Ottoman Empire Territories 1916 Map Anatolia Middle East Hejaz Arabian Peninsula Palestine Qatar
Ottoman Empire Map from Muallim Safvet Geylangil’s Yeni Resimli ve Haritalı Coğrafya-yı Osmanî – “Memâlik-i Osmaniye,” c. 1916
Description:
This original Ottoman Turkish map, titled “Memâlik-i Osmaniye” (Ottoman Territories), comes from Muallim Safvet Geylangil’s Yeni Resimli ve Haritalı Coğrafya-yı Osmanî (New Illustrated and Mapped Ottoman Geography), published in Istanbul in 1332, corresponding approximately to 1916. Prepared as a geography textbook for Ottoman schools, this illustrated work reflects the late Ottoman period’s use of visual teaching materials to present geographical knowledge and the empire’s extensive territories.
The map covers a broad geographical area encompassing Anatolia, the Middle East, the Hejaz region of the Arabian Peninsula, and part of Egypt. It uses regional or administrative colour coding to distinguish territories and illustrates the geographical extent of the Ottoman Empire as presented to students during the First World War. The map also includes parts of Iranian territory and areas corresponding to present-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, offering a valuable historical perspective on the region’s political geography in the early twentieth century.
An important feature of this map is its representation of the Arabian Peninsula, alongside Ottoman territories extending across the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. As an educational map, it provides insight into how regional geography and imperial territories were presented in Ottoman classrooms during the empire’s final years. Its historical value lies not only in the geographical information it conveys, but also in its connection to the teaching methods and printed educational materials of the period.
The textbook was prepared for the advanced primary-school division known as Mekâtib-i İbtidâiye Devre-i Âliye. The exact role and details of each colour should be interpreted from the map’s own legend, where available. This original map is an appealing collectible for those interested in Ottoman cartography, historical geography, Middle Eastern history, and educational publications from the First World War era.
Key Features:
• Title on Map: Memâlik-i Osmaniye (Ottoman Territories)
• Author: Muallim Safvet Geylangil
• Source Publication: Yeni Resimli ve Haritalı Coğrafya-yı Osmanî
• Date: 1332, approximately 1916
• Place of Publication: Istanbul, Ottoman Empire
• Region: The Arabian Peninsula
• Geographic Coverage: Anatolia, the Middle East, the Hejaz region, parts of Egypt, and neighbouring territories
• Map Details: Ottoman territorial geography represented with regional or administrative colour coding
• Historical Context: Ottoman Empire during the First World War
• Educational Purpose: Geography textbook for Ottoman advanced primary schools (Mekâtib-i İbtidâiye Devre-i Âliye)
• Language: Ottoman Turkish
• Dimensions: 25.3 × 16.4 cm