Travels in Iran and the Caucasus (Mage; $50; 308 pages; ISBN 1933823364) is a stimulating and informative account of an Ottoman administrator’s missions to the region in the mid-seventeenth century. Evliya Chelebi’s travelogue is not simply a diplomatic report, but rather a fascinating exploration of the religious, ethnic, artistic, and even culinary peculiarities of the region. In addition, it offers a fresh perspective on relations between the Ottomans and the Safavids during a period of relative calm in an otherwise stormy relationship. For the first time, the Iranian and Caucus sections of Chelebi’s Siyahat-nameh have been translated from the original Turkish manuscript into English in their most complete form. As such, this book is a unique resource not only for scholars of Safavid Iran but also for those interested in the seventeenth century Middle East in general.

Evliya Chelebi was born in Istanbul in 1611. He was renowned for his recitations of the Koran and was invited by the Ottoman sultan to study calligraphy, poetry, and music at the palace school. Chelebi traveled extensively on behalf of various patrons. His travels took him throughout the Ottoman Empire, Iran, and Europe. After settling in Cairo in 1671/72, he began recording his travels in a total of ten volumes, which were still unfinished at the time of his death in 1684/85.

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HASAN JAVADI is the author or translator of many books, including Satire in Persian Literature; Persian Literary Influence on English Literature; Forough Farrokzad’s Another Birth and Other Poems; and in Persian, European Travelers in Iran. Retired from Cambridge and Berkeley, Dr. Javadi has recently published a translation of the work of Obeyd-e Zakani, Ethics of Aristocrats and other Satirical Stories, and edited Letters from Tabriz by E. G. Browne. His most recent translation, with Willem Floor, was Abbas Qoli Aqa Bakikhanov’s The Heavenly Rose-Garden: A History of Shirvan & Daghestan.

WILLEM FLOOR has published numerous works of history as well as translations. Among them: Public Health in Qajar Iran; Agriculture in Qajar Iran; The History of Theater in Iran; The Persian Gulf: A Political and Economic History of Five Port Cities; The Persian Gulf: The Rise of the Gulf Arabs; and his most recent book, A Social History of Sexual Relations in Iran. His translations include: Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin’s Travels Through Northern Persia 1770–1774 and, with Hasan Javadi, Abbas Qoli Aqa Bakikhanov’s The Heavenly Rose-Garden: A History of Shirvan & Daghestan.


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