The 17th Century Ottoman Society in the eye of Armenian Traveler Simeon of Poland
AbstractTravel books, which occupy an important place among the written sources of the socio-cultural history of the Ottoman Empire, paint a very vivid portrait of the age in which they were penned. Even though these books occasionally reflect travelers’ biases, they hold the position of primary sources for social historiography. They close a significant gap in the issues that were not reflected in the archive documents and other sources of the period. On the other hand, even if these issues were dealt with in the recourses, the travel books fill the subjects’ voids originated in lack of knowledge. From this viewpoint, we will examine the travel book of Armenian Traveler Simeon of Poland, which presents illuminating information about the issues such as the social life of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century and about the relationships between the ethnic and religious groups. In the limits of the present work, it is not plausible to scrutinize the subjects separately about which the traveler offers information. This is why we will seek to read the mentioned work especially in terms of the general structure of the ethnic and religious groups living in the Ottoman geography regarding the relationships between these groups.