Reading Mustawfī in Turkish: A Study on Translation as a Means for the Transfer of Botanical Knowledge in Ottoman Kurdistan
Abstrak
This article examines a mid-seventeenth century Turkish translation of the Persian encyclopaedic work Nuzhat al-Qulūb by Ilkhanid historian Ḥamdallāh Mustawfī Qazvīnī (d. after 744/1344). Composed in the Kurdish emirate of Bidlīs, southwest of Lake Van, at the request of its ruler Abdāl Khān (r. 1031–1074/1622–1664), this translation is extant in two manuscripts, both kept in Ankara’s Millî Kütüphane as MSS A 957 and A 979. I will focus on the translation of the Nuzhat’s botanical section as it appears in MS A 979, and, more specifically, on the plethora of marginal and interlinear notes left by two later readers of the manuscript. These two annotators give the Turkish names of the various plants, which were not provided by the translator, and they also occasionally provide information on their medicinal and pharmacological properties. As a case study on these paratextual elements, this article also contributes to our understanding of translation as a means for the transfer of knowledge in the Ottoman Empire.
Topik & Kata Kunci
Penulis (1)
Sacha Alsancakli
Akses Cepat
- Tahun Terbit
- 2024
- Sumber Database
- DOAJ
- DOI
- 10.5771/2625-9842-2024-2-185
- Akses
- Open Access ✓