Evilya Çelebi (IV) —Seyhatnâme: Lake Ilıbat
Derviş Mehmed Zilli (approx. 1611 – 1685) was best known by his pen name Evilya Çelebi, and originated from Constantine in the Ottoman Empire. He was an Ottoman Turkish explorer, renowned for his recording of over 40 years of exploration across the Black Sea region and beyond in his Seyahatnâme, or Book of Travels.
Excerpt:
Praise of Lake Ilıbat: The primary spring is in the Delice village located on the foot of the ‘Mountain of Monks’ (Uludağ) in the Khudavendigar sub-province. It flows from Lake Kirmasti to this side, just below the fortress of Ilıbat, into this lake of the Elixir of Life, which is seven leagues (footnote: today approximately 4 leagues, or 12 nautical miles, i.e., 22km) in length. One tributary flows more than three leagues westwards from there to the Mihalic Pass and mixes with the Sea of Rum at the mouth of the pass. Since its water is warm, it never freezes in winter, and the nomadic tribe of Gürgan and country folk call it «Ilıbat». Geese, ducks, cormorants, seagulls, and ruddy shelducks swim on the lake during winter. Pike, carp and other delicious fish are caught there; some fishermen submit these fish as payment of taxes.
The Strange Spectacle of Lake Ilıbat: The River Ilıbat runs backwards from morning to noon, then turns back and runs downhill in the after-noon. In the morning, it flows like a flood up to the East, resembling the tides of the Shatt al-Arab in front of Basra Castle. Some wits use the River Ilıbat as a metaphor for people who do not show perseverance, or do not keep to their word, or do not reside in one place and move often. They say: “Hey, man! You are like the River Ilıbat. One minute you’re up and the next minute down.” It is a beneficial river that flows curiously. Although one calls it Lake Ilıbat, the correct designation is the River Kirmasti. They also call it the River Kirmasti at the Mihalic pass.
We went southward from the town of Ilıbat and reached Su Sıgırlıgı (Susurluk) is a well-to-do village. Then, we set off to the east, travelling two hours.
Explanation:
Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatnâme (17th century) offers some of the earliest articulations of the Black Sea littoral space. His writing engages with the turbulent water as a framework for navigating encounters with the sublime and unknown, extensively contemplating the sea space as one of immense power, transformation, and risk. The littoral is a context, for Çelebi, that functions with profound conceptual force – that shapes and clarifies the space around it both spiritually and physically. It is a container of history, time, and the sublime, whilst totally refusing containment itself.
Citation: Çelebi, Evliya. Seyhatnâme, Fifth Book, in Evliẏa Çelebi’̇ s Journey from Bursa to the Dardanelles and Ediṙne. Trans. and ed. Haran T. Karateke, Brill, 2013, pp. 89.