Seyyed ʿAli Akbar Khatayi

In the early sixteenth century, a Persian-speaking Muslim merchant named ʿAli Akbar Khatayi travelled to China and stayed for six years. There, he acquired inside knowledge of the Ming imperial court and gained familiarity with the government bureaucracy, the military, and the daily lives and culture of ordinary people. In a treatise presented to the rulers of the Ottoman Empire,...