Ghaza in Evliya Celebi's Travelbook

Abstract

Desire of traveling and ghaza is identified with Evliya Celebi. Taking advantage of any opportunity of traveling Evliya also found the wars a chance for traveling. By means of his duties he attended many campaigns, fought with the enemy himself and described all the wars in a very colorful way. Evliya's narration of war reveals important data for Ottoman history of warfare. His telling of wars is particularly important in the way that he fills the gaps in the chroniclers' description of wars and army: the psychological mood of soldiers, their expectations, motivation and ghaza thought. Evliya proves that the Ottoman army was warriors of Islam. Besides, booty and personal expectations of the soldiers were motivators for wars along with religious feelings.