Turkish Islamic Geography from the Beginning to the End of the 16th Century (Schools, Names and Works)
Absract
Turkish and Turkish-Islamic civilization, which spread a wide geography from Central Asia to Anatolia, from Anatolia to Europe and the northern coasts of Africa, trained many scholars in the field of geography and many works that came into the world geography literature as a result of their endeavor. These works, like the geographical works of other civilizations, contain compilation or original information. Thanks to the circulation of information, Turkish-Islamic geographers were influenced by many schools, like the Samarkand School of Uluğ Bey and Ali Kuşçu, who worked on mathematics, astronomy and astrology. Besides, they benefited not only from the accumulation of Islamic geographers as Ebü'l-Fida, İbn Hurdazbih, İbn Havkal, İdrisi who produced important geographical works and maps, but also from the works of the most significant European geographers of their periods such as Christopher Columbus, Mercator and Ortelius. On the one hand, they have produced various works in the form of translation and commentary, on the other hand, they have written new works in the maritime field, travel books, on cities and roads.
Within the scope of this study, geography studies in the Turkish-Islamic world extending from the Central Asia to Istanbul will be discussed, their emergence process, sources and effects will be examined through works and authors, and evaluations will be made on the origin and development of Turkish geography.
Key Words: Turkish-Islamic Geographers, Ottoman Geographical Works, Ottoman Geographical Knowledge
İlhami Danış
