Evliya Çelebi's map is exhibited in the Qatar National Library

Doha

Hüseyin Şen, a science history researcher responsible for the maps and manuscripts in the "Heritage Library" section of the library, told Anadolu Agency about the library collection.

Şen said that the Qatar National Library, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, opened in 2017.

Noting that the shape of the section of the Heritage Library, which is designed as a permanent exhibition area, represents the archaeological excavation site, Şen said, "This section contains the most important work in our map collection, the map drawn by Evliya Çelebi himself."

Noting that the name of the permanent exhibition is "Everything started with the command 'Read!'" Hüseyin Şen said:

"This name was given to the exhibition in reference to the command 'Read', which is the first verse of the Qur'an. The exhibition first begins with the oldest manuscripts of the Qur'an. There are maps, 500 calligraphy plates, 35 thousand Arabic printed works, 25 thousand rare works in foreign languages, 80 thousand photographs and 20 thousand archival documents. This is one of the most important collections in the Middle East."

"One of the translations of Atlas-ı Cedid is exhibited here"

Underlining that the permanent exhibition area consists of 12 sections, Şen emphasized that the core of the library is the collection of Sheikh Hasan from the Qatar Dynasty and said that they have a collection that grows and develops day by day.

Noting that important works of Ottoman-Turkish history are exhibited in the Heritage Library, Hüseyin Şen said, "The whole set of Hilye-i Şerifler, a Koran written by Ahmed Şemseddin Karahisari, Ottoman edicts, Kaaba covers and İbrahim Müteferrika prints are available here. In the maps section, there are 19th century Ottoman maps.A very important Ottoman map, which is the only copy in the world ordered by Sultan Selim III from Europe, can be seen here. Mehmed Raif Efendi's Tabhane- One of the surviving translations of 'Atlas-ı Cedid' published by i Hümayun is exhibited here. This work has the distinction of being the first printed atlas in the Ottoman Empire."

Pointing out that there are original manuscript copies of İsmail bin er-Rezzaz al-Cezeri's work in the permanent exhibition, Şen said that a replica of Jazari's 'Candle Clock' invention is also on display.

"The most important work of the collection, the Evliya Çelebi's Map"

Noting that the most important work of the collection is the Evliya Çelebi Map, Şen continued his words as follows:

"One of the 2 maps in the world attributed to Evliya Çelebi is located here. The other is in the Vatican Library, a book about him has been published recently. There is no book publication yet, only an article about this map. British Ambassador William Trumbull served in Istanbul between 1687 and 1691. It's out of his collection. It was bought by Sheikh Hasan in 1988 and transferred to the library. A map about 4 meters long by 40 centimeters wide. It consists of 8 leaves glued together. Prof. Dr. Zekeriya Kurşun, as a result of his investigations, revealed that this map should be attributed to Evliya Çelebi. It is a very important work on Turkish history. There are descriptions of cities on the map, there are cities of Baghdad, Erzurum and Urfa. The information given here also overlaps with the information in Evliya Çelebi's Travel Book."

Emphasizing that the reader services of the Qatar National Library are also very comprehensive, Hüseyin Şen added that researchers who come to Doha should definitely visit them.