A History of the Ottoman Atlas: The Material Culture of Geographical Knowledge in the Ottoman Empire
Date of Award
Fall 2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
History
First Advisor
Mikhail, Alan
Abstract
“A History of the Ottoman Atlas: The Material Culture of Geographical Knowledge in the Ottoman Empire” examines the material manifestations of scientific changes in the Ottoman reading world. Looking at the relationship between the atlas and geography, it argues that the transformation of the material form of the atlas informed Ottoman intellectuals’ understanding of the scope and methodology of geographical knowledge. Early Ottoman atlases adhered to centuries-old traditions of cosmographies and topographical histories, which were predominantly textual. This dissertation investigates the cartographical changes taking place against the backdrop of a manuscript culture and examines the visual and material changes in the first manuscript and printed atlases in the Ottoman Empire, illuminating how the Ottoman atlas came to function as geography manual. In so doing, it demonstrates that, far from being imitations of European atlases, Ottoman atlases emerged as a new genre, one that aimed to describe and articulate geographical knowledge in visual form, positioning the Ottoman Empire as the center from which this distinct form of geographical knowledge disseminated.
Recommended Citation
Taylan Cakmak, Isin, "A History of the Ottoman Atlas: The Material Culture of Geographical Knowledge in the Ottoman Empire" (2022). Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations. 721.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/721
