Mirat ul Memalik

Mirat ul Memalik ("The Mirror of Countries") is a historical book written in 1557 by Ottoman admiral Seydi Ali Reis about his travels in South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. This book, which is now considered as one of the earliest travel books of Turkish literature, was written in the Chagatai language which is an extinct Turkic language.

Seydi Ali Reis was an Ottoman admiral sent by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to counter the Portuguese piracy and attacks on Muslim pilgrim ships in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and Persian Gulf.

But after two marine battles against the Portuguese fleet and a great storm named the elephant typhoon (tufan’ı fil) by the locals, his remaining six galleys drifted to India. The fleet was unserviceable, resulting in his return home overland with 50 men.

Seydi Ali Reis then arrived at the royal court of the Mughal Emperor Humayun in Delhi where he met the future Mughal emperor Akbar who was then 12 years old.

He returned to the Ottoman Empire over Muslim states in South Asia; Afghanistan, Central Asia, Iran, and the Middle East. But he delayed his return because of the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Empire in Iran. Finally following the treaty of Amasya in 1555 he was able to return home and present his book Mirat ul Memalik about his journey to sultan in 1557. This book is now considered one of the earliest travel books in Ottoman literature.

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