On the Ottoman-European Transfer of Geographical Knowledge

Chapters on Bosnia, Herzegovina and Slavonia in the Tārīḫ-i Belġra̱d

Abstract

The paper deals with the work Tārīḫ-i Belġrad (History of Belgrade) from the end of the 17th century, with an emphasis on the transfer of knowledge from Western sources to this work, which is largely based on the Ottoman translation of the modern Dutch Atlas Maior. Based on the analysis of the chapters on Bosnia, Herzegovina and Slavonia, the paper emphasizes that this work, as well as the original translation from which it originated, is not a mere translation of the text from the atlas, but a reworking to which numerous information from the Ottoman sources has been added, especially when describing areas under the Ottoman rule. Also, the paper critically discusses the authorship, the origin of the work and the existing transcription. At the end of the paper, a translation of the mentioned chapters with the revised transcription of toponyms from the work are given.