'Ali Akbar Khata'i

16th century Persian traveler and writer ʿAli Akbar Khata'i (modern tr Ali Ekber Hıtai; fl. ca. 1500–1516) was an early 16th-century Persian traveler and writer. Although there is no certainty about his origin, it is known that by 1515 he came to (or returned to) Istanbul, where he published Khataynameh, which is considered one of the most complete travel notes about Ming China. His work, originally written in Persian, was later translated into Turkish, and became influential in the Turkish- and Persian-speaking Muslim world. As with other Middle Eastern personages, there are a great number of ways to transcribe 'Ali Akbar's name. For example, Encyclopædia Iranica uses the spelling ʿAlī Akbar Ḵeṭāʾī.T. Yazici, ali-akbar-ketai-9th-10th-15th-16th-cent ʿAlī Akbar Ḵeṭāʾī Life Nothing much is known for sure about 'Ali Akbar's origin and early life. While he created his book in Istanbul, he may have been born elsewhere in the Islamic World - perhaps, as Aly Mazahéri suggested, based on textual references, even as far as in Transoxania (Bukhara).Ralph Kauz, ketay-nama ʿAlī Akbar Ḵeṭāʾī Some researchers think that ʿAlī Akbar's name may indicate his Shi'ite origin. However, his text praises the Four Righteous Caliphs (venerated by the Sunnis), so even if born and raised a Shi'ite, he must have changed his religious affiliation due to the changing political situation. ʿAlī Akbar is thought to have been a merchant by some authors.Bellér-Hann 1995 20 He refers to himself as a qalandar (dervish) a few times in his book; however, this may be just a figurative expression, emphasizing his humbleness, rather than a literal description of a membership in a dervish order. The epithet "Khata'i" in ʿAli Akbar's name means "of China", presumably referring to him having traveled to and lived in China.Hagras Hamada 2019-12-20 THE MING COURT AS PATRON OF THE CHINESE ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE: THE CASE STUDY OF THE DAXUEXI MOSQUE IN XI'AN http://www.fayoum.edu.eg/english/shedet/ISSUES201908.aspx SHEDET 6 134–158 10.36816/shedet.006.08 free While it is usually thought that at least some of the material in Khataynameh is based on the author's first hand experiences in China, at least one scholar of Khataynameh - Lin Yih-Min, who translated the book into modern Turkish - believes that ʿAlī Akbar (much like Juan González de Mendoza and perhaps Marco Polo) did not actually travel to China, and his work is thus completely based on others' reports. Khataynameh thumb|right|Ottoman Turkish translation of Khata'i's Persian original. Manuscript entitled: Tercüme-i târih-i nevâdir-i Çin Mâçîn ("Translation of the rare history and descriptions of China"). Created at the Tophâne-i Âmire Litografya Destigâhi, dated 1854 ʿAlī Akbar's Khataynameh ("The Book of China"), written in Persian, was completed in 1516 in Istanbul, and was made available in 1520.One of the Last Documents of the Silk Road: The Khataynameh of Ali Akbar http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol3num1/8_khataynameh.php 2024-01-20 www.silkroadfoundation.org ʿAlī Akbar's work, also known as Kanun-name, was translated into Ottoman Turkish in 1582. His work was used by later Turkish authors; in particular, it was one of the main sources of information on China used by Katip Çelebi in his Jihān-numā, along with an earlier work by a Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh. As modern researchers note, Ghiyāth al-dīn's and 'Ali Akbar's accounts, in a way, complemented each other, as the two authors saw Ming China from different aspects: Ghiyāth al-dīn came to the court of the Ming Yongle Emperor as a member of an official delegation from the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh, and much of his report is focused on court and diplomatic events; on the other hand, 'Ali Akbar, who, as Ildikó Bellér-Hann surmises, may have been a merchant, gives a much better view of the country's everyday life.Bellér-Hann 1995 16–20 Ali Akbar, in his book The Khataynameh, recorded many policies of the Ming court during Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns.Chen Yuan Julian 2021-10-11 Between the Islamic and Chinese Universal Empires: The Ottoman Empire, Ming Dynasty, and Global Age of Explorations https://www.academia.edu/59068575/_Between_the_Islamic_and_Chinese_Universal_Empires_The_Ottoman_Empire_Ming_Dynasty_and_Global_Age_of_Explorations_Journal_of_Early_Modern_History_25_5_2021_422_56 Journal of Early Modern History 25 5 422–456 10.1163/15700658-bja10030 1385-3783 Modern study and translations Three chapters of the Khataynameh were translated into French by Charles Schefer and published in 1883, along with the Persian original.Schefer 1883 Notes Sources Charles Schefer Trois chapitres du Khitay Namèh. Texte persan et traduction française https://books.google.com/books?id=M_wwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA29 Mélanges orientaux: textes et traductions publiés par les professeurs de l'École spéciale des langues orientales vivantes à l'occasion du sixième Congrès international des orientalistes réuni à Leyde, Septembre 1883 Volume 9 of Publications de l'École des langues orientales vivantes E. Laroux 1883 29–84 A History of Cathay: a translation and linguistic analysis of a fifteenth-century Turkic manuscript Ildikó Bellér-Hann Indiana University, Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies 1995 Bloomington 0-933070-37-3 Chen, Yuan Julian (2021). Between the Islamic and Chinese Universal Empires: The Ottoman Empire, Ming Dynasty, and Global Age of Explorations, Journal of Early Modern History, 25(5), 422–456. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/15700658-bja10030 Category:16th-century Persian-language writers Category:Explorers of Asia Category:16th-century writers from the Ottoman Empire Category:16th-century explorers Category:Year of death unknown Category:Year of birth uncertain