lettered by Abraham Ortelius, 1570
Place · polity

Ottoman Empire

Istanbul

What the sources say here: 2 passages

The nameOttoman Empirec. 1800 (quoted 1816)

'Their name by no means indicates their origin'

Editorial contextIn a footnote Clarke quotes Thomas Thornton's book on Turkey (1809) to explain the couriers: 'Tartar' was the name of the job, not of a nation. The men came from every province and were marked out by the Tartar calpac (fur cap) they wore instead of a turban. A good reminder that 'Tartar' could mean a role or a costume.

The Tartars are public couriers, much respected for their good conduct and fidelity. Their name by no means indicates their origin, as they are taken indifferently from all the provinces in the empire, and are distinguished by the Tartar calpac, which they wear instead of the turban.

Thomas Thornton, The Present State of Turkey (1809), quoted in a footnote by Clarke
See the original page (p. 457)

About Ottoman couriers ('Tartars')

Continue in this sourceClarke's travels: the Greek and Balkan volume1800 to 1801 · 7 passages
The nameIstanbul1821

Turkish as 'a dialect of Tartar'

Editorial contextIn a note drawn from his own Turkish grammar, Jaubert calls Turkish a dialect of 'Tartar' brought to Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, later enriched with Arabic and Persian words. For him 'Tartar' is the name of the whole Turkic language family.

Since the Turkish language is written and spoken in several provinces of Persia, we think we should insert here some reflections taken from a grammar we composed some time ago … This language, we say, is a dialect of Tartar, brought by the Ottomans to Constantinople in 1453.

Working translation

Original wording

Comme la langue turque est écrite et parlée dans plusieurs provinces de la Perse, nous croyons devoir insérer ici quelques réflexions extraites d'une grammaire que nous avons composée il y a quelque temps … Cette langue, disons-nous, est un dialecte du tartare, apporté par les Ottomans à Constantinople en 1453.

Pierre-Amedee Jaubert (footnote from his Turkish grammar)
See the original page (p. 291)

About Ottoman Turks

Keep in mind

Turkic speech reached Anatolia with the Seljuks in the 11th century; 1453 is only the Ottoman capture of Constantinople.

Continue in this sourceJaubert's journey in Armenia and Persia1805 to 1808 · 7 passages

3 sources and maps name this place

  1. 1773–1780a range
    Four Ottoman documents on Crimean affairs, 1763-1780
    WAnonymous Ottoman chancery copyistofficial or contemporary recordW222
  2. 1784exact year
    Memoirs … on the Turks and the Tartars
    WFrançois, Baron de TottfirsthandW053
  3. 1811exact year
    Rosebud of the Khans
    WHalim GiraycompilationW212