"Mecca" According To The Book of Travels of Evliya Celebi

"MECCA" ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF TRAVELS OF EVLIYA CELEBI Tuğba BOSTANCI Master thesis titled "Mecca According to The Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi" is considered as three parts except introduction and conclusion parts. In the first part, Evliya Çelebi's life will be mentioned, and in the second part will include information about his travels and his "Book of Travels". In the third and final section, the journey to Mecca and the Pilgrimage according to the "Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi" will be evaluated. The difference of literary style between Evliya Çelebi and other travelbook writers who works on Pilgrimage, is another subject of this study. In this context, the works and literary styles of Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta will be compared with the Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi. In addition to these subjects, the observations and opinions of foreign travelers, such as Ludovico De Varthema, Joseph Pitts, Ali Bey Al-Abbasi, Johann Ludwing Burkhardt and Richard Burton, regarding Mecca and Pilgrimage were included. In this way, it is planned to compare how Mecca and Pilgrimage are handled in other sources, especially the Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi. In the conclusion part, Evliya Çelebi's exaggerations about the Pilgrimage, and his different interpretations to some historical facts are witnessed. After that, we tried to give some reasons of this attempt of Evliya Çelebi. In addition, it is surprising that the artifacts, superstitions and fabricated narratives in the Pilgrimage part of his work have a large amount. But also, in this way, from this data, we can learn the knowledge level of the people of that time. The 9th volume of the Book of Travels of Evliya Çelebi, which is the most colourful and attractive paintings, is also considered as a separate Travelbook of Pilgrimage by itself. The Travelbook of Pilgrimage, written by Evliya Çelebi, is not only original, but also includes many details. Key Words: Evliya Çelebi, Travelbook, Mecca, Pilgrimage, Hajj, 17th Century.