Page 82 - The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent

guides. 71 Obviously Piri Reis researched not only cartographic piece of which only the left half remains. In it the author, sit-
sources, but also illustrated manuscripts and charts to pro- ting under a tent, is accompanied by two calligraphers; the
duce his unique map. right half must have shown Selim I and his court. The re-
Piri Reis' most popular work was the naval guide to the maining twenty-three illustrations begin the pictorial narra-
Mediterranean entitled the Kitab-i Bahriye (Book of the mari- tion with the enthronement of Selim and conclude it with his
ner), which was written in 1521 and revised four years death. Executed by two similar hands, they reveal influences
later. 72 The earliest illustrated copy of the revised version was from Herat and possibly even Cairo. This is the first work that
transcribed in 1525/1526 and dedicated to Suleyman. The attempts to document historical events, showing the figures
work has a stamped and gilded leather binding decorated in identifiable garments, as in the scene representing the 1514
with saz scrolls that may be the earliest appearance of this Battle of Çaldiran (37), in which the Safavids were defeated
design on bookbindings. It is, however, feasible that the text and Tabriz conquered.
was bound in the court several years after it was presented to The painting, divided in half by a hill, represents on the left
the sultan. the Safavids, who wear tapered turbans with tall batons; op-
The text, compiled by Piri Reis and written down by Mu- posite are the Ottomans with their more rounded turbans, ac-
radi, a contemporary historian, has 215 charts that illustrate companied by a group of janissaries holding spears. Standing
various Mediterranean ports and harbors on the continental
coasts and the islands. 73 As exemplified by the first scene in
the work, which represents Çanakkale (36), the strait be-
tween the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean (also known as
the Dardanelles), the illustrations are very graphic. Bold lines
define the landmasses that have softly tinted shores, and tiny
red dots indicate shallow coastal waters, a feature also ob-
served on his map of the Americas. Minuscule ships sail
around the waters or lie anchored in the harbors.
Protecting the narrowest portion of the strait are two im-
pressive fortresses with several towers and crenellated walls;
a large bird perches on the peaked tip of the highest roof. The
folio is sprinkled with smaller fortresses, landmarks, farm-
houses, bridges, and villages with clusters of houses, each site
and region identified by fine script. The structures are tinted
with pastel colors as is the large island on the top of the
page, inscribed E§ek Adasi (Donkey Island). Similar to all the
illustrations in the book, there is a large eight-spoked wind
rose placed over the scene, the arm with an arrow on the
lower right pointing north.
It is tempting to assign all the charts in this volume to Piri
Reis, who must have also written the notations; the text, on
the other hand, appears to have been transcribed by a callig-
rapher and shows a different hand. Piri Reis' charts were cop-
ied in later versions of the Kitab-i Bahriye, which was pro-
duced until the nineteenth century. Some of the later
illustrations are more elaborately painted though they remain
essentially faithful to the cartographer's originals. 74
The tradition of illustrated histories, which flourished in the
second quarter of the sixteenth century, began with the §ah-
name of Melik Ümmü, an unknown historian who wrote
about the reign of Bayezid II. The only illustrated version of
this work, completed around 1500, shows the impact of the
Akkoyunlu school of Shiraz, and relies on formulaic en-
thronement and battle scenes. The next in the series, devoted
to the reign of Selim I, is the Selimname (Book of Selim) of
§ukru Bitlisi, written in Turkish verse and presented to Suley- 37. Sultan Selim I at the Battle of Çaldiran from the Selimname of §ükrü
man around 1525. The work opens with a double frontis- Bitlisi, c. 1525 (Istanbul, Topkapi Sarayí Müzesi, H. 1597-1598, fol. 113a)

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