Russian Traveler Pyotr Alexandrovich Chikhachyov (1808-1890) and a Panorama of Anatolia on the Eve of the Crimean War

Pyotr Alexandrovich Chihachyov (1808-1890) served as a diplomat in the Russian Embassy in Istanbul, between 1830-1835 and 1845-1847, traveled to many parts of Anatolia from the Aegean and Marmara to the Euphrates basin and Erzurum, from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea in the years of 1847-1863. During his travels, Chihachyov turned out to be a scientific observer of Anatolia in geological, botanical, zoological, paleontological and archaeological terms. In his diaries, Chihachyov included issues such as ethnic, religious and administrative structure, political issues, and economic and vital problems of the people of the regions which he traveled. In this regard, Chihachyov, as a former diplomat in his diaries during his sixth trip to Anatolia between 15 May - 11 October 1853, made observations of the Ottoman Empire on the diplomatic and political levels. In his diaries, as a geologist and naturalist, Chihachyov described the landforms and vegetation on his travel route in detail. However, more importantly, in his diaries, which were kept just before the Crimean War, Chihachyov showed the attitude of the Ottoman officers in the provinces and Turkish and non-Turkish Ottoman elements to the approaching Ottoman-Russian war and a “Russian” traveling in the Ottoman provinces. In this context, Chihachyov continued his “dangerous” journey in Anatolia on the eve of the Crimean War at the expense of being a prisoner of war, and despite the increasing excitement in various regions of Anatolia caused by the upcoming war with Russia. As the guest of the leading official and informal figures of each region he traveled, Chihachyov conducted very interesting dialogues which the reflected the effets of the upcoming Crimean War on the Ottoman state and society. Those interesting contacts in Chihachyov’s diaries, concentrated especially in in his travel through Konya, Karaman, Mersin and Adana prvinces. In this context, this study deals with Russian naturalist, geographer and traveler Pyotr Alexandrovich Chihachyov as the famous explorer of Anatolia and his diaries from his sixth trip which provides important information on the social and administrative structure of the Ottoman provinces on the eve of the Crimean War.