთ სანაპირო1 (ხელნაწერი: Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, MS. W. 658)
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Date
2023
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ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტის გამომცემლობა
Abstract
The 16th century was the age of political, economic and cultural might for the
Ottoman Empire, which was reflected not only in the military-political arena but also in
the social and cultural sphere. However, like other pre-existing empires, Ottoman cultural
or social progress was directly related to military-political success. Among them was the
development of cartography, which represented a kind of fusion of medieval Arab-
Muslim geographical knowledge and Western European geographical knowledge. During
the last decade, it gradually became possible to study and publish Ottoman historical maps
or atlases. Nevertheless, there are still some difficulties that were noted at the end of the
last century. In particular, incomplete catalogues of manuscripts preserved in Turkish
museums and libraries; the non-existence of electronic versions and difficulties of access
required to work on manuscripts. One of the most distinguished and famous authors who
created European-type Ottoman sea charts, Ottoman portolans, was Piri Reis (1481-1554).
Piri Reis started as a sailor at 12 and later became a captain (Reis). In 1517, in Cairo, Piri
Reis presented the Sultan with a world map he drew in 1513. It seems that Piri Reis was
an ambitious person and wanted to gain the patronage of the Ottoman Sultan by
presenting this map.
In addition to the world map of 1513, he had to create the second world map, which
dates back to 1528-29 and is kept in the library of Topkapi Palace. Piri Reis's most
important work is the Kitāb-ı Baḥrīye or Book of the Seas, often called the Book of
Navigation. Two editions of the book are known, the first of which dates back to 1521 and
includes about 130 portolans/chapters. The second edition was created in 1526 and
includes 210 portolans/chapters. It should be noted that none of the first, authorial
manuscripts has reached us. After the death of Piri Reis, the third edition of Kitāb-Baḥrīye
was created in the next century, the text of which repeated the text of the second edition,
although there were changes in the part of portolans and maps. For example, the map of
the Black Sea is not found in the first or second editions and is considered to have been
added in the 17th century. There are another fact that supports the idea that the map of the
Black Sea was not made by Piri Reis (besides the fact that it is not found in other, earlier
copies). In particular, a worthy continuation of Piri Reis's cartographic work was Ali al-
Sharaf from Sfax, who does not mention Piri Reis concerning the Black Sea and relies
only on the work of Abu al-Abbas al-Andalus. We can add another argument to this, the
Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea (with the Persian Gulf) were the
areas of activity of Piri Reis. Thus, it is highly likely that he never visited the Black Sea or
had any other contact with the Black Sea to create its portolan. The copies of portolans made in the 17th century, which were based on the Kitāb-
Baḥrīye of Piri Reis, are divided into two categories: those that are accompanied by texts
along with maps, and those that only contain maps. One such later copy is the Baltimore,
Walters Art Museum, MS. W. 658, in which a map of the Black Sea is given, which,
although created by analogy with Western European maps, is nevertheless different even
from the point of view of toponymy.
There are two maps of the Black Sea in the Atlas, which are fully represented by the
Black Sea: 1) the Black Sea, which is given in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean
Seas (this portolan, we conditionally call the "East Map"). 2) The Black Sea chart which is
vertically placed on paper and is much more detailed. The following maps are separate
among the regional charts of the Black Sea: Province Rumelia (West Black Sea); Anatolia
(southwestern Black Sea); Crimean peninsula and its surroundings (northern Black Sea);
Eastern Black Sea.
In the Eastern Black Sea region, according to maps, there are such geographical
objects as Batumi, Poti, Rv. Rioni, Kulevi, Anaklia, Gurjistan (Georgia), Samegrelo,
Dranda, Sokhumi, Bichvinta and Abkhazia. Most of them are correctly placed and
relevant. However, in the case of Dranda, it was placed incorrectly.
It is true that the internal parts or territories of historical Georgia, including Eastern
Georgia, are not found on the maps, however, the depiction of Western Georgia and its
geographical points on the Muslim map is an important event. This served the political
interests of the Ottomans, although, Western Georgia was more or less neglected in
Eastern-Islamic geographical works, and we do not have its depiction on maps before the
Ottomans.
The purpose of the article is to present one of the Ottoman portolans/maps of the
Eastern Black Sea coast in the context of historical processes, taking into account the
specifics of geographical names, objects and toponyms. Acquaintance with the article will
help people interested in the history, historical geography, cartography, toponymy, and
Ottoman cartography of the Eastern Black Sea coast and Georgia.
Description
ეძღვნება აკადემიკოს ზაზა ალექსიძის ხსოვნას (1935 – 2023)/
Dedicated to Memory of Academician Zaza Aleksidze (1935 – 2023)
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Citation
აღმოსავლეთმცოდნეობა, №12, თბილისი, 2023, გვ.: 156-167/ Oriental Studies, №12, Tbilisi, 2023, pp.: 156-167