[FIRST ISLAMIC TRAVEL ACCOUNT OF CHINA] Acâ'ibü'l-letâif ismiyle Hitay sefâretnâmesi. [i.e. The strange words, or the book of Chinese embassy]. Translated by Küçük Çelebi-zâde Ismail Âsim Efendi. Published by Ali Emirî

GIYASADDIN HODJA NAKKASH, (15th century)., Kader Matbaasi., Dersaadet - Kostantiniyye, [AH 1331] = 1913.

Original wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 11 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish with Arabic letters). 48 p.

First printed edition of this first travel account of China in the Islamic world and description of the early 16th century China by Nakkâs, the leader of the delegation sent by Mirza Shahruh (son of Tamerlane). This book is known also "Hitaynama" [i.e. The book of China], which was translated by Çelebizâde and published by Ali Emirî. Hitay, or Hitai, is the name given to northern China by the Uyghurs, Mongols, and some peoples in Medieval Europe. This area contains northern China, Beijing, and certain regions of Manchuria, between the Great Wall of China and the Yellow River (Huang He).

[.] Ming dynasty and Tamerlane relations were always tense. After Tamerlane's death (at last his Chinese campaign), his son Mirza Shahruh sent a delegation to the Chinese emperor, which included Nakkâs. His book written in Persian was completed in 1422. In his book, he described their three year-voyage which started from Herat to Pekin. There is valuable information in this travel book on many topics such as the size of the Chinese court of the Ming dynasty in Han-Balik-Pekin, the multitude of the emperor's servants, the emperor's wooden seating ceremonies, banquets for the ambassadors, the characteristics of the rooms they stayed in, the emperor's religion and the way of worship, etc. At the beginning of the 15th century, the book was presented to Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Sultan Selim. (Source: Osmanlida seyahatname yazarligi ve Ümit Burnu seyahatnamesi: Kantas, Mehmet Ziya).

Özege 31.