Pietro della Valle: Italian Traveler and Recorder of the Orient

Pietro della Valle

An Italian nobleman, traveler, writer, and musician. During the first half of the 17th century, he traveled extensively for an extended period through the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, the Holy Land, Persia, and India, leaving detailed records of the geography, religion, languages, customs, and history of the places he visited. In Baghdad, he married Maani, an Assyrian Christian woman, and also interacted with Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty. He is noted for documenting the ruins of ancient Babylon and bringing back bricks inscribed with cuneiform script from Nineveh and Ur to Europe. His travelogues serve as vital historical materials for studying the 17th-century Middle East and India.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Pietro della Valle
1532	Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618, Age: 54 years before birth, Period: Main period related to Sherley's diplomatic activities was 1603–1618, Location: Border region between Safavid Persia and the Ottoman Empire, Caucasus, Mesopotamia)
1586	Birth of Pietro della Valle (Period: April 2, 1586 (some sources list April 11), Location: Rome, Italy)
1611	Expedition of the Spanish fleet to the Barbary Coast (Age: 24 years old, Period: 1611, Location: Barbary Coast of North Africa)
1614	Writing and publication of the travelogue Travels to the East (Pietro Della Valle, Age: 27 years old, Period: 1614 to 1650s, Location: Various regions of the East and Rome) Beginning of pilgrimage journey to the East (Pietro Della Valle, Age: 28 years old, Period: June 1614, Location: From Venice to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul))
1615	Visit to Egypt and the Holy Land of Jerusalem (Age: 28 years old, Period: 1615–1616, Location: Alexandria, Cairo, Saqqara, Mount Sinai, Jerusalem, etc.)
1616	Meeting and marriage with Maani in Baghdad (Age: 29 years old, Period: 1616, Location: Baghdad (present-day Iraq)) Recording of ancient Babylonian ruins (Age: 29 years old, Period: Around 1616, Location: Around Baghdad, ruins of ancient Babylon (present-day Iraq)) Marriage (Pietro Della Valle, Maani Gioerida, Age: 30 years old, Period: Around December 1616, Location: Baghdad (present-day Iraq))
1617	Interactions with Abbas I (Age: 30 years old, Period: Around 1617–1618, Location: Around Hamadan, Isfahan, Ardabil, Safavid Persia)
1618	Stay in Isfahan and concept of a Christian community (Age: 31 years old, Period: 1618–1621, Location: Isfahan (present-day Iran))
1621	Persian-Portuguese War (Battle over Hormuz, Age: 34 years old, Period: 1621–1622, Location: Hormuz Island, Persian Gulf coast) Death of Maani and preservation of her remains (Age: 34 years old, Period: Late 1621 to around 1622, Location: Around Minab, southern present-day Iran near the Strait of Hormuz)
1623	Travels in India and recording of local society (Pietro Della Valle, Age: 36 years old, Period: 1623–1624, Location: Surat, Goa, Calicut, etc., present-day west coast of India)
1625	Return to Rome (Age: 38 years old, Period: 1625–1626, Location: Muscat, Basra, Aleppo, Naples, Rome, etc.)
1626	Marriage (Pietro Della Valle, Mariuccia, baptismal name Tinatin de Ziba, Age: 39 years old, Period: Post-return in 1626, specific details unknown, Location: Presumed Rome, but details are unknown)
1636	Conflict with Papal authorities and temporary exile (Pietro Della Valle, Age: 49 years old, Period: Around 1636, Location: Rome and Ferrara)
1652	Death of Pietro della Valle (Age: 66 years old, Period: April 21, 1652)

Map

Category
Element

Asia World

Group	List
Ottoman Empire	Mehmed II Bayezid II Selim I Suleiman I Selim II Murad III Mehmed III Ahmed I Murad IV Mehmed IV Mustafa II Ahmed III
Safavid dynasty	Suleiman I Abbas I Shah Ismail I Tahmasp I Ismail II Safi I Abbas II Sultan Hossein Nader Shah
Trade and Diplomacy	Piri Reis Hayreddin Pasha Turgut Reis Aruj Reis Abbas I Anthony Shirley Robert Shirley Jean Chardin Pietro della Valle William Baffin

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Pietro della Valle: Italian Traveler and Recorder of the Orient

Pietro della Valle

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