What do Evliya Çelebi's accounts of the darüşşifa and music three days a week really say? How to read the Seyahatname with care and how it differs from science.
There is a post you will often come across on social media: an old miniature painting, with a caption underneath saying "In the Ottoman Empire, the mentally ill were treated with music, as Evliya Çelebi tells us." The post is liked thousands of times, and in the comments people lament that "we have forgotten all this." So what do the Evliya Çelebi darüşşifa accounts actually say, where does this information come from, and what does it mean for us today? (A darüşşifa was a historical hospital in the Seljuk and Ottoman world.) In this article we look at the "music three days a week" detail attributed to the Seyahatname (Evliya Çelebi's Book of Travels) together with its sources, try to separate what is documented from what is hearsay, and calmly discuss how this history relates to our present-day understanding of mental health.
Why Are the Evliya Çelebi Darüşşifa Accounts Quoted So Often?
Anyone curious about how people in mental distress were cared for in the Ottoman period sooner or later arrives at the same sentence: that at the Bayezid II Darüşşifa in Edirne, a group of musicians came three days a week to perform music for the patients. The most frequently cited basis for this sentence is Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname.
There are several reasons why this account is so well loved. First, it paints a touching scene: a stone-courtyarded building, with the sounds of the ney (reed flute), the oud and the rebab around people in distress. Second, it links a value we talk about a great deal today, "taking mental health seriously", to the past, and gives a sense of continuity. Third, it is short and memorable; it fits easily into a social media post, a museum panel or a textbook box.
But short, memorable pieces of information come at a price: over time they become detached from their context, details are added on top, and in the end things the source never said are attributed to it as well. The Evliya Çelebi darüşşifa accounts have been through this journey too. That is why we first need to look at who the narrator was, and then at exactly what has been passed down.
Who Was Evliya Çelebi, and What Kind of Source Is the Seyahatname?
Evliya Çelebi was a traveller who lived in the 17th century and journeyed across a very large part of the Ottoman world. In his multi-volume Seyahatname he describes the cities, buildings, people, food, languages and customs he encountered. The work is regarded as one of the richest texts on everyday Ottoman life; historians, linguists, architectural historians and folklorists constantly turn to it.
However, the Seyahatname is not a report or official record in today's sense. As historians often stress, Evliya Çelebi's style is at times exaggerated, colourful and literary. He may inflate numbers, get carried away when describing the beauty of a place, or relate a story he heard as if it were an event he witnessed. This does not make him worthless; on the contrary, he is a highly valuable witness to how people of the period perceived a place. But his testimony needs to be read alongside other sources.
Let us use a comparison. Imagine a travel writer today who visits a city and enthusiastically describes what they saw. What they write may capture the atmosphere of that city very well; but when they say "a hundred people eat at this restaurant every day", we do not take it as a statistic. Reading the Seyahatname with similar care is a matter of respect both for the work and for history.
"Music Three Days a Week": What Does the Evliya Çelebi Darüşşifa Description Say?
According to encyclopaedic sources, Evliya Çelebi writes that at the Bayezid II Darüşşifa in Edirne, a group of musicians came three days a week to perform music for the patients. The entry on darüşşifas in the TÜBİTAK Encyclopaedia also states that mentally ill patients were treated with music performed by singers and instrumentalists (hanende and sazende) who came three days a week.
What we can draw from this account is the following:
- Music at the darüşşifa was a practice carried out at regular intervals; the phrase "three days a week" points to a routine rather than a coincidence.
- The music was performed by singers (hanende) and instrumentalists (sazende) who came from outside the institution.
- This practice has been associated in particular with patients experiencing mental distress.
What we cannot draw from this account is at least as important:
- Which makams (the modal systems of Turkish classical music) were played, at what times, and for which patient.
- What effect the music had on the patients.
- How many patients the practice involved, how long it lasted, and who decided on it.
We should be honest here: in preparing this article, we relied not on the relevant passage of the Seyahatname itself but on the encyclopaedic sources that report it. In other words, the information we have sits at the end of a chain of transmission. This does not mean the information is wrong; but it does call for caution towards claims about details. You can find more about the architecture of the Edirne institution and its present-day museum in our article on the Edirne Darüşşifa.
Reading With the Source: Documented Facts, Disputed Claims and Hearsay
As the Evliya Çelebi darüşşifa account has circulated online, many details have been added to it. It helps to think of these in three groups.
Information that can be regarded as documented: that the Bayezid II Complex was completed in 1488, that the darüşşifa served for around four hundred years, that it is used today as the Health Museum of Trakya University, and that the playing of music to mentally ill patients there is reported on the authority of Evliya Çelebi.
Information at the level of interpretation and general narrative: that patients were cared for with the sound of water, music and the scent of flowers; that instruments such as the ney, oud and rebab were used. These appear consistently in the sources, but the details are limited.
Unverified hearsay: accounts such as "a ten-person ensemble of singers and instrumentalists played a different makam for each illness". Details like these are often seen on news websites; it has not been shown that they are supported by a reliable primary source. Similarly, popular lists claim that certain makams are good for particular illnesses; these pairings contradict one another from source to source and have not been scientifically tested.
Information is not true simply because it is old, nor because it is widely shared. The scene Evliya Çelebi describes is a valuable testimony; the details added to it later deserve to be questioned separately.
When you come across such a post yourself, you can ask these questions: What source is this information based on? Is the source itself being quoted, or someone else's summary of it? Is the phrase "were treated" being used in the language of the period, or in today's medical sense? These simple questions help you stay both curious and careful about history.
The Outlook of the Period: Music, the Sound of Water and a Carefully Arranged Setting
What gives the Evliya Çelebi darüşşifa description its meaning is reading it within its own time. Darüşşifas were institutions founded by charitable foundations (vakıf) and provided care free of charge; the names "bimaristan", "bimarhane" and "şifahane" were also used for the same type of institution. The medicine of the period was based on the theory of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile) and temperaments, inherited from Hippocrates and Galen. According to this theory, sound, smell, food and surroundings could affect the balance within the body.
Within this framework, music can be thought of less as a "treatment method" competing with medicines or surgery, and more as part of arranging the environment the patient lived in. A quiet courtyard, running water, a clean room, regular meals, and music arriving on certain days of the week: all of this reflects the efforts of people at the time to create a living environment that was "good for the soul".
This tradition was not unique to Edirne. At the Hafsa Sultan Darüşşifa in Manisa, care is also said to have involved handicrafts, music and the sound of water; the Fatih and Süleymaniye darüşşifas in Istanbul are also counted among the institutions where music was used, although some of the details about these institutions have not yet been sufficiently verified. If you are curious about how music reached patients in the Ottoman period in a broader sense, our article on music and healing in the Ottoman Empire covers the subject in detail.
In today's language, this outlook resembles an attempt at "environmental adjustment" and "sensory calming". What matters here is not to exaggerate the similarity: sharing a similar intuition does not mean applying the same method or achieving the same results.
Looking From Today: What Do We Know About Music and Mental Health?
There is an important difference between the darüşşifa Evliya Çelebi described and music therapy today. Music therapy is now defined as an approach in which musical interaction takes place between a trained practitioner and a client within a therapeutic framework. Simply listening to recorded music does not fall within this definition.
Research in this field produces promising but cautious results. For example, according to a Cochrane review, music therapy added to usual care may reduce symptoms of depression in the short term; however, this evidence has been rated as being of low to moderate certainty. In people living with dementia, music-based interventions are reported to probably reduce depressive symptoms, but no clear effect is expected on agitation or memory. Most studies have small samples, short follow-up periods, and could not be blinded, because participants knew what they were taking part in.
So what we can say today is this: in an appropriate framework, music can be a supportive element; it does not replace medication, psychotherapy or medical care. The statement "the Ottomans cured mental illness with music, and so can we", on the other hand, is a claim that neither the historical sources nor present-day research can support. If you are curious about how the modern approach works, you can read our article on music therapy.
What Can We Carry From This History Into Today? When Should You Seek Support?
Perhaps the most valuable thing the Evliya Çelebi darüşşifa account leaves us is not so much a method as an attitude: that a person in mental distress should not be ignored, that separate care should be given to them, and that this care should include attention to the person's senses, daily life and surroundings.
You might consider a few small steps to bring this attitude into your own life. These are not treatment recommendations, but small examples of the care you can show yourself in everyday life:
- Notice the sounds that calm you. Running water, a voice you love, a particular song, or silence. Deliberately adding these to your day on difficult days can become a self-care habit.
- Arrange your surroundings. It is hard to rest in a noisy flat next to a television that is always on. Even creating a quiet corner for a few minutes during the day can make a difference.
- Think of music not as "medicine" but as a companion. Listening to music may lift your mood; but expecting it to resolve long-lasting distress on its own may leave you disappointed.
- Question what you see shared. When you come across a claim such as "this makam is good for that illness", read it not as health advice but as part of cultural history.
Let us say a retired teacher spends her days alone at home after losing her husband, and her daughter tells her, "Even the old darüşşifas used to play music, so you should listen to some music too." The suggestion is well meant, and music can genuinely bring a little relief. But if there has been months of low motivation, sleeplessness and a sense of being cut off from life, an expert's view is needed alongside the music.
If you or someone close to you is experiencing any of the following, it may help to speak to a mental health professional: low mood or hopelessness lasting more than two weeks, marked changes in sleep and appetite, difficulty keeping up with daily tasks, or intense and uncontrollable anxiety. If there are thoughts of self-harm or of ending one's life, call 112 (emergency services) without delay or go to the nearest emergency department.
In psychological support today, music and other creative activities can play a supportive role alongside evidence-based approaches. In the course of individual therapy, the tools a person finds calming can also be discussed together with their own preferences; the core work, however, is a structured process focusing on thoughts, emotions, behaviours and relationships.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Evliya Çelebi really write that music was played at the darüşşifa?
Encyclopaedic sources report that Evliya Çelebi wrote that at the Bayezid II Darüşşifa in Edirne, a group of musicians performed music for the patients three days a week. This information is widely accepted in historical writing. For the details, however, it is worth consulting academic editions of the Seyahatname and expert commentary.
Is the Seyahatname a reliable historical source?
The Seyahatname is a very valuable testimony to everyday Ottoman life; but at times it has an exaggerated and literary style. Historians use it by comparing it with other documents. Numbers and extraordinary details in particular should be read with care.
Is it true that a different makam was played for each illness at the darüşşifa?
This story is widespread, but it has not been shown to be supported by a verified primary source. Pairings of makams with illnesses contradict one another from source to source and have not been scientifically tested. They should therefore be read as hearsay, not used as health advice.
Does listening to music help with mental distress today?
Listening to music can have a positive effect on mood for many people and can be a self-care tool. However, it is not enough on its own for ongoing depression, intense anxiety or other mental health difficulties. Music should be seen as a supportive element, alongside psychotherapy or a medical assessment where needed.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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