Evliya Çelebi, also known as Derviş Mehmed Zillî, was born in Istanbul in 1611 and died on his way back from Egypt in 1682. The most famous of Ottoman travelers, he journeyed for fifty years in the lands of the Ottoman Empire and beyond, and compiled a nine-volume memoir entitled Seyahatname (Trk. Book of Travels). In his youth, Evliya attended a madrasa and memorized the Qurʾān, learned calligraphy, and studied music. Thanks to his uncle Melek Ahmet Paşa, a senior Ottoman official, Evliya was recruited for the enderun-i hümayun (Trk. inside service), a system of palace schools, an…