The world's first person to fly: Who is Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi?

Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi, a Muslim Turkish scholar; was born in 1609 and lived in Ottoman lands. The fact that he was a person who first tried to fly by wearing wings and worked hard on this made him important. It was named Hezarfen due to its knowledge of science and flying experiences. That's why the name Hezarfen, which means "knowing too much", was given to him. Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi, was inspired by İsmail Cevheri, a Turkish scholar who lived in the 10th century; Who tried to test his first flight experiences by studying and learning about Cevheri's research, findings, and reveal. By conducting flight experiments in Okmeydanı in Istanbul; tried to see the degree of endurance in the wings.

Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi (1609 – 1640) was an Ottoman scientist, inventor, chemist, astronomer, physician, Andalusi musician, and poet from Ottoman Empire, Istanbul reported in the writings of traveler Evliya Çelebi to have achieved sustained unpowered flight.

Hezarfen Ahmed Celebi in 1632; He jumped from the Galata Tower, leaving the void, while the southwest wind was blowing with a vehicle he created in the form of an artificial bird. It is stated that by covering a distance of 3358 meters in this way, he crossed the Bosphorus and landed in Üsküdar where the Doğancılar were located. With this flight experience, he went down in history as the first person to fly in the history of Turkish aviation.

All this information about Hezarfen Ahmed Celebi has been obtained from the details in Evliya Çelebi's Travel Book. Evliya Çelebi In his travel book from Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi; “Like the pulpit of Iptida Okmeydan, he trained with eagle wings eight or nine times in the air due to the wind force. While Badehu Sultan Murad Han was contemplating from Sinan Pasha Mansion in Sarayburnu, he flew from the top of the Galata Tower with the southwestern wind and landed at Doğancılar Square in Üsküdar. Then Murad Khan bestowed a bag of gold on himself: “This man is a man to be hated (to be feared). Whatever he wants, he can do. It is not permissible for such people to survive," and he went to Algeria. It is said that HezarfenAhmedçelebi died there.

This experiment, which formed as the beginning of flying as a human; was appreciated by finding a great echo both in the Ottoman period and in Europe. Sultan IV. Murat also expressed his appreciation for this flight. Moreover; He watched this extraordinary flight from the Sinan Pasha mansion in Sarayburnu and was closely interested in Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi. Evliya Çelebi stated in his Travelogue; It is also mentioned that he was rewarded with a bag of gold by the Sultan. Later, it is stated in the Seyahatname that the Sultan exiled Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi, fearing his knowledge, skills, and courage. He died in 1640 in Algeria, where he went as an exile.