Hajji Ahmed

Hajji Ahmed, a Muslim who was captured by Europeans, has been presumably linked to a unique heart-shaped map of the world. Ahmed accompanied a text to the map, outlining his life and the reasoning behind why the map had been created. However, much debate remains as to whether Ahmed created the map, or if he had simply translated it into Turkish, which would have increased their popularity in the Ottoman world. The map has been linked to several other cosmographers, including Giovanni Battista Ramuslo, but little is known about Hajji Ahmed to prove who was behind the creation of the heart-shaped map. Thus, the mystery remains.

“Whoever wishes to know the true shape of the world, their minds shall be filled with light and their breast with joy [Giancarlo Casale, “Two Examples of Ottoman Discovery Literature from the mid-Sixteenth Century”] ”, states Hajji Ahmed’s text, which accompanied an engraving and description of the entire world in wood blocks. These wood blocks, printed in Venice in 1559, are significant, as the map of the heart-shaped world is printed in Turkish, which alludes to how Ottomans perceived themselves and the globe. However, the map was not an original, but only translated in Turkish by Ahmed, which has been mentioned in the text [Benjamin Arbel, “Maps of the World for Ottoman Princes? Further Evidence and Questions concerning ‘The Mappamondo’ of Hajji Ahmed”.] . Furthermore, the map has specific European characteristics; in that the heart-shaped map included the use of Western terms and was created in a Venetian workshop [Giancarlo Casale, “Two Examples of Ottoman Discovery Literature from the mid-Sixteenth Century”] . Thus, the map has created much debate over its origins, and whether or not it was created by Ahmed, or was simply a translation of an older map into Turkish. Furthermore, the identity of Hajji Ahmed has been left, for the most part, a secret, as little is known about him, besides what he has written in the accompanying text of the map.

The life of Hajji Ahmed

“I, this poor, wretched and downtrodden Hajji Ahmed of Tunis studied since I was a small child in the Maghrib, in the city of Fez [ibid.] ”, states Hajji Ahmed, in the map’s accompanying text, which briefly describes his origins, emphasizing how he was captured from the infidels and how, in creating the map, he would regain his liberty [Benjamin Arbel, “Maps of the World for Ottoman Princes? Further Evidence and Questions concerning ‘The Mappamondo’ of Hajji Ahmed”.] . According to the map, Ahmed gained knowledge and education in Fez, and when a European nobleman purchased him, he was still able to continue practice Islamic traditions [Giancarlo Casale, “Two Examples of Ottoman Discovery Literature from the mid-Sixteenth Century”] . Thus, although the ‘infidels’ captured Ahmed, he still emphasized his belief in Islamic culture. He created the map in an Islamic fashion, as it was seen as essential for the peoples and the lords of Islam to understand the shape and meaning of the world [ibid.] . Besides what was written in the map’s text, however, there is not much information on the life of Hajji Ahmed.

The map

The map of Hajji Ahmed was printed in six wooden blocks, and was kept until the late eighteenth century in the archives of the Venetian Council of Ten. The heart-shaped map of the world, known as the “mappamondo Hajji Ahmed”, outlines legends and place-names in Turkish. This is significant, as it may be the first map in Turkish ever published for sale to an Ottoman audience [V.L. Menage, “The Map of Hajji Ahmed and Its Makers” & Benjamin Arbel, “Maps of the World for Ottoman Princes? Further Evidence and Questions concerning ‘The Mappamondo’ of Hajji Ahmed”. & Giancarlo Casale, “Two Examples of Ottoman Discovery Literature from the mid-Sixteenth Century”] . Even if the map was simply a translation into Turkish, which has been debated, it still remains an important document, as it shows how the subjects of the Ottoman Empire perceived themselves in the world or were expected to perceive themselves by allowing individuals to sell their wares to an Ottoman market. Therefore, it is clear the Venetian publisher believed it was a “promising venture to produce a world-map for sale in the Muslim world” [V.L. Menage, “The Map of Hajji Ahmed and Its Makers”] .

Within the accompanying text of the map, Hajji Ahmed explains that the map was created to share knowledge on the shape of the world, especially in terms of the ‘New World’. Specifically, Ahmed describes that philosophers, such as Plato and Socrates, did not know about the newly discovered continent, which gives little doubt that the world is round [Giancarlo Casale, “Two Examples of Ottoman Discovery Literature from the mid-Sixteenth Century”] . Hajji Ahmed sought to share the knowledge of the world’s shape to the Muslim world with the map’s translation in Turkish. Furthermore, the fact that the map emphasizes the ‘New World demonstrates the “extent to which the Ottomans were participants in their own right in the process of physical expansion abroad and intellectual ferment at home that characterized the period of history commonly referred to as the ‘Age of Exploration’” [ibid] . Thus, the map expresses how the Ottomans perceived their role in the world, and possibly an attempt at expansion towards the ‘New World’.

A final key point concerning the map of Hajji Ahmed is that it was made for Ottoman princes. Many sons of Suleyman the Magnificent, such as Bayezid and Mustafa, for example, were interested in maps of the world and looked to Venice for the production [ibid.] . Therefore, there were Ottoman-Venetian relations at the time, which offered “new interpretations of Venetian attitudes to the production of world maps for Ottoman clients” [Benjamin Arbel, “Maps of the World for Ottoman Princes? Further Evidence and Questions concerning ‘The Mappamondo’ of Hajji Ahmed”.] . Thus, the creation of the maps in Venice was produced for the princes of the Ottoman Empire, to acquire further knowledge of the shape of the world. Translating the map into Turkish, which Ahmed did, was influential as it opened up a market to the citizens of the Ottoman Empire.

The making of the map in Venice

The fact that the map was printed in Venice brings up important aspects of Ottoman-Venetian relations. The map of the world, in the minds of Venetian publishers, would be “a promising venture to produce a world-map for sale in the Muslim world” [V.L. Menage, “The Map of Hajji Ahmed and Its Makers”] . Thus, the production of world maps, such as the Hajji Ahmed map, would be financially rewarding for European publishers. Maps in the Turkish language were presumed to be popular in the Ottoman Empire, as was seen with the demand from Ottoman princes. Maps were translated into Turkish to accommodate the demand in the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, maps could be “systematically translated into the Muslim script” [ibid.] . It is still not determined, however, whether the map was an original from Ahmed or just translated into Turkish to sell in the Ottoman Empire. Either way, however, the production of maps into Turkish was significant, as it opened the selling of commodities from Europe to the Ottomans.

The debate

There are several debates surrounding the map of Hajji Ahmed, including whether it was created by Ahmed or merely a translation of a map into Turkish. This has been argued, as the “heart-shaped form of the map had already been used by earlier European cartographers ” [Benjamin Arbel, “Maps of the World for Ottoman Princes? Further Evidence and Questions concerning ‘The Mappamondo’ of Hajji Ahmed”.] . Furthermore, the map shows the influence of the works of the Venetian cosmographer Giovanni Battista Ramuslo [ibid.] . Throughout the map’s accompanying text, Ahmed emphasizes translation, stating that he “translated it from the language and alphabet of the Europeans into that of the Muslims” [Giancarlo Casale, “Two Examples of Ottoman Discovery Literature from the mid-Sixteenth Century”] . Thus, the debate remains as to whether Hajji Ahmed was responsible for creating the heart-shaped map, or merely translating it into Turkish. It has been argued that Hajji Ahmed’s map shares similarities to the map of French cartographer Orontius, published in 1536 [V.L. Menage, “The Map of Hajji Ahmed and Its Makers”] . The map has also been associated with that of Venetian printer, Marc’ Antonio Giustinian, even though his map was not published until 1568, years after the map of Hajji Ahmed [Benjamin Arbel, “Maps of the World for Ottoman Princes? Further Evidence and Questions concerning ‘The Mappamondo’ of Hajji Ahmed”.] . Therefore, the origins of the heart-shaped world map still remain unknown, and widely debated. However, what is important to remember is that Ahmed was responsible for translating the map into Turkish, which was quite significant for the people of the Ottoman Empire, including princes.

Conclusion

The map of Hajji Ahmed has been a significant piece of history, as it gives us a glimpse of Ottoman-Venetian Relations in the early modern period. Furthermore, it brings up much debate as to whether or not the map was an original from Hajji Ahmed, a Muslim captured by the infidels and educated in Fez, or simply a translation into Turkish. Little is known about Hajji Ahmed, making it difficult to come to a conclusion as to the origins of the map. However, the heart-shaped map must be remembered as how both Europeans and Ottomans perceived the world around them at the time. Furthermore, it emphasized the growing of the world, especially with the "Age of Exploration", and how aware the Ottomans were of this. Thus, the map of Hajji Ahmed, though a mystery, remains a significant document in history.

See also

1. Wikipedia: Cartography

2. Wikipedia: Mappamundi

3. Wikipedia: Ramusio

4. Wikipedia: Suleyman

5. Wikipedia: Beyazid

6. Wikipedia: Age of Exploaration

Footnotes

Bibliography

1. Arbel, Benjamin, “Maps of the World for Ottoman Princes? Further Evidence and Questions concerning ‘The Mappamondo’ of Hajji Ahmed”. (Imago Mundi, Vol. 54, 2002)

2. Casale, Giancarlo. “Two Examples of Ottoman Discovery Literature from the mid-Sixteenth Century”. (2005)

3. Menage, V.L. “The Map of Hajji Ahmed and Its Makers”. (University of London: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1958

Further reading

1. Arbel, Benjamin, “Maps of the World for Ottoman Princes? Further Evidence and Questions concerning ‘The Mappamondo’ of Hajji Ahmed”. (Imago Mundi, Vol. 54, 2002)

2. Arbel, Benjamin, "Trading Nations: Jews and Venetians in the Early Modern Easter Mediterranean". (Kirksville, Missouri: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol.28, No.1, 1997)

3. Casale, Giancarlo. “Two Examples of Ottoman Discovery Literature from the mid-Sixteenth Century”. (2005)

4.Fabri, A. "The Ottoman Mapp Mundi of Hajji Ahmed of Tunis". (Arab Historical Review for Ottoman Studies, 1993)

5. Menage, V.L. “The Map of Hajji Ahmed and Its Makers”. (University of London: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1958)

External links

* [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200802/east.meets.west.in.venice.htm East Meets West in Venice]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEwaTD1tpJI YouTube: A Mystery: The Lost Map of Hajji Ahmed]