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THE OLDEST MAP OF AMERICA

DRA WN by P/R/ RE/'S

by Prof. Dr. AFETiNAN


Life And Works of the Turkish
Admiral:

THE OLDEST MAP OF AMERICA,


DRAWN BY PiRI REiS

by
Prof. Dr. Afetinan

Translated
by:
Dr. Leman Yolag

T h e cover is printed at the " H a r i t a U m u m Mudurliigfj" Press

T A B I H K U R U M U B A S I M E V I A N K A R A

1 9 5 4
A. portion from the map drawn by Toscanelli. (De la Ranci£re).
CONTENTS

Life and Works of the Turkish Admiral : Phi Reis. . . . 3


Discovery of the Map of America 3
The Sea-Power of the Ottoman-Turkish Empire in the
XV th and XVI th Centuries 5
Biography of Piri Reis (1470-1554) 6-16
Piri Reis' Scholarly Works 17
The Book "Bahriye-On Navigation" J7-23
Pin's First Map of the World, 1513 24-41
Piri's Second Map of the World, 1528 42-48
Comparison yf Piri Reis' Maps with Other Contemporary
Ones 49-57
Conclusion 58-59
Different Versions of the "Bahriye" 61-61
Bibliyography 62-64

« * #

The book contains a map of Toscanelli's, printed on


cream-laid paper.
A facsimile in colour taken from Piri Reis' 1513 map,
printed by the press of Ministry of Education in Istanbul is
also added.
On the occasion of the fourth centennial
of the death of the great admiral and
scholar: Piri Reis
(1470-1554)
LIFE AND WORKS OF THE TURKISH
ADMIRAL PIRI REIS

INTRODUCTION

Let us take a trip into some periods


of the past. The first stop on this trip will
be Turkey thirty years ago. The first
quarter of the present century shows
Turkey at the end of the War of Indep-
endence, and the Republic established
by Kemal Atatiirk (1923). The Turkish
Republic, now thirty (years old, was fo-
unded on the remains of another Turkish
state, the Ottoman Empire (1299-—1923).
For the second stop let us take the
year 1929. Let us go into the Palace of
Topkapi of the Ottoman Sultans, situated
on one of the most beautiful spots of Istanbul called Saray-
burnu. The palace, which consists of various buildings, each
surrounded by vast gardens, testifies to the different
characteristics of the Ottoman period. The Turkish Republican
Government decided to turn this palace into a museum.

Discovery of the map of America


In the process of classifying the numerous articles in the
buildings, Mr. Halil Edhem, Director of the National Museums,
discovered a map* (9 Nov. 1929) till then unknown in the world

• Map, or chart, "portulano" in contemporary phraseology, a term


used for all such charts showing the position of ports and based on
the idea of the earth being flat.
of science. Upon hearing of this discovery of the oldest map
of America Atatiirk showed great interest in the matter. He
asked for the map to be brought to Ankara, studied it and
ordered it to be published as it stood and to be submitted to
scholarly research.
To study this map for the first time with Atatiirk was
an immense thrill. It had been drawn hundreds of years ago
on a roe-skin, with various coloured illustrations and writings
on it. As I held it in my hands, I felt as if I were living in the
long forgotten past. My emotions are twenty-four years old
now, but let us, with the same national and scholarly pride,
take a glimpse into the period when this map was drawn and
into the history of the man who had drawn it.
This is one of the oldest and yet most perfect maps of
America, drawn by a Turkish admiral. Now, if you do not
mind being centuries old for a few minutes, come with me
to the XVI th century. In this third stop our journey sud-
denly covers a vast ground.

A view of the Topkapi Palace from the sea. (Taken from an


old engraving)
The Sea-Power of the Ottoman-Turkish Empire in the
XV th and XVI tfi centuries
In the XVth century,
particularly after the con-
quest of Istanbul, the Ot-
toman state grew into an
Empire. To secure Tur-
kish domination over the
Black Sea and the Me-
diterranean she had to
possess naval strength,
which she did. To get the
upper hand on the Medi-
terranean, the Turkish
forces had to fight against the Venetians, the Genoese, their
usual ally the Knights of St. John, and the Spanish. They
finally succeeded in acquiring territorial sovereignty as far as

Fig. a -- The Sultan receiving the Supreme Admiral of All-Seas,


at the pier of the Topkapi Palace.
Vienna in west, to the Caucasus, Iran and Iraq in the east, and
south and the as a result of adding Syria, Egypt, Tunis, Algiers,
the Hejaz and Arabia to the former conquests, formed close
contacts on various seas. The Black Sea and the Mediterranean,
including the Adriatic shores, came under the domain of the
Turkish banner. The fleet carried it across to the Red Sea,
the Persian Gulf and the Amman Seas up to the Indian Ocean.
The great Turkish admiral, Piri Reis, whose life will be our
topic of discussion now, was one of those great Turkish ad-
mirals like Burak Reis, Kemal Reis, Muslahiddin Reis, Bar-
baros Hayrettin, Turgut'and K1I15 AH, who, at the end of the
XVth and during the XVI th centuries, won splendid vic-
tories for the Turkish fleet, and thus established Turkish power
and preserved it over the seas.

Biography of Piri Reis


(Z470—1554)
We do not exactly know the date of his birth, but we
presume it to be between 1465—1470. He was born at Gelibolu
or Gallipoli as the Anglo-American world calls it, a lovely
coastal town on the Marmara Sea, which was then used as
a naval base. He was named Muhiddin Piri. His father was
Haci Mehmet, and his uncle, the famous admiral of the period,
Kemal Reis. About the children born and brought up in this
town, Ibni Kemal, the Turkish historian says: "The children
of Gelibolu grow up in water like alligators. Their cradles
are the boats. They are rocked to sleep with the lullaby of the
sea and of the ships day and night."
This Turkish boy, too, falling asleep with the sound of
the sea in his ears spends eleven years of his life in his native
town. like other Turkish children of the time, he acquires
-his early notions about the world from the ideas at home and
around him, and also from the elementary teaching he was
7

given. After he is twelve, he joins the crew of his uncle, Kemal


Reis. Thereafter he is no longer an unknown Turkish youth,
but Piri, a careful observer, and a sea-hero whose name will
be remembered in history. He starts his career under the vigi-
lance of his uncle, and takes part in all kinds of navaljactivi-
ties for fourteen uninterrupted years. We can follow him at
this period of his life through his book, "Bahriye - On Navi-g-
tion" in which he recorded his experiences of the places he
visited with his uncle, and the historical events of the time in
a most vivid and delightful style. The first fourteen years of
Kemal Reis' life is spent in piracy, as was the custom at the
time. After becoming a considerable power on the sea through
his own personal efforts, in 1494. Kemal Reis accepted official
recognition and position from the Ottoman Government,
along with his worthy and experienced crew.
Several sources confirm the indication — that Piri was with
Kemal Reis before this date. For instance, during a period
when his uncle was at Egriboz, he says in a passage in the
"Bahriye", about the monasteries of Athos, "The aforesaid place
is a long cape, 80 miles in length; to the Tracian side lies a dried
up channel" (pp. 117-1 ig). In his book, the "Bahriye", he makes
the following remarks about the ports on the coast of Athos
on the Khalkidhiki peninsula: "In front of the monastery of
Alaviri stand native rocks, among which there lies a natural
port. It can take only one boat at a time, but since "the mouth
of the port lies open to the north, the North and the East
winds do much harm to the boat lying there. Itjso happened
^to us once. As we were lying in harbour the strong East- wind
.blew across to the north and damaged our boat, whereupon
' the monks from the monastery came to our rescue. They tied
the boat down on all the four sides after which she could not
move at all. Thus we were saved from the storm, and proceeded
., on our way."i (Bahriye, p. 113).
The remarks refer to the coast of Athos. For the third
peninsula he gives this information: "There is a cape at Ra-
raburun. People call it the cape of Kesendere. From this cape
to "Kumburnu" it is all covered with pine woods. Kumburnu

Fig. 3 — • The costume of a Fig. 4 — "Levend" a


Turkish sailor on a galleon marine.
is a low and sandy cape; at the point it grows quite shallow.
On it, 100 miles to the North-West lies the city of Salonica."
In another version of the book he says something different
about the same cape: "The coast of Kesendere as far as Kum
Burnu is very shallow. Along the coast run tall pine trees. But
nobody knows where one can obtain drinking water. To the
humble author of these lines Kara Hasan Reis showed the
spot."
In 1494 the Moslem population in Granada in Spain
asked for help from the Tunisian, Egyptian and the Ottoman
Governments. It was just then that Kemal Reis was leading
a life of piracy and used his ships to transport these Moslems
over to Africa. From 1487 to 1493 Piri participated in various
activities on these seas under the supervision of his uncle.
Piri Reis gives remarkable information about the western
coast of the Mediterranean and the islands there, and says the
following about the island of Minorca of the Balearic Isles:
"They call that port Portulano. It has a good harbour. As-
soon as you leave the harbour and turn along the eastern coast
to the north you come upon a natural spring. It emerges from
under a fig-tree. Around that spring you arc sure to meet Arab
and Turkish boats most of the time, for they obtain their water
there. Further over it stands a fortress." (Bahriye p. 532).
During six years of piracy around various islands and
coasts on the Mediterranean, they fought against other pirates
of the time, conquered ships and in bad weather spent the
winter in favourable harbours. Kemal Reis stayed a long time
along the African coast, in Algiers, Tunis and Bona, and
formed friendly relations with the people there having an ex-
ceptionally good reception there. (Bahriye, 1935 Introduction).
P. IV Thus while spending the winter months of 1490—1491
in the harbour at Bona they took part in the battle led by
Kemal Reis against Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica.
10

One of these battles is recorded by Piri in this way: "There


are some shallow spots along the aforesaid bay of Resereno;
Terranova is a fortress on a low ground. "Terranova" means
"new town" in Sicily. Now, the fore part of the town is a
beach, a good shelter in the summer. The vessels lie three to
four miles away from the land across the fortress. In the afo-
resaid harbour we overcame three vessels this time." (Bah-
riye, p. 493),

Fig. 5 — Map of Sardinia, in the Bahriye.


Thus each event is recorded with the correct dates. For
the island of Corsica Piri wrote a new chapter (pp. 523-529)
and added a map of the island with detailed explanations giving
the contour of the island as 400 miles, and said: "On this is-
land stands a tall mountain rising from the north to the south.
At this date I counted 25 peaks of this mountain in the eastern
part of it. They looked just like the teeth of a saw. Every one of
those peaks is covered with snow all through the year" (p. 524).
Fig. 6 — Map of Corsica, in the Bahriye.
12

About the inhabitants he says: "The aforesaid island of


Corsica was a demesne of the Genoese, but later when the
French conquered Genoa, among the others, this island, too,
passed over to the French."
At the time, the ruling sultan was Bayezid II, son of Meh-
met II, the Conquerer. After the death of his brother, Prince
Jem, in 1495 Bayezid started ruling the country without a
rival. Aiming at greater conquests he endeavoured to rein-
force the territorial as well as the naval powers, and for that
purpose brought under his banner the various units of Turkish
pirate ships. He invited Kemal Reis to join the imperial fleet.
He did so, with Piri Reis and Kara Hasan to help him. They
all were experienced and trained sailors with good knowledge
of the seas. In such a capacity did Piri Reis take part in the
Mediterranean campaigns under Kemal Reis' supervision.
The first official acknowledgment of Piri's deeds is an
account of the sea fights in the years 1499—1502. The actual
commander-in-chief of the fleet belonging to the Supreme
Admiral of all the Sea-Forces was Kemal Reis. In this fleet
Piri was given official command of some of the vessels. His
service in the battles (1500 --1502) against the Venetians was
remarkable. The great advantages that the Ottoman Empire
acquired by the Treaty of Venice in 1502 were made possible
mainly by the brave deeds of these seamen. After this date
Piri works as an admiral of the fleet again, but at his uncles's
death during a sea battle, Piri was deprived of his great pro-
tector. Because of some reason unknown to us, Piri had not taken
part in that battle. There can be no doubt as to how deep a
source of sorrow this loss was to Piri. The knowledge acquired
in the tutorship of Kemal Reis and the accumulated experi-
ence during his life at sea had secured him fame and a firm
position. After his uncle's death he left the openseas and star-
ted working on his first map of the world at Gelibolu. The
portion of the map we now possess is a part of it.
.13

Along with this map he arranged his notes for the book
"Bahriye" which later turned out to be a kind of guide book
on navigation. In 1516—1517 Piri was given command of
several vessels taking part in the Ottoman campaign against

Fig. 7 — The uniform of an Fig. 8 — The costume of a commander


Admiral of the fleet. of a ship or ships : a "Reis".
14

Egypt. Under the command of Cafer Bey the fleet took Ale-
xandria. With a part of this fleet Piri sailed to Cairo through
the Nile, and later drew a map and gave detailed information
about this area, too.
After Egypt was joined to the growing Empire, Piri had
a chance of making the personal acquaintance of the ruling
sovereign, Yavuz Selim; during the battle of Alexandria. He
presented the map he had previously drawn to the Sultan.
After the Egyptian campaign, during a period of relaxation
at Gelibolu, he put his notes on "Bahriye" into book form.
The reign of Suleyman the Magnificent, who ascended
the throne in 1520, is a history of successive victories. Piri's
taking part in the Turkish fleet going to the campaign on
Rhodes in 1523 is to be regarded as only natural.
Piri commemorates the royal command of Sultan Suley-
man to him to act as a guide to Pargah Ibrahim Pa§a, the
Chief Vizir, in verse (pp. 549-550).

Fig. g — A sea-battle or the Turkish fleet in the XVI. th century.


15

It was after this campaign that Ibrahim Pas,a realized


the importance of the "Bahriye" and urged Piri to put the
notes into book form and copy them out again. Piri records
that incident, too, at the end of the book in verse. Because of a
storm at sea they cannot proceed on their way, and are com-
pelled to take refuge at Rhodes. For Piri, however, this proves
to be a good opportunity to make the Pa§a's acquaintance.
Piri's frequent references does not fail to attract the Vizir's atten-
tion.
Encouraged by his words Piri rearranges the boka to
Gelibolu and copies it all out, and with the help of Ibrahim
Pa§a presents it to the Sultan. The date of the book is given
in verse in the traditional way. From the final couplet one
makes the date to be 1526 A.D. (923 by the Arabic Calendar).
In his preface to the book, Piri mentions the favourable
reception it received from the Sultan. Later he draws another
map and presents that, too, to Suleyman.
One can follow his life up to 1526 in this book. After this
date, we deduce from the state records that Piri was appoin-
ted an admiral of ships in the south seas. He rendered many
services to the government in this capacity, in the Indian
Ocean, the Red Sea and the Arabian. Sea. Thus we find him
growing old at the head of his ships. He died exactly 400 years
ago in 1554, as an old man of 84. Mortal though he himself
was, he left behind him immortal works and unforgettable
services to the world of civilization.
With this ends the biography of Piri Reis. Most of it has
been taken from his own memoirs on his experiences at sea-
faring. On the science of navigation, Piri was one of the most
outstanding scholars of his time. Apparently, besides his native
tongue, he knew Greek, Italian, Spanish and even Portuguese.
He acknowledges his debt to various works in these langu-
ages, in drawing his map of the world.
<i\: i a : o
V
J . I-?'. «*>»- >irj'» , , i ' a v n* s. n »,»
17

Firi Reis' Scholarly Works


If Piri were only a helpmate to Kemal Reis, even with
the grand titles and high posts that he had won, he would not
be a subject important enough for the history of civilization
today. We would cite him only as one of the great admirals
of the Ottoman Empire when she was a great power on vari-
ous seas. For, at the time, not only were the Black Sea and
the Marmara exclusively Turkish seas, but the eastern and
the southern coasts [of the Mediterranean and all the neigh-
bouring islands as well as the eastern coast of the Adriatic
were under Turkish domination. The Turkish banner reigned
on the Red Sea and the Arabian; the Turkish fleet caiiied it
to the coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean.
To be the ruler of so many seas the Ottoman Empire was
bound to have great seamen. And yet Piri Reis, life and works
differ from those of all his contemporaries. He was not content
to secure for his country more powers and victories but left written
works on the science of navigation, which have survived to
this day.

The Book "Bahriyye-on Navigation"


Piri Reis then young but quite experienced, travelled on
Kemal Reis' sh;ps almost the full length of the Mediterranean
coasts, 'and on many occasions he was able to study various
Spanish, Tunisian, French and Adriatic harbours. Acquiring
information on various geographic and naval conditions of these
legions, he recoided his own observations on them, and all
this foimed the basis foi his book "Bahriye-On Navigation".
In it Piri described the towns and countiies along the Medi-
terranean coasts, and drew maps, charts and pictures of them.
He did not neglect giving important information on navi-
gation there, either. Reading the book page by page will take
us on a delightful trip along these regions in the XVIth cen-
.19

tury. It is, basically, a kind of naval guide book. He gathered


all previous information on the subject, but added to it other
practical knowledge necessary for sailors on the most impor-
tant coastal routes, and drew large maps of all the spots he
considered important there. In this way the book came out
not only as a mere guide book, but also it became the gre-
atest contemporary "portulano" with the most advanced tec-
nique of cartography.
One can see in this book a most significant invention:
to make available all that he could not squeeze into the maps,
for his readers he drew large maps and complemented them
with indexes.
The book has many versions. 29 of them exist in the lib-
raries of Europe and Istanbul. Some of them bear the date
1520 (Arabic 927) the others 1525 (Arabic 932).
The book was published in 1935, with an introduction,
an index and a facsimile, based on the version now in the
St. Sophia Museum in Istanbul. It has 858 large pages and
a section all in verse form, consisting of 78 pages; the latter
is divided into 23 chapters, 1107 couplets in all. Into these
lines Piri has put all that he learned and observed as well as
information indirectly acquired, on the seas of the world, in
a style easy to remember and memorize.
The main theme in the book is the Mediterranean coast
and the islands there. In Chapters I and II (pp. 7-19). he exp-
lains his aim in writing the book and also his life at sea with
Kemal Reis In Chapters III, IV, and V (pp. 19-23).he gives
information about storms, winds and the compass Chapters
VI and VII (pp. 23-29) are about maps and emblematic signs
on maps. In Chapter VIII (p. 29) he says that one fourth of
the seas that cover the earth has continents on them, and by
giving names to each he cites 7 seas. Chapter IX (pp. 30-32)
is devoted to the geographic discoveries of the Portuguese. In
20

Chapter X (pp. 33-37) he discusses Abyssinia as extending


as far as the Cape of Good Hope and wishes that the Turks
may drive back the Dutch and the | Portuguese from
the Red Sea. In Chapter XI (pp. 37-43) on the globular chart
which he calls "the ball of the earth" he talks about the poles,
the tropics, and the equator, and relates what the Portuguese
know about them. Chapter XII (pp. 43-52) recounts how
the Portuguese make voyages from their own country to the
Indies with favourable winds, in a most profitable way. Chap-
ter XIII (pp. 52-56) is general information on navigation, but
it also relates some sailors' stories based on fantastic rumours.
It includes an account of the Chinese seas, and considering
that part of the world as[the end of the East, he gives informa-
tion on the Chinese people, their customs and traditions and
their skill in pottery. The explanations in Chapters XIV and
XV (pp. 56-61) about the Indian Ocean and the monsoons
are valid even today. He also discusses the wind situations in
the Mediterranean and the Aegean Seas. He describes, here,
the implement called the "Indian Measure" which measures
heights, and also gives information about the Pole Star.
In Chapter XVI (pp. 61-66) he describes the Persian
Gulf from what he has heard about it, because then he has
not yet been able to visit thatfpart of the world. He gives a very
good account of pearl-fishing and the spots for it. This piece
of information is as good as modern since peail-fishing is still
performed in the same way and at the same spots. In Chapters
XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX (pp. 67-77) he calls the Indian
Ocean "the Sea of the Negroes", and gives an account of the
coast and the islands there.
In Chapter XXI (pp. 77-84) he studies the Atlantic
Ocean under two different names: "the Western Sea" and
"The Great Ocean". He says that the "Western Sea" begins
from the Straits of Gibraltar and extends 4000 miles towards
the west. He also informs the reader of the continent he calk
.21

"the Antilia". He says, that there the mountains contain rich


gold ores, and four fathoms deep in the sea pearl is to be found
(p. 78). He discusses the history of the continent and says that
it was discovered by sailors. About the inhabitants there he
says that they have flat faces, and eyes a full span apart
from each other; they are large in build and frightful crea-
tures. He recounts all this on hearsay. He adds to it, though,
some personal experiences as to how he once got a hat belon-
ging to the natives on some Mediterranean island. The hat
was made of parrots' feathers. There was also an axe made
of some hard, black stone that could cut even iron. In
this way Piri wrote most of the information in the margin of
the map of America into this book.
In the chapter on this "Western Sea" we read all that
is known about the discovery of America at the time. Of this
he recounts, on hearsay again, how a certain book from the
time of Alexander the Great was translated in Europe, and
after reading it how Christopher Columbus went and disco-
vered the Antilles with the vessels he obtained from the Spa-
nish government.
It is quite evident today that Piri Reis came into posses-
sion of the map that the great discoverer had used.
He makes a reference to the Caspian Sea and says that
it is a closed sea. He gives no information, however, about
the Red Sea or the Black Sea.
Thus in these 74 pages of verse he was able to gather all
the contemporary information about navigation.
The main body of the book consists of 743 pages (pp.
85-848), and these are divided into 209 chapters with 215
maps and charts. This part is written in prose, the aim being
to make it available and easy for every sailor. It begins with
the Dardanelles, then goes on to the Aegean Sea, the coast-
line and the islands there, then the Adriatic Sea and the co-
22

asts along Western Italy, Southern France and Eastern Spain;


geographic alnd historical information about the islands there
are given and then along the Straits of Gibraltar to the African
coast as far as Egypt, then to the shores of Palestine and Syria,
to Cyprus and then the Anatolian coastline up to Marmaris.
At the end of this part he studies Crete and other islands which
he had not previously mentioned. Later coming back to the
Straits of Dardanelles he finishes the book with a description
of the Gulf of Saros.

Map of Crete in the "Bahriye".

In composing the work Piri first gives historical and


geographical information and'then he discusses the necessary
practical knowledge on navigation. Each chapter contains
detailed chaits, some in different colours. Since his method
is still used in modern guide books on navigation and seas
one cannot help wondering at the advanced outlook, which
the book presents. On many points the accuracy of his state-
ments are indisputable. The work, therefore, must he regarded
as very important for the science of navigation.
23

The great sailor-writer draws maps of and gives infor-


mation about the Adriatic coast in general and about the Bay
of Venice in particular. About the latter he says, "The city of
Venice etends to an area of 12 miles. The whole district con-
sists of parts of land and parts of an "ear" of the sea. The sea
is at some places quite shallow and at others deep. The people
have put piles upon, these shallow spots and upon them, built
their city. Before the city was thus constructed fishermen
used to come to these lonely spots, spread their nets and catch
fisch. When fishing flourished th-ere, more people began to
come and then to settle there by building houses over those
piles. In the course of time thely increased in number. The
wise ones among them thought that they must see to it
that the city they were building must be able to stand for all
time". (Bahriye, p. 422-423).
Then Piri describes the bulding of the famous St. Marco,
the purpose and the process involved in building it. He
later tells us that the inhabitants live by trade, and that one
has to hire a guide from the fortress of "Yaransa" to go to the
city, otherwise, they do not take the responsibility for any
loss or damages incurred because of the shallow waters.
The final judgment arrived at about the book, after pro-
found study, is as follows: "Research work done on it reveals
that not a single statement can be found in it that is not based
on facts". This becomes very obvious in the case of Crete when
knowledge concerning the island at two different periods in
history is compared. Unfortunately, however, since this great
work was not published in the XVI th century and was there
fore unknown to the world of science, it has not been as useful
as it could have been. Nevertheless the work still retains its
importance and value despite the intervening centuries.
24.

Pin's First Map of the World, 1513


Let us now concentrate
on the first map of the world
drawn by Piri. His own ideas
about carthography in general
are recorded in verse form (p.
24). He says that drawing maps
requires profound knowledge
and specification. He believes
that the slightest error in dra-
wing a map makes [the map
useless (p. 25). To see how
One of the illustrations of a ship, faithful he was to this prin-
drawn in colour on the southern ciple of accuracy and exactitude
part of Africa in the map. (The
ship here is drawn to the same one need only study his maps.
scale as the one on the map.) Foreseeing the development
of maritime possibilities of the
Ottoman Empire in the early decades of the XVIth century,
Piri realized the necessity for a map of the world to help those
sea-men that would take voyages on the seas, with practical
information. In drawing this map, as a sailor devoted to his
profession, he applied all the resources then available.
In his preface to the "Bahriye" he refers to the map and
says that he has made use of all the known maps, including
those on the Chinese seas and the Indian Ocean, which
were unknown in the western world at that time. He also records
that he presented it to Sultan Selim II. From a note in the
margin hand-written by the author himself, we conlude that
the map was drawn by Piri at Gelibolu between March and
April of 1513 (Arabic 919). In one of these notes Piri cites
his references and some twenty maps he had made use of.
Eight of these were new maps of Mappa Mundi, four drawn
by the Portuguese, an Indian one in Arabic, and one by
Christopher Columbus on the western hemisphere. The most
important point to be noted here is the fact that Piri had a
map of Columbus, in his hand when drawing his own. He
himself refers to it in the "Bahriye" (p. 82) when talking about
Columbus'discovery of the Antilles. This can be accounted for
in the following way: he came into possession of the map
when he was with Kemal Reis on the Spanish shores on the
Mediterranean. In a reference to the shores of Valencia he

Piri Reis' first map of the world. The shaded part is the portion we
now have, the rest shows the missing parts of it. The dotted region
in the north is of the North American area from the
second map of the world.
says that once on those shores he and Kemal Reis took, at a
single engagement at sea, seven Spanish vessels (Bahriye, p.
596). We have already noted how he refers to the "Antilia"
and the natives of the Antilles.
In one of the marginal notes on the map Piri mentions
a Spaniard who had taken part in three of Columbus 2
26.

The portion of Piri Peis* map. The place-names are recorded


as they are transcribed from the map.
.27

expeditions and was later taken prisoner by Kemal Reis. This


Spaniard had given a most interesting account of Columbus
to Kemal Reis. It is quite possible that he was captured during
the battle when some of those articles belonging to the natives
were also taken.
The map of Columbus in Piri's possession was drawn in
1498, and, since we know that Kemal Reis and Piri had fought
against the Spanish in 1501, Piri's acquisition of the map du-
ring that war is quite plausible.
Although Piri had drawn a map of the whole world, the
portion we now have of it is only of the western coasts of Europe
and Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, Central and North Americas.
The map is drawn on a roe-skin in various colours. Like
other contemporary maps it has no lines of longitude or lati-
tude. Nevertheless we can see two rose-compasses one in the
north and the other in the south. Each of the roses is divided
into 32 parts and the divison lines are extended beyond the
rose frames. Each wind-rose is equal to one sea mile, as is
shown in the measurements on the areas near the wind-roses.
The map is 90/65 centimetres in size.
It is in various colours
and is decorated with numerous
illustrations. In the capitals of
Portugal, Marrakesh and Gu-
inea, there are pictures of their
respective sovereigns. Besides
these, on Africa there are pic-
tures of an elephant and of
an ostrich, and on South Am-
erica of lamas and pumas. On
the oceans and along the coasts
we see illustrations of ships. On both the lands and the seas
there are entries sometimes relevant, sometimes irrelevent of
28.

the pictures. They are all written in Turkish, and can also be
found in his book "Bahriye".
You can follow the entry-notes beginning from the
north-west corner, turning southward, then proceeding along
the perimeter, and finally continuing in a winding fashion
towards the center.
Reading some of the notes is really difficult. The map
is transcribed by experts as follows :
I — There is a kind of red dye called vakami, that you
do not observe) at first, because it is at a distance . . . the
mountains contain rich ores . . . . There some of the fheep
have silken wool.
II. — This country is inhabited. The entire population
goes naked.
III. — This region is known as the vilayet of Antilia. It
is on the side where the sun sets. They say that there are four
kinds of parrots, white, red, green and black. The people eat
the flesh of parrots and their headdress is made entirely of
parrots' feathers. There is a stone here. It resembles black
touchstone. The people use it intead of the ax. That it is very
hard... (illegible).jpe saw that stone.
Note: Piri Reis writes in the "Bahriye": 'In the enemy
ships which we captured in the Mediterranean, we found a
headdress made of these parrot feathers, and also a stone resem-
bling touchstone."
IV. — This map was drawn by Piri Ibn Haji Mehmed,
known as the nephew of Kemal Reis, in Gallipoli, in the month
of muharrem of the year 919 (that is, between the 9th of March
and the 7th of April of the year 1513).
V. — This section tells how these shores and also these
islands were found.
These coasts are named the shores of Antilia. They were
discovered in the year 896 of the Arab calendar. But it is re-
29

ported thus, that a Genoese infidel,, his name was Colombo,,


he it was who discovered these places. For instance, a book
fell into the hands of the said Colombo, and he found it said
in this book that at the end of the Western Sea (Atlantic) that
is, on its western side, there were coasts and islands and all
kinds of metals and also precious stones. The above-mentioned,
having studied this book thoroughly, explained these matters
one by one to the great of Genoa and said: "Come, give me
two ships, let me go and find these places." They said: "O
unprofitable man, can an end or a limit be found to the Wes-
tern Sea? Its vapour is full of darkness". The abovementioned
Colombo saw that no help was forthcoming from the Genoese,
he sped forth, went to the Bey of Spain (king), and told his
tale in detail. They too answered like the Genoese. In brief
Colombo petitioned these people for a long time, finally the
Bey of Spain gave him two ships, saw that they were well equ-
ipped, and said :
"O Colombo, if it happens as you say, let us make you
kapudan (admiral) to that country. Having said which he
sent the said Colombo to the Western Sea. The late Gazi
Kemal had a Spanish slave. The above-mentioned slave said
to Kemal Reis, he had been there times to that land with
Colombo. He said: "First we reached the Strait of Gibraltar,
then from there straight south and west between the two. . .
(illegible). Having advanced straight four thousand miles, we
saw an island facing us, but gradually the waves of the sea
became foamless, that is, the sea was becalmed and the North
Star —the seamen on their compasses still say star— little
by little was veiled and became invisible, and he also said that
the stars in that region are not arranged as here. They are
seen in a different arrangement. They anchored at the island
which they had seen earlier across the way, the population
of the island came, shot arrows at them and did not allow
them to land and ask for information. The males and the
30.

females shot hand arrows. The tips of these arrows were made
of fishbones, and the whole population went naked and also
very... (illegible). Seeing that they could not land on that
that island; they crossed to the other side of the island, they
saw a boat. On seeing them; the boat fled and they (the people
in the boat) dashed out on land. They (the Spaniards) took
the boat. They saw that inside of it there was human flesh.
It happened that these people were of that nation which went
from island to island hunting men and eating them. They said
Colombo saw yet another island, they neared it, they saw that
on that island there were great snakes. They avoided landing
on this island and remained there seventeen days. The people
of this island saw that no harm came to them from this boat,
they caught fish and brought it to them in their small ship's
boat (filika). These (Spaniards) were pleased and gave them
glass beads. It appears that he (Colombus) had read - in the
book that in that region glass beads were valued. Seeing the
beads, they brought still more fish. These (Spaniards) always
gave them glass beads. One day they saw gold around the
arm of a woman, they took the gold and gave her beads. They
said to them, to bring more gold, we will give you more beads,
(they said). They went and broght them much gold. It appe-
ars that in their mountains there were gold mines. One day,
also, they saw pearls in the hands of one person. They saw
that when; they gave beads, many more pearls were brought to
them. Pearls were found on the shore of this island, in a spot
one or two fathoms deep. And also loading their ship with
many logwood trees and taking two natives along, they carried
them within that year to the Bey of Spain. But the said Colombo,
not knowing the language of these people, they traded by
sings, and after this trip the Bey of Spain sent priests and barley,
taught the natives how to sow and reap and converted them
to his own religion. They had no religion of any sort. They
walked naked and lay there like animals, Now these regions
31

have been opened to all and have beco-me famous. The names
which mark the places on the said islands and coasts were
given by Colombo, that these places may be known by them.
And also Colombo was a great astronomer. The coasts and
island on this map are taken from Colombo's map.
VI — This section shows in what way this map was
drawn. In this century there is no map like this map in any-
one's possession. The — hand of this poor man has drawn it
and now it is constructed. From about twenty charts and
Mappae Mundi —these are charts drawn in the days of Ale-
xander, Lord of the Two Horns, which show the inhabited
quarter of the world; the Arabs name these charts Jaferiye-—
from eight Jaferiyes of that kind and one Arabic map of Hind,
and from the maps just drawn by four Portuguese which show
the countries of Hind, Sind and China geometrically drawn,
and also from a map drawny by Colombo in the western
region I have extracted it. By reducing all these maps to one
scale this final forai was arrived at. So that the present map
is as correct and reliable for the Seven Seas as the map of these
our countries is considered correct and reliable by seamen.
VII. — It is related by the Portuguese infidel that in
this spot night and day are at their shortest of two hours, at
their longest of twenty two hours. But the day is very warm
and in the night there is much dew.
VIII. — On the may to the vilayet of Hind a Portuguese
ship encountered a contrary wind (blowing) from the shore.
The wind from the shore. .. (illegible) it (the ship) After being
driven by a storn in a southern direction they saw a shore
opposite them they advanced towards it (illegible) They saw
that these places are good anchorages. They threw anchor
and went to the shore in boats. They saw people walking, all
of them naked. But they shot arrows, their tips made of fish-
bone. They stayed there eight days. They traded with these
32

people by signs. That barge saw these lands and wrote about
them which... The said barge without going to Hind, returned
to Portugal, where, upon arrival it gave information. . . They
They described these shores in detail. . . They have discovered
them.
IX. -— And in this country it seems that there are white-
haired monsters in this shape, and also six-horned oxen. The
The Portuguese infidels have written it in their maps.. .
X. — This country is a waste. Everything is in ruin and
it is said that large snakes are found here. For this reason the
Portuguese infidels did not land on these shores and these are
also said to be very hot.
XI. — And these four ships are Portuguese ships. Their
shape is written down. They travelled from the western land
to the point of Abyssinia (Habesh) in order to reach India.
They said towards Shuluk. YThe distance across this gulf is
4200 miles.
XII.— on this shore a tower
is however
in this climate gold
taking a rope
is said they measured
(Not: The fact that half of each of these lines is missing
is the clearest proof of the map's having been torn in two.)
XIII. — And a Genoese kiike coming from Flanders was
caught in a storm. Impelled by the storm it came upon these
islands, and in this manner these islands became known.
XIV. — It is said that in ancient times a priest by the
name of Sanvolrandan (Santo Brandan) travelled on the Seven
Seas, so they say. The above-mentioned landed on this fish.
They thought it dry land and lit a fire upon this fish,
when the fish's back began to burn it plunged into the sea,
33

they reembarked in their boats and fled to the ship. This event
is not mentioned by the Portuguese infidels. In is taken from
the ancient Mappae Mundi.
XV. — To these small islands they have given the name
of Undizi Vergine. That is to say the Eleven Virgins.
XVI. — And this island they call the Island of Antilia.
There are many monsters and parrots and much logwood.
It is not inhabited.
XVII. — This barge was driven upon these shores by
a storm and remained where it fell... Its name vas Nicola di
Giuvan. On his map it is written that these rivers which can
be seen have for the most part gold (in their beds). when the
water had gone they collected much gold (dust) from the
sand. On their map. . .
XVIII. — This is the barge from Portugal which enco-
untered a storm and came to this land. The details are written
on the edge of this map.
(Note: See VIII.)
XIX. — The Portuguese infidels do not go west of here.
All that side belongs entirely to Spain. They have made an
agreement that (a line) two thousand miles to the western
side of the Strait of Gibraltar should be taken as a boundary.
The Portuguese do not cross to that side but the Hind side
and the southern side belong to the Portuguese.
XX. — And this caravel having encountered a storm was
driven upon this island. Its name was Nicola Giuvan. And
on this island there are many oxen with one horn. For this
reason they call this island Isle de Vacca, which menas, Ox
Island.
XXI. --• The admiral of this caravel is named Messir
Anton the Genoese, but he grew up in Portugal. One day the
above-mentioned caravel encountered a storm, it was driven
upon this island. He found much ginger here land has written
about these islands.
34

XXII. — This sea is called the Western Sea, but the


Frank sailors call it the Mare d'Espagna. Which means the
Sea of Spain. Up to now it was known by these names, but
Colombo, who opened up this sea and made these islands
known, and also the Portuguese, infidels who have opened up
the region of Hind have agreed together to give this sea a new
name. They have given it the name of Ovo Sano (Oceano)
that is to say, sound egg. Before this it was thought that the
sea had no end or limit, that at its other end was darkness.
Now they have seen that this seais girded by a coast, because
it is like a lake, they have called it Ovo Sano.
XXIII. — In this spot there are oxen with one horn,
and also monsters in this shape.
XXIV. — These monsters are seven spans long. Between
their eyes there is a distance of" one span. But they are harmless
souls, i

The mountains are drawn in outlines and the rivers are


marked with thick lines. In the map Piri Reis adopts and
applies the rules of emblematic signs mentioned on page 28
in the "Bahriye". Thus he indicates the rocky regions with
black, the sandy and shallow waters with reddish dots, and
the rocky parts in the sea which cannot be seen by sailors with
crosses.
A close study of the map shows us how faithful Piri was
to his sources. In the bibliography attached to the map he
claims that his map is as sound and accurate fcr the seven
seas as the map of the Mediterranean. From the various Tur-
kish names on these coasts like Babadagi, Akburun, Yesilburun,
Kizilburun, Altin Irmagi, Giizel Korfez, Kozluk Burnu, tki
Hurmahk Burnu etc., we deduce that in his drawing he made
use not only of the Portuguese maps in his possession, but also
of the information supplied by various Turkish sailors faring
35

along these coasts. In his drawing of the coastline and in his


marking of the sites of importance on it we again notice
his remarkable accuracy. He is quite accurate also in the po-
sitions of the Azores, Madeira and the Canary islands.
As for the northern part of the map, we see here how Piri
Reis benefited by the new Portuguese maps and recorded on
it the discoveries made before 1508 on the North American
Coast by Amerigo Vespucci, Pinzon Juan de Solis .Some of
the place names on the South American coast, like Santa
Agostini, San Megali, San Francisco, Port Rali, Total S-'Jite,
Abroklok, Cav Frio and Katcnio show a close resem'jlance
to their modern forms. Except for the two entries about the
name and the date of the map, all the other entries are written
by a calligraphcr. This fact can account for the changes to be
observed in various names on the map. Another reason for
this may easily be the inadequacy of the Arabic script then
in use, for expressing Turkish words.
All the principal rivers in South America are marked on
the map, though the names are not written. It is remarkable
that he should have shown the river La Plate on the map,
when Pinzo and Juan de Solis passed by it and from all acco-
unts, never even noticed it. Outside the parts relating to Co-
lumbus, 'mapthe, scales in miles are astonishingly accurate.
The land extends unipemeded to the west from the south of
the Plate. Evidently this part of the map is drawn in accor-
dance with the Ptolemic idea of the world, as is also observed
- in Mappa Mundi. Eight years later, when he had finished his
"Bahriye", in the preface to the book he affirms that, further
I south it is not land but sea, which shows that he was following
: the later discoveries with careful attention. And yet, from
I die point of view of the historical importance of these geog-
I raphic discoveries, this map is particularly significant for Cent-
l.ral America.
36.

Pin Reis' map


showing the eas-
tern regions of
America, and the
western pans of Africa,
Portugal and Spain.
Another copy of t he-
map in colour, is to be
found in this book. The
notes that are left blank
on this chart can be
observed there. The me-
asurements of the ori-
ginal map arc 90X65
centimeters.
37

Close studies here confirm the idea that the map posses-
ses all the important information that was on the map of C.
Columbus drawn and sent to Europe in 1498 and also on the
map of Toscanelli that Columbus had in hand when he first
ventured out on his voyages. This part of the map contains
many imaginary islands with a picture of a parrot on each.
The island of Trinidad is written as "Kalerot", which probably
is derived from a cape on this island which Columbus called
"Galera". Porto Rico is named here San Juan Batichdo, and
on its eastern coast is drawn the. picture of a fortress. There is,
however, another island to the west of Trinidad, again with
a picture of a parrot near which is written San Juan Batichdo.
Drawing various islands on the South American coast oppo-
site Trinidad shows the influence of Colombus, who believed
this newly discovered continent to be a group of islands. This is
to be observed also on the island of Haiti, called by Columbus
Hispanyola, and by Piri the Island of Spain: instead of showing
it extending from the east to the west, as it does, he shows it
extending from the north to the south, which proves that Co-
lumbus took this island to be Zipang, i.e. Japan as Marco Polo
calls it and in accordance with Marco Polo's descriptions of
it, the island is given this mistaken position.
The real Antilles are shown on the map not as islands,
but as C. Columbus believed it to be, as a continent. Hence
Piri calls Central America "the County of Antilia", and the
North American coast "the coast of Antilia". It is true that
at a certain spot quite near the North American coast there
is marked an island called the Antilia, but evidently that stood
for the legendary island popularly regarded as fabulously wealthy
and prosperous at the time when Columbus first started on
his voyages. It is to be noted, however, that beside the island
is a note that states that, contrary to the common fallacy, the
; island is not prosperous. Cuba, too, is shown as a continent
'•in accordance with Columbus' firm belief. So confident was
38-

A comparison of Piri Reis' map with the modern conception of this


area. As it will be easily perceived the distance between South America
and Africa is quite correct. Comparison with the other contemporary
maps reveals Piri's greatness in the technique of cartography.
. 39

Columbus in this that while he was near the coast of Cuba in


1494 he had his conviction recorded by the notary public on
the boat, Fernand Perez de Luna, and asked all the crew to
sign it, as we can now see from the document signed on the
12th June, 1494, which declares that, since it is quite evident
that this is a continent, thereafter whoever attempts to contra-
dict this statement shall be fined to 10.00 Maravedis pieces and
also his tongue shall be cut out. Undoubtedly the reason why
Piri, too, shows it as a continent was not because he was afraid
for his tongue, but because he would not question the veracity
of a piece of information given by such an authority as Co-
lumbus, who had been to those parts of the world several times.
Cuba is shown as a continent also in the map of Columbus dated

The map attributed to "Toscanelli" andjlater re-drawn by Kretchner.


Over the land in the north-west is written: ''Manci Katay India",
and over the island in the center: "Cipanda".
1498. which fcrmed the basis for Phi's later one, in the rough
sketch drawn by Christopher Columbus' brother, Bartholomeo,
in 1503, in the map of the world made by Ruysch in 1508,
and even in the marine map by Waldeesmuller in 1507.
Piri calls the eleven islands on the south-east of Haiti
"Undizi Vergine," which shows that the number of the islands
is not expressed by the word "onze" which means eleven in
Spanish but by its equivalent in Columbus' mother tongue,
Italian. This is another indication of how faithful Piri was
to Columbus' map, Keeping close te the information of
Columbus' map which apparently possessed alJ that was on
the earlier Toscanelli map, Piri handed down to us the oldest
map of America and informed us about various aspects of the
most important phase in the history of the discoveries. By
recording the explanations given by the Spaniard who had
taken part in the three expeditions of Columbus and was later
captured by Kemal Reis, he related the story of these discoveries
from an original source free from the later legendary tales
which have grown about them.

The map of the world drawn by Waldseemiiller, bearing the date 1507.
Scattered about the map are some other entries which
also enlighten us about various details in the discoveries.
Beside the picture of a ship near the Azores is written that this
Genoese vessel came from Flanders, was shipwrecked, and
that the survivors discovered these islands. From another entry
we learn that the sea there is the Western Sea, but the Euro-
peans call it the Spanish Sea, and after the discoveries of Co-
lumbus' the name is changed to Ovasana, i.e. "Osean".
By a picture near the island of Santiano is a note stating'
that the names of these places were found and given by a
Genoese sailor brought up in Portugal. In another entry close
to the picture of a ship drawn near the South American coast
he summarizes all the information given in a map by Nikola
di Juan who was shipwrecked there. In one of the notes on
the Atlantic Ocean he mentions the treaty of "Tordesillas"
1599, and a certain line that divides the Spanish and the Por-
tuguese possessions.
Towards the north, on the map is a picture of a fish on
which is drawn a woman and a man making a fire, nearby is
another ship and three people in a boat. This is the story of
Santa Brandon which was very popular in the middle ages,
and was recorded in the "thousand and one night" stories.
But Piri does not neglect to add that the legend comes down
not from the Portuguese but from the old Mappa Mundi. This-
shows that the Turkish geographer made use of many sources
and did not neglect the latest information nearest to his age,,
and that he was very careful about his bibliography.
From various kinds of research work done on the
map we conclude that compared with the other maps of the
period, Piri's is the most perfect and original. It will interest
the Americans as one of the oldest maps of their country, and
we Turks will always be proud that the author of the maps
was one of us.
42.

The Second Map of America

Fifteen years after this first map, Piri Rcis drew a second
•one, again at Gelibolu. Like the previous one it bears his sig-
nature. Unfortunately to-day we have only a small portion
•of it i.e. a small portion of the western hemisphere. It is 68/69
centimeters in size. Ornamental figures are drawn in the
margins and most of it is in COIQUI".

_\ part of the second map of the world drawn by Piri Reis, showing
North America, and dated 1528 (Arabic 935).
- , 43

There we find the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and


the newly discovered regions of North and Central America.
There are four wind-roses on it. The tropic of Cancer
is shown here, though it was not on the first map. There
are also scales of milles on it, each with twenty divisions.
From the notes beside them we gather that the distance
between the divisions stand for 50 miles, and that between
two dots for 10 miles. The scales here are bigger than in
the previous one. We see Greenland in the north and the
Azores towards the south. Some of the latter bear the names
"San Mikal", "Santa Mariya", "Euriko", and "San Jorjo".
To the south of Greenland two large pieces of land are shown;
the one in the north is called Baccalao. On the map there is a
note saying that Baccalao was discovered by the Portuguese.
In another note further down near "Terra Nova" he says that
though these coasts were discovered by the Portuguese ,all
is not known as yet, and only the parts that have been
discovered are shown on the map. Further south still one can
set- the Peninsula of Florida drawn very much as we know it
loday. He calls it San Juan Batisto. The name was first given
to Porto Rico on the previous map.
The pieces of land seen at the side are the peninsulas of
Honduras and Yucatan, discovered in 1517 and 1519 respec-
tively. Unlike the first map, drawn under the influence of
Columbus, the islands of Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas and the
Antilles are drawn quite accurately. One can read the words
"Isl di Vana" over Cuba, Although there arc numerous
names along the coast of Venezuela, very few can be read.
Among the legible words are San Cilormi, Monte Krago,
Detonos, Die Sagram, Ponte Sogon, Didas and Sare.
44 .

In this second map the drawing of the coastlines shows


greater improvement in technique and also close resemblance
to the modern conception of these areas. The stony and
rocky sections are given special care. There is, howerer, a
slight distortion in the map from the true position of the
continent as we know it today.

A portion from Piri Reis' Map showing North America.


45

This error was committed, due to neglect in not taking


into consideration the ten to thirteen degrees of difference in
angle on the contemporary compass. This error is to be
observed in all the contemporary maps without any exception.
On this map, as on the previous one, there are some
explanatory notes, but they are recorded more briefly. The
note on the left-hand corner of the map, under the scales
with the long and ornamental points, gives the signature
of the author as well as the date 1528 (A. H. 935). Beside
the measurements there is a note indicating the milage,
where he says that the distance between two sections is 50
miles and between two dots 10 miles.
Over the second set of scales further north he says again
that the distance between two sections is 50 miles and
between two dots 10. The idea in the two statements is the
same but one or two words differ.
Beside place-names in the notes near Labrador he says :
•"This is Baccalao, The Portuguese infidels discovered it. All
that is known about it is recorded here". From the position
on the map we understand that these coasts are of "Terra
Nowa". Today we know that the Portuguese explorer, Carl
Real, discovered Terra Nova in 1500, and his brother,
Miguel Real, a year later in 1501, discovered Labrador.
Though part of the note over Central America is damaged
what remains is quite interesting. "Dividing the land...
to find where the sea begins... the vilayet that... beyond
which", can be read.
Here there is a reference to an explorer who planned
to cross overland to reach the ocean. It is quite possible that
Piri meant by that Balboa who crossed Central America and
reached the Pacific Ocean in 1513.
Another interesting term used on the map is what he
calls the tropics: "Day's Lengthening". In his own words
46.

the explanation runs as follows: ''Bu hat gun gayet uzadigi


yere i§arettir" which means that these lines indicate the part
of the world where the days grow longer.

T353

Sailors in the 16th Century, in crossing the Atlantic Ocean from the
coasts of Europe and Africa used to take advantage of the trade winds
and the gulf streams. In this map the latter are shown with pointed
arrows indicating the direction taken.

The line drawn over Cuba should, of course have been


drawn further north, and the peninsula of Yucatan should
have been put entirely below it; but that much accuracy
could not be expected of the cartographical techniqne of the
period.
r 4T

Such technical errors can be observed also in other


contemporary maps. We should, therefore, acknowledge the
greatness and value of the work among other maps of the
period after pointing out briefly to its various merits and
demerits.

A galleon

As it can be easily observed from this map, Piri Reis


continued following the new discoveries with great interest.
It is remarkable that, by taking into account the results of
the new discoveries, he should correct in this map the
48- . •

inaccuracies of the first in which he was misled through his


unquestioning confidence in Columbus' map. In this second
map Piri Reis showed only the parts of the world that had
been already discovered and left the unexplored areas blank,
explai ning this by the fact that they were as yet unknown.
Thus, Pin proved, once again, how he observed the prin-
ciples of scientific methods in drawing this map.

The mosque called " Agalar Camisi " at the Palace of Topkapi
where these historical maps are kept.
49

Comparison of Piri Reis' Maps with Other


Contemporary Ones
The maps or charts called portulanos, i. e. handbooks on
navigation, were first drawn in the thirteenth century. We
do have examples of such works previous to that period, but
the kind that could bear comparison with Piri Reis' are
mainly in the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries.
The first portulano in Europe is found in the work of
Adamus Biemensis in 1076. Then comes the map called
pisane, presumably drawn in the thirteenth century. The
maps which appear after that bear the name of the
author and the date of the drawing. The earliest among
these is the portulano of Pietro Vesconti, dated 1320. To this
is added a section of Marino Snudus' work, undei the name
of "Liber Secretarum Fidelium Crucis".
Thus, considering the development of this type of hand-
book and charts, it will be useful to make a short compara-
tive review of other such contemporary works, especially
of maps showing America.
The portulanos and the handbooks written after the four-
teenth century mention the island of "Brasil", and in 1414
the island of "Cipangu" and the "Antilia" are shown. It is
believed that between 1474 and 1482 Toscanelli sent a
portulano together with a letter to Christopher CoJumbus.
Unfortunately, these documents have not survived. In
that letter he is supposed to have said that according to
the testimony of several who had gone that way, if one kept
on going to the west he was bound to reach Asia eventually.
According to what De la Ronciere wrote, this Portugu-
ese map was drawn between 1488 and 1493. A photograph
of the map will be found on another page in this book,
together with the portion that Kretchner re-drew (p. 39).
50,

The information spread a]l over the world after 1507


when Amerigo Vespucci wrote in a letter that it was a new
continent and he called it "Novus Mundus". St. Die, who
published the letter, suggested the name "America" for it.

The date of this portulano known as the "La Cosa Map" is 1500. La Cosa
was (he most noted cartographer and sea-man of this period. He parti-
cipated in the first voyage of Columbus and served as official cartographer
on the second. The map we now have is based upon his own observations.
The most important points to be noted here are the line of the equator
and the Meridians which are drawn in conformity with the Tordesillas
agreement (1494). There arc illustrations on some parts of Europe and
Africa, but not on America. Only in the north the British and in the south
the Castillian flags are to be observed. The distances between the contin-
ents on the maps, especially when compared with Pin Reis' prove to be
very inaccurate.
-51

On the other hand there are some who claim that the
name of America was adopted because the natives of
Nicaragua called a part of their land "America". It is true
that in the first half of the XVI th century this new
continent diew the attention of geographers, and that resul-
ted in various maps being drawn cf it. Piri Rcis was one
of these cartographers. Hence, a comparison of his works
with some other contemporary maps drawn between 1507-
1550 will reveal to us the gieatnes of Piri maps as historical
documents in the discovery of America.

The map of the world known as Gloreanus', drawn in 1510. (At Bonn
Library). Though the book that contains a re-print of the map ascertains
the date to be 1510, the matter can bear further scholarship for
confirmation.
52.

Jean Severs' map, showing a part of Europe and Africa with another
part of South America. It is believed to be published in 1514 at Leyd. When
compared with Piri's^even a casual glimpse shows the great errors in the
drawing of America and especially in the distance between the two con-
tinents There is hardly any line dividing Central and North Americas,
nor does it have the usual explanatory notes of a portulano on it. The coast-
line of Europe and Western Africa, however, are drawn with greater ac-
curacy. The wind-roses are shown here with arrows to the north.
"I

-53

Map of the world, attributed to Lopa Hamen, dated 1519. The round-
ness of the earth is indicated here by the circular frame. Although at many
points on Asia and Africa he is quite incorrect his greatest error lies par
ticularly in the coastline of the north-east regions of America. South Ame-
rica looks quite similar to that of the map on the preceding page. A closer
study will reveal to us the inaccuracy in the distance between the two
continent?.
Furthermore, there is shown a continent joining Asia and America in the
North Pole. Though Piri had made the same mistake in his first map in
1513, he corrected it in the later book dated 1521. This is a contempo
rary map of the world, but little does it tell us of America.
54.

A portion from another portulano of the XVi th Century, showing North


America. Basically it resembles the other map; of the period. The distance
between the two continents is too short.
Map of an unknown Portuguese, dated 1520. It also bears close resem-
blances to the other maps. The distance between the two continents is
again incorrect. The map has, however, entry notes on'it as does Piri's.
The one over Brazil runs as follows : "The vegetation and fowls in this
land are quite different from those in our own country."
fn a statement attributed to Isidore, the Spanish scholar from Seville (d.
636) there is an interesting remark : "There lies another continent besides
sied the three known ones, beyond the ocean, far up north, and there the
sun is warmer than anywhere in our country." (Etymologies, Bk. 14,
Chapter 5)
These words of Isidore are noteworthy for the information given eight
hundred vears before Columbus.
56-

This map, too, is a XVI th Century portulano. (I have been unable to


ascertain the date of composition.) Great errors are noticeable in the dra-
wing of the continents, especially of Africa. To the south of it there is a
picture of an elephant. Explanatory notes are given almost all over
it. There is a large island in the north of the map, that is called "Ame-
rica". To the north and south of it are drawn nets. In the middle of it is a
picture of a bird. There are three rivers in the south. Despite all the illus-
tratioas given here, there is nothing remarkable here from the point of
scholarship except for the word "America".
This map is included here so as to permit comparison with other
contemporary works.
-57

A map of America, dated 1550, and published in Sebastian Munster's cos-


mography. Although it still lacks the true proportions America has now
assumed the form of a continent. Over the land in the north-east can be
read "Francisca", next to it by the ranges of mountains in North America
"Terra Florida", and in the south "Novus Orbis", Another interesting
point in it is the way Japan is shown to be in America, and its name recor
ded there as "Zipangu". In the south-west over the land is written "India"
Although this was drawn many years after Piri Reis' two maps, it has many
mistakes in it. The most noteworthy point there is the way a different
continent is shown between the two oceans, and to the north of it the word
"Americam".
58

Conclusion

As it has alieady been stated, at the time of Piri Reis,


the Ottoman-Tuikish Empire was the dominant power over
the Black Sea, the Marmara and the Red Sea, and was
fighting for prevalence over the Aegean, the Mediterranean
and the Indian Ocean. For such a position the Empire had
to have a fleet equipped with all the latest weapons. The
State Archives give us some most interesting and rich material
concerning these organizations. What the author of this
booklet wanted to show, however, was only some of the
characteristic features of a Turkish sailor and scholar, the
writer of a marine guide-book' and the cartographer of two
maps of the world, a man who had taken part in numerous
private and state enterprises on various seas.
Close studies of the maps reveal to us the fact that when
compared with other contemporary maps these prove to be
composed with a most advanced scientific spirit and method.
The two maps of Piri complete each other. We are indebted
to such valuable guides in the world of scholarship for
enlightening us in this most important phase of the geog-
raphic discoveries. In any history of the period they must
be taken as data of direct information. The bibliography
will show the wealth of publication on these woiks. The
author has always taken intense pleasure in studying this
subject on various occasions, and thought it to be her duty
to share some of the information with an increasingly larger
group of readers.
Piri Reis' life and works show not only the great heroic
and warlike qualities of the Turks in the XV th and XVI th
centuries, but also their contiibution to the world of scho-
larship and civilization. Piri lived in an age when the Tur-
kish culture was fertile in every field. The XVI th century
59

is universally regarded as the Golden Age of the Turkish


civilization in history. Piri was one of those who left great
works behind them not only for their own nation but for all
the science of world geography, and thus became an impor-
tant figure for the history of civilization. A nation lives as
long as she can produce cultural works through each epoch.
To conclude: the two maps of Piri Rcis will not fail to
interest the Americans as the oldest maps of their own land.
And we Turks will always be proud to have had the
author of such works, and will be glad to remember that
our ancestors were also interested in the American continent.
* * *
Different Versions of The "Bahriye"

Bahriyc bears two different dates : 1520 (Arabic 927);


1525 (Arabic 932} The first version of it received popularity
among the contemporary seamen and was copied out to be
used in the fleet.
The other version is the one that was presented to Suley-
man after the author made new additions to it. Neither of the
original copies have been found as yet. The existing copies
in the libraries arc later versions of these.

1521 Version
1- Istanbul. The Library of the Treasury Department, Top-
kapi Palace. No : 575
2- Istanbul. Topkapi Palace Library. No : 333
3- Istanbul. Nuruosmaniye Library. No : 2290.
4- Istanbul. Nuruosmaniye Library. No : 2292 Date : 1628
5- Istanbul. Kopriilii Library. No : 172. (No date)
6,7- Istanbul. Library of the Naval Museum. No : 59, 50
(2 copies).
8- Dresden. Date of copy : 1544 (Arabic : 961). Part of it was
published in 1926 by Paul Kahle.
9-90 Bologne. No : 3612-3613. Only one has a date : 9574
(A. 982)
ri- Berlin. Prof. Martman. 1644 (A. 1050)
12- Berlin. State Library.
; . . 61

13-14- Paris. National Library. No : 220-965 (956). One


bears the date : 1587 (A. 996)
1<j- Vienna. No date.
16- London. Oxford Bodleian Library.
1525 (Arabic 932) Version
17- Istanbul. Library of St. Sophia. (This version was publis-
hed in 1935 in Istanbul with an introduction,
an index and a facsimile.)
18- Istanbul. University Library, No : 4654
ig- Istanbul. Koprulii Library. No : 171
20- Istanbul. Topkapi Palace, Revan Library. No : 18-1633
21- Istanbul. Husrev Pasa Library. No -.264. 1770 (A. 1184)
21- Istanbul. Husrev Pas,a Library. No : 1770 (A. 1184)
22,23- Istanbul. Library of the Naval Museum. No : ) 88.
(No date)
24- Istanbul. Millet Library. No : 1
25- Istanbul. Topkapi Palace, Bagdad Kiosk Library. No : 388
26,27- Istanbul. Nuruosmaniyc Library. No. 2989-3004.
28- tstanbul. As,ir Efendi Library. No : 227
29- Istanbul. Yeni Cami Library. No : 790
B I B L I O G R A P H Y

ABDULHAK ADNAN —• La Science chez les Turcs Ottomans. Paris,


X
939> PP- 59-64-
A. ADNAN ADIVAR- -Osmanli Tilrklerinde tlitn. Istanbul, 1943,
pp. 55-68.
AFET—Bir Turk Amirali, XVI. asnn biiytik ceogrqfi: Piri Reis,
S. 317-332. Un Amiral, Geographe Turc du XVI.e sikle-Piri
Reis, auteur de la plus ancienne Carte de I'Ame'rique. pp. 333-
348. Belleten, Vol. 1, 2 Ankara 1, April, 1937.
AFETiNAN—America's oldest map, made by an Turkish admiral: Pin
Reis, Translated by: Miss Leman Yolac. Ankara, 1950.
( From a talk given at the National Library in Ankara.)
AKCURA, YUSUF—Map drawn by Piri Reis. Turkish interest in
America in 1513: Piri Reis' Chart of the Atlantic Made
some ten years after Columbus' first discoveries and
seven years before Magellan rounded Cape Horn! pp. 142-
143 "Illustrated London News", 23, July 1932.
AKCURA, YUSUF—Piri Reis haritasi hakkinda izahname — Die Karte
des Piri Reis. Piri Reis map. Carte de Piri Reis. T. T. K.
No. 1 Istanbul, 1935.
ALPAGUT H. ve F. KURTOGLU — Mukaddime, I - LV. Piri Reis:
Kitab-i Bahriyc. T. T. K. No. 2, Istanbul 1935.
BATAiixoN, LIONEL — La decouverte de fUnivers par Vhomme
visage du monde (Evolution humaine) Paris, 1934.
BAYKAL, BEKIR SITKI — XIX. Asra kadar Akdeniz'de hakimiyet
devresi. Ankara 1938. C.H.P. publications, Serial No: 1,
Bk. 29, pp. 29- 30.
CALLIEN W. Y. MC — The evolution of the map of the Earth. S.
122-148. Diinya haritasinin evrimi (hiilasa). pp. 149-153.
Ankara tiniversitesi Dil ve Tarih-Cografya Fakiiltesi der-
gisi, Vol. VII. Serial No: Ankara 1, March, 1949.
DEISMANN A. — Forschungen und Funde im Serai. Berlin-Leipzig,
1933. pp. 111-122.
EFTALEDDIN—Bir Vesika-i Muellim. Tarihi Osmani Enciimeni
mecmuasi, Vol. 4. i October (A. H. 1326-1328), pp.
201-210.
H A U L ETHEM—Topkapi Sarayi. Istanbul 1931.
HUMPHREYS, A. L. SKELTON, R. A. — Decorative Printed Maps of
the 1 § th to 18 th Centuries. London, 1952. Old decorative
Maps and Charts, (by A H. Humphreys).
IBNI KEMAL—"(Kemal Pasazade §emseddin Ahmed d. 1535)",
Tevarih-i Al-i Osman. The ninth of the ten books: "Yavuz.
Selim devri".
JOMARD — Les monuments de la geographic, Paris, 1864.
K A H L E , PAUL—Pin, Reis Bahriye, Das tiirkisches Segelhandbuch
fur das Mittelldndische Meer vom Jahre 1521. Berlin-Leipzig
1926. Band I. Text, Band I I . Ubersetzung.
KAHLE, PAUL—Pin Reis, und seine Bahriye, (Beitragc zur his-
' torischen Geographic) 1927.
K A H L E , PAUL—Die Verschollene Columbus Karte von 1498 in einer
Tiirkischen Weltkarte von 1513. Berlin, Leipzig 1933.
K A H L E , PAUL—Improrte Colombiane in una carta Turca del 1513
"La Cultura" anno, X - Vol. I. Fas. 10. Roma 1531.
KATIP C E L E B I — Kesfu'zzunun Topkapi Kutuphanesi No. 233/35362.
"Cihannuma" Istanbul i6^g (1065)
KONYALI, IBRAHIM HAKKI—Topkapi Sarayinda deri u'zerine yapdmis
eski haritalar. Istanbul, 1936.
K. KRETEHMER—Die Entwicklung der Kartographie von Amerika,
Gotha 1891.
MAHMUT, §EVKET—Teskildt ve kiyafel-i askeriye. Vol. 1 and II
Istanbul, 1325, Umuru Bahriye pp. 33-37.
MAHMOUD, CHEVKET PACHA—Uorganisation et les uniformes de
FArmee Ottomane (depuis sa creation jusqu, a nos jours)
MEHMED, SUREYYA—Sicil-i Osmani, yahut tezkere-i mesahiri Os-
maniye. Vol. I I . Istanbul, 1319, p. 44.
MUHARREM, FEYZI—XVIII. asirda Turk askeri kiyafetleri. Turkish
Military Uniforms in X V I I I th Century. Istanbul, 1933.
Tho. MC. Lean- 1818, London.
NORDENSKJOLD A. E.—{Facsimilie) Atlas to the Early History of
Cartography With reproduction of the most important maps
printed in the XV. and XVI. centuries, Stokholm.
OBERHAMMER—Eine Tiirkische Karte z.ur Entdeckkung Amerikas,
aus dem Anzeiger der Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien
I93 1 . PP- 99- 112 -
D'OHSSON—M. DE M. Tableau General de /'Empire Othoman
(Vols. I, II, III,) Vol. III. Paris, (1820). PP. 340-436.
PIRI R.Eis—Piri Reis Haritasi. (Facsimile from the first map of
the world).Istanbul 1935, T.T.K. No. 1.
PIRI REIS—Kitab-i Bahriye. (Facsimile of the St. Sophia Museum,
No. 202). Istanbul 1935, T . T . K . Publications No. 2.
PAULIN, CHARLES—Atlas of the Historical Geography of the
United Slates, Washington, 1932, Edited by J. K. Wright,
American Geographical Society of New York.
(Although this book was published after the discovery of
Piri Reis' map, it has no reference to this work.)
RONCIERE CH. DE LA — La carte de Ch. Colombe. Paris, ig-?4-
RoNciERE CH. DE LA — Veuolution humaine des origines a nos
jours, Paris 1934.
SADI, HAMID- Tiirklerde Haritacihk ve Cografya, (Turk tarihinin
ana hatlan, Seri II. No. 40) T. T. K. Istanbul.
SELEN, SADI HAMID —Piri Reis'in §imali Amerika Haritasi,
PP. 515-518. Belleten Vol. 1, 2 April, 1937. Die Nord
Amerika-Karte des Piri Reis (1528).
UzuNgAR§iLi, ISMAIL HAKKI— Osmanh Devletinin Merkez ve Bahriye
Teskildti. Ankara 1948, pp. 389-528. T.T.K. VIII. No. 16.
UZUNCARSILI—ORD. PROF. I. H. Osmanh Tarihi. Ankara 1949.
Vol. I. T.T.K. XII. No. 16/2. 192-195 pp. 284-286.
YURDAVDIN, HUSEYIN G.—Kitab-i Bahriyenin telif meseled PP.
143-146 June 1952 D. T. C. Quarterly; Vol. X, 12.
Map drawn by Piri Reis, one of the Turkish Geographers.
"Illustrated London News", 25, February 1932.

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