Abstract
FAITH AND BELIEFS ELEMENTS IDENTIFIED IN IBN BATTUTA’S TRAVELOGUE
Travelogues have the feature of carrying culture since the day they were written and they contain many historical, geographical, religious and cultural elements. Moreover, they are also living witnesses of the period in which they are narrated. Travelogue of Ibn Battuta, in various geographies in the 14th century. It is an important document containing historical and cultural events of the 19th century. As a matter of fact, this travelogue contains many folklore elements from Turkish and foreign cultures. Ibn Battuta's 28-year travel and the notes he kept were written down by a scribe. The travelogue studied is the Travelogue of Ibn Battuta, translated by A. Sait Aykut and published by YKY in 2005. In this travelogue, the subject of faith and belief, one of the folklore elements of Turkish and foreign cultures, is discussed. Folk beliefs include various practices that take place in many stages of our lives. It is widely kept alive among the public and passed on to future generations. The forms of belief formed depending on the concept of belief differ according to geographical and religious structure. Travelogues are also important sources for us to see these differences. The identified beliefs and belief elements are presented with their geographical region, city and page number. Afterwards, a comparison was made regarding regional differences between the identified beliefs and belief elements. As a result of the findings, while more examples of faith and belief were found in the Arab geography, fewer belief elements were detected in the Anatolian geography and India region. In addition, limited examples of magic and sorcery can be found in only two regions.
Keywords
İbn Battuta, Travelogue, Cultural Elements, Belief, Elements of belief.