The first human to fly
By Sadhique A.M.I.
265 years before the Wright Brothers flew, a Turkic Muslim by the name Hezarfen Ahmat Celebi made a successful flight of almost 1.5 Km and became the first ever human being to fly on his own.
This amazing and important piece of information has been totally blacked out in history. Last year (2004) was celebrated as the centenary year of man's flight, but not a single word was spoken about this foremost aviation achievement, let alone the false claim of the Wright brothers' flight being the man's first ever flight.
Man First Flew Successfully
In 1638; Not In 1903
Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi (1609-1640) was a Turkish scientist, who lived during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Murat IV and incurably interested in aviation. He had been experimenting with glider flights for sometimes. (Gliders are aerodynamic wings attached to a frame to which the pilot clings onto. In practice gliders are engineless airplanes. Large gliders with fuselages as large the ones in conventional aircraft were used during World War II to land airborne troops.)He kept his faith in man's ability to fly and tried several designs of wings. Despite peoples' ridicules, he kept his attempts alive. One day in the year 1638, in front of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Murat IV and a huge crowd of onlookers, he succeeded in flying. He flew from the gigantic Galata Tower in one shore of the Bosphorous straight (On the European of Istanbul) to the other shore on the other side of Istanbul, the distance being 1.5 Km. He had a successful landing, which makes it to be the first-ever controlled, sustained and successful flight by a human being.
The famous Turkish traveller and historian of the time, Evliya Celebi, in his book Seyahatname (A book of travel) recorded this extraordinary feat. He was an eyewitness to the event. Recordings of this achievement abound in Turkish chronicles and folklores, but precious little to be found in the Western world. This ill treatment or Blackout of a major historical fact is more in line with the West's preoccupation with belittling and denying Muslims' huge contributions towards the advancement of human civilisation. Still history is being written and read, hailing the Wright brothers' flight in 1903 as the "first flight by the mankind". In fact the Wright brother's flight was a historic achievement - no doubt about that. But unfortunately it was not the first flight by Man. Rather it should be categorized as the "First Mechanised Flight" by man. Any way it should be noted that this flight by the Wright brothers opened the way for the mass aviation we experience today.
Sultan Murad, being impressed by this accomplishment, gave Hezarfen a reward of 1000 gold coins befitting the adventurer's name. The word Hezarfen means the "Expert in 1000 sciences" in Turkish. But the consequences of the adventure to the adventurer are not that rosy. It is believed that, upon listening to ill advice from envious sources, the Sultan exiled this rare and triumphant scientist to far off Algeria. To honour the first aviator in human history and one of her proud son, Turkey has published a few stamps on suitable occasions. But only a minor airport has been named after him, whereas the main airport has been named after the more earthly Mustapha Kamal "Ataturk". May be the misty West looking eyes of the secular Turkish administration found Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi not secular enough.
Previous Attempts By Muslim Adventurers In Flying
In 875, A Muslim scientist from the then Muslim Spain. Abbas Ibnu Firnaz, flew from a mountain with a glider, which he innovated through various studies and several attempts. He invited the people of Cordoba to witness his attempt. By all accounts, he succeeded in flying through some distance, but he didn't make a soft landing. He broke his back, the injury which was to hurt him throughout his life. Due to this injury he couldn't correct the failure, which he blamed his oversight in designing the tail. He was a brilliant scientist who produced glass from sand, devised a chain of rings to simulate the motions of celestial bodies and invented a clock. He died in 888 reportedly of his back injury. 23 years before him, another Spanish Muslim scientist, Armen Firmann tried to fly from a tower in Cordoba with wing shaped cloaks attached to his garments. He survived with minor injuries thanks to the air trapped in his "wings". But ultimately he qualifies to be the first human to use "Parachutes".
First Manned Rocket Flight Was Achieved By A Muslim As Well
A friend of Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi, by the name Lagari Hasan Celebi is the first man to fly on a Rocket. This information may seem amazing, but it is true.
May be with a desire to equalize his friend's astounding act or just as another adventure, Lagari Hasan Celebi made a conical shaped cage and filled it with gun powder. On the day of the wedding of Sultan Murat IV's daughter, he climbed into the cone and fired, before an astonished crowd of spectators. He reportedly flew a few hundred feet and fell into the sea (The Bosphorous Straight). But rather strangely he also met the same fate as that of his friend. He may have been rewarded handsomely, but was exiled to Algeria, probably alleged with suspicions over witchcraft.
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