Aleppo

Matrakçı Nasuh (bin Abdullah; son of Abdullah), born in the Bosnian town of Visoko, was a gifted Janissary who went through both the Infantry and devşirme system, a gifted swordsman, and sharpshooter well known for his intellect; he spoke five languages and was recruited into the Ottoman Navy.

Baghdad

Although born to Bosnian Muslim parentage, Nasuh was drafted into the devşirme system, otherwise reserved for the Christian populace of the empire. Exceptionally, however, in Bosnia, the devşirme was also extended to local Muslim families.

Dinever

After a long period of studies on mathematics and geometry, he wrote his works Cemâlü'l-Küttâb and Kemalü'l- Hisâb and submitted them to the Ottoman sultan Selim I. He wrote also the two books named Mecmaü't-Tevârih and Süleymannâme. They deal with the history of the period of 1520–43. He also wrote a historical piece on the Persian campaign of Suleiman I titled Fetihname-i Karabuğdan. A recent study of his book Umdet-ul Hisab revealed an unknown fact that Matrakçı had invented some genuine multiplication methods. One of the significant results displayed in this book was that the lattice method had been widely used in the Enderun School nearly 50 years before John Napier reintroduced it to Europe.

Eskisehir

Besides his works on mathematics and history, he is famous because of his miniatures. He created a naturalist style which focuses on panoramic views of landscapes and cities painted with the greatest detail (his most famous work, the Istanbul landscape picture, shows almost every street and building of the city). In Ottoman miniature art, this was later known as the "Matrakçı style". The most important of his four historic volumes of miniatures is the one dealing with Suleiman I's Safavid war, upon which he had written his historical work Fetihname-i Karabuğdan. Besides illustrating the march of the Ottoman army from Istanbul to Baghdad and then Tabriz and its return via Halab and Eskisehir, Nasuh also includes all the cities met by the army along the way. The Library of Istanbul University hosts the only copy of this work.

Hereke

Nasuh was also a soldier and a master bladesmith. He worked as a weapons teacher at Enderun School. He and his students demonstrated their skills in a show which was part of the circumcision celebrations of Suleiman I's sons. Because of his success in this demonstration, Nasuh received the honorary title of Ustad ("master") and Reis ("chief") from the Sultan. He also wrote a book about usage of various weapons and techniques of cavalry and infantry fight, called Tuhfet-ül Guzât.

Tabriz

Zanjan

Erzincan

Istanbul

Sultaniye

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Source: Wikipedia

Alexander Keith Johnston (1804-1971) was a Scottish geographer, cartographer, engraver, lexicographer and publisher from Edinburgh. Together with his brother William, he founded the cartographic company W. & A. K. Johnston, which printed numerous maps and several atlases since the 1840s. Here we bring three of his maps.

Religions:

A moral and statistical chart showing the geographical distribution of people in accordance with their religious beliefs, with the most important Protestant missionary offices, in the mid-19th century. The map was compiled by Alexander Keith Johnston, a member of the Edinburgh Royal Society. Engraved and printed by William Blackwood and Sons, based in Edinburgh and London. Published May 1, 1854

In addition to religions, this map contains other interesting data, such as a language map of Europe, and an "education progress chart" (percentage of the population aged 7 to 14 considered to be educated at school or from other sources, in the lower right corner). In the lower left corner, there is a legend that explains which colors refer to which religions, and at the same time shows the number of people of each religion, noting that the current population of the planet is estimated at one thousand million inhabitants, which means - one billion.

Protestant missions are shown in particular detail in British North America, India and South Africa, as separate maps.

Click on the map of religions to see it enlarged.

Plants:

Geographical distribution of plants, and distribution of plants in the vertical direction in hot, temperate and cold climatic zones, with marked average annual temperatures, and the coldest and warmest months. The map was published in 1848.

Click on the map of plants to see it enlarged.

Diseases:

The map of health and infections, primarily in connection with natural phenomena, was created in 1856 in accordance with the data of the Royal Epidemiological Society from London. In the lower right corner of the map there is a Graph of the comparative value of life in the countries, as well as a Graph of the comparative value of life in cities and towns. The map also contains a note that the red line represents the movement of cholera from east to west, with the dates when it appeared. The blue lines along the coast represent foreign outposts of the British Navy. The nutrition zones are defined by the crab and goat reversal, and a curved line that begins near the Arctic Circle in the north. In the lower left corner are charts that show tuberculosis ("consumption") and rheumatism.

Click on the map of diseases to see it enlarged.

Maps can be read as non-linear, non-narrative books.