The Book of China A Persian Merchant's Description of the Ming State for the Ottoman Court

In the early sixteenth century, a Muslim merchant from Central Eurasia named ʿAli Akbar Khatayi traveled to China and stayed for six years, observing government agents and soldiers, interacting with ordinary people, and even obtaining inside knowledge of the Ming court. He then traveled thousands of miles west to Istanbul, where he presented a description of the Chinese state to the Ottoman emperors on the eve of their rise to regional dominance.

Khatayi’s book is the most in-depth, sophisticated account of China’s government, society, and culture written by any foreigner before the era of European colonial empires. Now translated into English for the first time, with an introduction tailored to students and nonspecialist scholars, The Book of China offers an incomparable record of Eurasian perceptions of China at the dawn of the gunpowder age. In contrast to travelers like Marco Polo who introduced new geographical lore to medieval Europe, Khatayi wrote for a well-informed early modern Muslim audience, for whom he sought to provide systematic explanations of Ming China’s wealth and power. How could a society so steeped in luxury also marshal powerful, disciplined armies? Khatayi’s answer was government institutions, technology, and laws that bound everyone including the emperor. His book vividly describes sights ranging from the imperial palace, temples, gardens, and brothels to the construction of new cities and the inside of a vast prison. Opening a window onto the colorful world of the Ming court and the civic lore of Silk Road travelers, The Book of China shows how travel and cultural contact could inspire political imagination across continents.

Seyyed ‘Ali Akbar Khatayi was a Persian merchant from Central Eurasia, probably from around the region of present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, who spent six years in China. He later traveled to Istanbul, where he wrote the Khataynameh (Book of China) in 1516. He is not known to have authored any other works.

Kaveh Hemmat is Associate Professor, Professional Faculty at Benedictine University. He graduated from the University of Chicago’s Department of Middle East Studies, and specializes in Persianate and Islamicate history. He is author of numerous scholarly articles and translator of The Kushnameh: The Persian Epic of Kush the Tusked.

Hyunhee Park is Professor of History at the City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center. She specializes in cross-cultural exchanges in premodern Eurasia, particularly between the Islamic world and East Asia, and is the author of <i>Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds and Soju: A Global History</i>.

John J. Curry is a Professor in the Department of History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is author of numerous books and articles and a translator of the Cihannüma of Katip Çelebi, along with other short texts aimed at introducing Ottoman writings to a broader audience.