The place of the lost “Balbınarı Plateu” and the issue of the identity of the sultan on the plateau: Kanuni or Timur? [Kayip “balbinari yaylasi”nin yerİ ve yayladakİ sultanin kİmlİğİ meselesİ: Kanunî mİ, Timur mu?]

In this study, the unknown location of "Balbınarı Plateau," and a series of issues specific to the plateau which Evliya Çelebi stayed about a week and informed that Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent had stayed for 40 days after the victory of Rhodes, will be discussed. The article consists of two basic parts that deal with the current location of the plateau and the identity of the sultan who visited the plateau. Our research shows that the center of the plateau is now Büyükkemerdere village of Tire. The villages Büyükkemerdere and Küçükkemerdere founded later and named after the arched stone bridges built on the road to Tire and to the center of the plateau, caused to forget the name of Balbınarı Plateau. Another striking result is that Sultan who stayed in the plateau was found to be Timur. In Evliya Çelebi’s words, it was Kanuni Sultan Süleyman who had stayed in the plateau for 40 days after Rhodes expedition and did some activities there. The reason behind Evliya Çelebi’s misinformation about Timur by attributing his deeds to Kanuni is that Evliya Çelebi was a "civil servant traveler," who was paid for his travel expenditures by the Ottoman State. Timur, on the other hand, was recognized as the enemy of the Ottoman dynasty and the one who persecuted Anatolian people in the eyes of the Ottoman dynasty. Evliya Çelebi is evaluated as a person who may sometimes be able to do official historiography by hiding the facts. © 2018 Hacettepe University 1. All rights reserved.