18 = Halil Inalctk

state and governing. Acording to him the four virtues a ruler must
possess are'a.dl, lti.lm, sehA' , o.nd hikmet. Speaking of the importance
of ltilm, he transnrits the proverb " Mlirt.ivvet Eeriatryener " (generclsity overcornes the slnria), (Tdrihr,r Abu'l-.feth, p. 20).

Dervish and Sultan: An Analysis of the Otnmn Ilaba

Vilnvefitamesi

29. V. Bartholcl, Orto, As7,61TilrkTarihi lnkhnda dcrsler (Istanbul,

1927),p.7 5. On the Karakhanids, see O. Pritsak ,lA,vol. VI, pp. 25I'
73; unfortunately, we have not seen the same author's unpublished
dissertation on the subiect.
30. Arat, KmadguBilig, vol.I, Metin,"Girig," p. XXII; S. M. Arsal,

ibid., p.94.

Kutadgu Bilig, vol. [, Metin, p. XXVII.

32. On perfornting iustice as a duty to God in ancient Iran, see the

At-tdc fi altldki 'l-mulfik, attributed to al-C0hiz (Beirut, 1955),

pp. 268-70.
33. We prefer "just"for koni here.
34. The new edition by T. Tekin, A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic
(The Hague: Mouton, 1968).
35. On this problem, see H. Inalctk, "Osntanlt Hukukuna giri;,"
SBF D^ergisi 1312, pp. 102-107;_S. M. Arsal, ibid., pp. 287 -9L
36. Alrk PagazAde ,Tevdrih-i AI-i Osmdn (Istanbul, 1949),pp. 103i04: "Bu bdb Osman Gdzt'nin kanunu ahkdmin bildilrtir."
37 . See the publication of H. Darke, p. 162; English translation of
NizAmtr 'l-Mulk, The Book of Government or Rules of Kings, translated by H.Darke (London, 1960), pp.I27-28.
38. On the great toy after the concluest of Istanbul in 1453, see Evliya Qelebl, Seydltatndnte, vol.X, pp. 60-62.
39 . Ftridrkhh Mehmet, SildhdarTartht, vol. I, ed. A. Refik (Istanbul,
1928), p.271. On this tradition as a public institution in the Turkish
state, see F. Koprtilti, "IslAnt Atnme hukukundan ayn bir Ti.irk Amme
lrukuktr yok mudu r?" I [ . T ur k T ari h K urul tay t Zab ttlar t, pp. 3 8 3 -4 1 8.
40. This point has been made well known by I. Kafesoflu:
"Selgtrklular," IA, fasc. 105, p. 390.
41. An English translation of Kutadgu Bilig is now available:
Wisdom of Ro1'sl Glory, [rans., with an introduction and notes, by
Robert Dankoff, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London,
I

983.

VLr;rrp,l\tE-t S(tLTAN ITIuAN, also referrecl to in the rvork as Viltt'yetname-i ShahlorVilayetname-i SultanBaba, was cotllpleted in August
1483 by ong of Baba's dervishes, Ktigtik Abclal, a nickname given by
Otman Baba hirnself.lFrom a reference in tlte rvork we learn that the
author was with Otman Baba in the Dobruja irt 1462. Written by one
of Baba's dervishes who evidcntly collectecl nraterial carefully, and
from Baba's own words, the l/ilri.yetnarre colrstitutes an intportant
source for an authentic accourlt of Baba's life, the Sufi cloctrine of
abdalism, ancl the history of Rtrrn Abdallarr in general. Although
preserrted and interpreted as annno.ktbname, Baba's life ancl extraordinary deeds are told in a way that allows us to penetrate the actual
situations and motives. Instead of stereotyped Stories common to such
hagiographic literature, all of the stories obviotrsly belong to Baba's
own experiences. With this characteristic the rvork can be ptlt in the
same category as Manakib al-'Arifin or Manakib-i Gi,ilghetti, ratlter
than with the Saltukname.2 Here I shall concelltrate on the data u'itlr

regard to Baba's relatiorts with the sultan, leaving a Systenlatic

examination of this important historical source to another study.
Kiigiik Abdal, author of the Vilayetname, being well informed
aboutthe Sufi doctrine fronr rvhich Otman Baba's deecls were clerived,
added an introduction with illrrrtrinating colllnlents:

This is the age of vilol'a (davr-i vildya) . . . vilaya is

shepherd of prophethood. Wlioever

the

is s gbj ec t to the appeara nce

of vilaya, he is the promoter of it in the outer and furner worlds,

because prophethood is eltrusted to vilaya. Anyone who is
against vilaya ancl the holder of vilaya becomes a denier of
prophethood, and therefore an infidel.

2O

= Halil Inalctk

Dcruish and Sultan

= 2l

Ilelow lieaven Gocl has l'tis avliya,' nobody knows whcl

they are except Cod hinrself. Now a vall is the man who
controls everything in this world bllt needs nobody.

When you give a blorv with the hancl of clivine po\ver

The oppressor realizes his place befure vou

Vilaya becornes absolutely pure and clean. He is the

klnhfa. of God irr the universe. . . . He extinguisltes his
human limitations in the state of union with God. . . . At this
stage a true dervish desires nothing but a,l-hakk (the Truth,
the Divinity). FIe enjoys a total freedom from worldly ties.

You r-nake the sLrltan of the *,clrld realize his riglrt place
You take the souls of all cre atures
And in the encl yoll remain as the only.orre irr the universe.

ary ( kha lffa - i khuda ),

is that man who makes happen anything he wishes . . . and
K utb al - A kt ab,t hat i s, God'

emi

ss

for it

In brief, according to tlie Vilal'etnarne Otrnarr Baba was the frurb

or "the pole of the universe" in his tirne, ancl so all things inclucling the
Sultan had to recognize and consult him in their acts. The itlea of
kutbiyya is the basic belief in the radical forms of the Islarrric Sufi
doctrine, in particular, in the kolandoriyye ancl abtlaltsm.
In his discourse on vilaya and vali, 'Abcl al-Il.alrrniln Jalni3 tlistinguislres a particular group of melr of ttila),a (oslmLt al- vilttya r.tr osltalt

needs no means or help. . . . The kutbiyya is the

higheststage (rnakam)thatmancanreach. . . . Extinguishing
all his human linritations a ktttb is in a constant state of
errtasis. He sees everything in the universe in his own
being. . . . He is on the throne of kutbiyya in the center of
the assembly of souls. A kutb contemplates al-hakk all the
time. The two worlds become a paradise for mankind for his

al-sirr) who are supposed to be in a constftnt state <tf conte mplation of

God (mushahada). Living in a constant state of entasis (jazba), they
are oblivious of all worldly things. This is the highesr srage in the path

sake.

of

The dlvan-i saltanal (irnperial council), rvhich Otman held by

corrvoking his abdals on special occasions, recalls the "assembly of
souls."

The Vilayetnanrc reproduces Baba's own words exactly as he

pronounced them, revealing an Azeri accent that changed 'k' into
'kh.' According to Kiigtik Abdal, what made Otman Baba different
from other avliya was that he claimed to embody Divine Truth (hakD,
as r.vell as the Prophets Muhanrmed, Jesus, Moses, and Adam. He was

the Prophet's secret mystery , sirr. Baba said: "I am the iron pole from
the earth to the sky," rvhich was obviously a reference to being kutb
or one of the avtad (four poles in the doctrine, see below).
Otman Baba made people beiieve in his divine power by instilling
fear in their hearts, by using his club (ktittlik), and by manifesting his
Imyba and calal (awe-inspiring majesty). In Sufi doctrine, makhafa
(fear) is one of the paths, the other two being mahabba (love) and
ma'ri.ftt (gnosis). Thus, it seems that Otman Baba gave priority to
nrakhafa in his yo,rI(a..Vtla,yetname celebrates his overpowering his

opponents with these verses:

You, power of God, master of the age,

You terke the life of those rvho denv:

Sufi. The sign of prophethoclcl is forever manifest with thern. They

are in control of everything in the universe. Rain fall,s, sultarrs renrain

in power, skies turn in space for the sake of their blessing (ltaraka).

They are not known to people nor recognizable irr their appear-arlce.
Sufi literature elalrorates a dctailecl description of this particular
group. It is said that at the bottorl there are three hundred aklry,l1,y trit1,
the "power of loosing and bindi ng" ( hall wa' I' a kd ),' forty of these are
called abdttl.a Seven of the abdals occupy the seat of bttdulti. ancl four
of the buclall occupy the seat of ay,tad. Anrong thern there are three
nukaba and one kutb. They are all knorvn to eaclr other arrcl each acts
with the knowleclge and agreemerrt of the others. Each of the seven
abdals is assigned by God to take care of one of the seven regions of
the world, and the four awtacl guard the four carclinal points.
The akhyar donot need a guicle (nurshid) toreach kutbiyl,cr.In each
age lives one kutb or gltawth rvho is a successor to the Prophe t irr
calling people to the rmth (hakH. Abclals do nor stay in one place.
They are free from all worldly concerns, so they tlo rrot have fanril1.,
home, or any kind of property. Th ei r tonrbs are wil I rout a tracre. A ll rh is
explains why abdals clo not have, as a nrle, an establi shed. tarike or ir.
shrine. They are not known to ordinary people, who usuall;' 1'L. thern
for fools or for ones possessecl and rnistreat thent. In the 1/iltl.)'etnarnc.
Otman Baba is presented as a kutb al-akta.lt in control of tr',,rt rvorlds

Deruish and Sullan

22 = Halil Ina.lctk
(ta,sarruf-i du jaltan).'fhere are twelve kutbs for each age. Before
Otnran Baba, Hajji Bekdash and then Sheikh Shudja were kutb in the
region of Rirrn (Anatolia). Kutb is the center and axis of the world, and
all the happenings in this world take place with the knowledge and

irritiative (ikdam) of the kutb. Only rarely does the kutb assunre
control of both the spiritual and the material worlds. Two intams,
"Abd al-Rabb and "Abd al-Malik, take seats on either side of the kutb
(Otman Baba had two abdals: Deli Umur and Kaymal), and the kutb
supervises the angelic kirrgdom and worldly kingdom through them.
To follow Otman Baba's deeds (karamat) as told in the Vila1ts1n6m.,
rve have also to remerlber the Sufi doctrine of the universal man (alirtsdn ol-komil).s Tlre outel nrilcrocosn (ol-za.ltir) includes all individual beings, and duality is clf tlie nature of this world. Ilut in the sight
of the Essence the universe appears like a single one. Unity of beings
ancl things is the essential truth. "Arnong all the beings of this world
nran alone has a vision which in virtuality includes all things. . . . All
the possibilities which are unfolded in the world are principally
contained in man's intellectual essence." In man, the subjective
polarization of the spirit reaches its culminating point. The global
meaning is actualized only in one who has effectively realized all the
universal tnrths reflected in his terrestrial form, and who is thus
identified with the Perfect or Universal Man. Among men, the
prophets and the poles (kutb), having realized union or the Supreme
Identity, becorne the Universal Man. FIe is the Unique Prototype (alarunuzai al-fartd). All of the divine qualities or relationships (nasab)
are integrated in him.6
For Max Weber, who was iltterested in dervish religion in Islam,T
the Otman B aba type of dervish comes under the category of contem-

plative mystics: The "contemplative mystic is concentrated with

perceiving the essential meaning of the world. . . unity beyond all
empirical reality. . . . (He) requires of himself the maintenance of his
state of grace against every pressure of the mundane order."8 The
conternplative mystic believes he is God's instrltntetrt. For him,
mystic illumination constitutes "the most notable fonn of an awareness of having executed the divine will." His activism comes from the
belief that he has reached the mystical truths which "come to assume
a central position within, and to exert an integrating influence upon,
the total view of the world." He becomes what Weber calls a
"rnystagogue" and

revolutionary.

23

Our Vilayetname provides a description of arr abclal. When asked

by the cadi of Dirnavi (Trnovo), Otman Baba himself defined abdal
as follows. "An abdal is the man who gives up all but Allah (nttl siva
allah), and finds himself absorbeclrvithin the kx,e of the I)ivine'fruth.
At tlris union (vtsal) tliere is no roonr for other things. The abdal finds
hinrself and all things which are written in the Divine -I'ablet (klmtti-tlaht)in God's creatures, and sees nothing but the Divine Tntth (alha!k) around himself. FIe is the one rvho reacltes (erer.) the stage of
absoltrte and direct knowledge of the Trutlt ('ilnt al-yaktn)." On
another occasiotr, his abdals, ansrvcring the cacli of Eclirne, clescribing
Otrnan Baba as "the old man (kocu)of our age. I Ie is the kutb al- o ktdlt
and the sun in the zodiac of the Divine Truth. And rve are his slaves
seeking knowledge (mlib banda)." Kiigi"ik Abdal writes: "Ilerc and
hereafter, (the holder of) the vilaya becornes Gocl's favor ancl rcve als
God's contpassion and power for the rvorld. It is (the holder of) the
Vil[ya who is the master of the world." In fact, Otnrarr Baba's life as
descrjbecl in the Vilayetnanrc by one of his disciples is the rnost
autherttic and reliable picture of wlrat arr abclal is and rvlrat his beliefs
are.

The Vilayetname refers to Otnran Baba nrost of tlre tirre as kdn-i.

vilayet (mine of vilaya), also occasionally as sirr-i llakk (Mystcry of

God), dltat-i bi-rnithal (unrivaled essence), rnoksud-i irtsrht (purpose
of nran), kutb-i alam (pole of the universe) , or kutb al- a ktab (pole of
poles). Titles or attributes used by thc rvordly powers, such as sultan,
shah, padishah are also given to hirn to refer to his absolute sovereigrr

position in the whole universe.

Abdal activism and its sociopolitical nature beconte clear i.vhen the
abdals' actions and social connections are exarnined in light of their
belief. In their doctrine the paramount principle is to reach and help
the oppressed and helpless (ma2ltun), those who have left their home
and wander about ( ghartb), and the |orverles s (niskrn). They describe
themselves as gharib and miskin. They declarc they are against "those
who oppress people for their love of worldly possessions and vanity."
In their doctrine "those who have worclly acquisitions are not Gocl's

true slaves."

Throughout the Vilayetname we find Otman Baba helpirrg the

helpless in the fields or the ghazis in their fight against the infidels.
Helping the helpless at the right nroment is also one of the qualities of
Hidr and Ilyas, so irt theViltl.l,gtnanrc there is a closc association ancl

Dervish and Sultan

24 = IIa.lil Inalctk
Cooperatiolt bet\veep thepl ancl Baba. 01 the other ltatlcl, restorillg
order and justice on earth girres the group to rvhich the abdals belonged
its ntilitant character. andthis has a clirect bearing on otlr poillt in this
DaDer.

'

i in.- ) Ie hnret the Concl ueror becanre one of the mos t pou'erful and

Islarnic
aurocratic padishahs follori'ing his unprecedented deeds in
on the
pa.rticularly
his
subjects,
liistory'. anci since he imposed upon
the
Baba,
Otrnan
plans,
nontads. heavv obli-eatiorts for his inrperial
l/ilat"etname
The
kurb-i 'alant, chose him as the one to challenge'
revolves around the Sufi doctrine of kutbiyya and al-insan al'kamil'
the
and Otrnan Baba as ktttb at-aktab claims control not only of
Abdal
strriritual but also of the acttral socio-political life of his time'
grottps
with
Seglllented
aSsociation
Baba's
ntilitancy explains Otman
of Ottorlart societ\'. tlte frorttier ghazts and the Ytirtiks' Their large-

relrelliol occun'ed i1 1416 trpcler tfie leadelship of S[eik[Baclr

The
al-Din in the silule area \vhere Otman Baba later became active'e
centralistthe
Ytirtiksr0 felt strorrgly that they rvere suffering ttnder
peasbrtreliucratic regime of the Ottotnatt sttltaus' Since the settlecl
sc3le

AntS, lhe re' a-r'ri, coulct rtot be enrployecl for stlch tasks aS conStruction
of bridges ancl fortresses oI wOIk in the tnines, the central bttreaucracy
Yiiriiks
rnobilizecl Yiiriiks as readily available labor for such works'11

llot
were sr-rbiecteci to variotts military duties Llllder Strict regulations
in
the
gualds
or
footmen
only in these heavy works but also as light
extraordifrom
fortresses or raiclers at the frontier zones. E'xemption
plight of
ltary taxes as compensation was not ellollgh to alleviate the
theie pastoral no,lads, for all the restrictions ancl State regtrlations
brougiit unbearable burclens illcompatible with their basic economy
efld rva1, of life. A profouncl hostility tor'vard the increasingly buteauradical
cratizecl state of the sultans nrade the Yi"iriiks open to atly

they
propagancla, whether in the eastern Balkans or in Anatolia, where
movewere an illtpoltant part of the population'r2 Socio-religious
rule
ments rvith raciical views that denied the iegitimacy of the sultan's

to
or anything represeptirtg tfue present order of the world appealed
thent. Otrlan Baba's abclais, nrainly shepherds-the most destitute
the
melnbels of the Yiiri-iks society-joined him and created in hirn
he
everything
and
great
sultan
sgpelmali powel challenging the
"if
sOmeOne
repreSented."DOn't you See," the Vilayetnlme States,
he
owes his livelihoocl io a worldly ruler (diinya begi), and somehow
they
disagrees with what he orders, they accuse him of rebellion'
throw hirn in a dungeon and kill hinr." The Ytirliks, in this tradition'

25

were not clistinguished frorn the frontier ghirzrs. The gltd.zi.y-ti.n are
cited by "Agrk Paga-zlde side by side wirh rlre abc{rtlan, as the
instruments of God to spread His .,vord.13
Bttt now, ghazts were to be founcl only on the distaltt frontiers of the
empire. Receiving no salary, as the standirrg anny or the lirrrar-hcllclers
did, they had to rely exclusively orr the lrooty they coulcl takc irr the
dangerous raids into neighboring Christian .countries. Both groups,
the ghhzis and abdals, of the same sclcial background, macle a strong
partnership. Jihadr frontier fighting in the path of Gorl, and rlujahada
of the dervish to concluer the patir leading to God, had a common

mystic meaning.ra
To be a dervish exempts one frorn paying taxes, and the income of
a nlonastery provicles foocl. For a l)oor peasal)t, who had to leave lris
father's home because the g:ift lanrl, eithcr bccause of its linritccl size
or for any other reason, could not l'eed an expancling l'amily, thc way
out was to run away. I-Ie could join raiders on the fl'ontier; or he could
be a wage laborer (irgat);or he could be a siltts (,rofta), rhat is, a
student at a srnall town rnadrosa,'or he could beconrc: 'r dervish. In all
of these endeavors he was freecl from taxes ancl burclrucratic corrtrol.
On the otherhand, to rvattder about in the countrysiclc n,as neither easy
or safe. Otman Baba in his wanclerings was taken as a runaway slar,'e
several times by ordinary lr4uslim and Christian peasants.
Those who joinedOtman Baba as his abdals were mostly shephercls
from the Yi.iriik population of Dobruja and the eastenr Balkan range
This area, densely populated by Ytiriiks or Tiirkmen (Turcomans),
forefathers of the present-day Turks of Bulgaria, prospered by raising
sheep and exporting to large cities wool, hiries, ancl c:heese, as r.vell as
their coarse woollert and felt manufactures. Yanbolu, one of the towns
.

Baba visited, was an intportarrt center <lf felt manufacturing

ancl

exported throughout the empire.ls It is interesting to rlote that rvhile

otman Baba was in Edirne, a Yi.irtik who brought sheep to the city
joined his abdals. Baba outraged the butchers of Eclirne by taking
lambs rvhich were hanging by their feet ancl throrving thern in the nrucl
in the street. They brought the case to the cacli's court, but he coulcl clo
rrothing against Baba. In short, Otrnan appears to have recnrited his
clervishes nrostly frclrn anrong the sinrple Ytiriiks <lf the eastenl
Balkans, from Yize to the mouth of the Danube.l6 It is to be renrembered that the settlement of Yiirtiks and their forrrring of small villages
was an ongoing process in the area.17 Yiirtiks in Dobruja ancl DeliOrman served at the sarne time as ghazis or raiders (u.ktnus), uncler

26 = Halil Inalctk
l'an.totrs frontier begs such as

Mihal Oglu 'Ali Beg. In the V[ldyetnune,

'Ali Beg is described as a ghazi beg rvho lecogllizes Otman Baba as

il Saint, and becontes a kind of protector. The frontier begs were
traclitionally autonontous anci centrifugal in the face of the sultatt's
centralist government. This conflict became especiaily tetrse during
Mehrned the Conqueror's time, since he had embarked upon a
particularly strong centralist empire.
In the past, the same policy appears to haveplayed an importantpart

in the ten'ible insurection of abdals tlnder the leadership of Sheikh

Badr al-Din, in rvhich the frontier population, and their brothers who
were left in the Sarukhan-Izmir area, participated.ls (Interestingly
enough, Otrran Baba's early activities took place in Sarukhan before
he nloved--or was cleported-to the eastern Balkans.) It wils tlnder
Bay,ezicl I (1389- 1402) that the Ytiri.iks of Sartrkhan were exiled to
Runreli, and the Yiiri.ik rnigration continued later on aS better ecorronric conditions artd ghaza' booty attracted thern'
Historical sources suggest that there was a constant migration of
Turconran tribal grollps fronr the east.te They first an'ived in westerll
Anatolia, and then crossed the Darclanelles to Settle in the eastern
Balkans and Macedonia. Baba started his career in Azerbaijan, then
moved. to western Anatolia, and finally to the eastern Balkans. Ilis
center of activities became the area between Misivri, Zagra and
Babadag. In this regiotr Tanrrdagl, a center of the Ytjrijks knorvn as
Tatnrrdaf Yiirtiklen, was the favorite wandering area of our dervish,
and finally his tarlka and tekke were located there. In brief, Otman
Baba's ussociation with the Ytirtiks of the eastem Balkans is a key
point in urtderstanding his social and religious background.
There is a comrnon assLllnption that the oriental ruler has absolute
po\\/er and that the ruled are totally passive and submissive. But
advice-to-king literature of the East makes it qr-rite clear that lvithout

popular Support a ruler is not Secure on his throue.20 What made

dervishes so powerful and defiant was precisely that they were
tremendotrsly influential in shaping public opinion in the traditional
society in which they lived.
The dervishes, preachers, and rnell of religion in general assumed
a legitinrizing authority in the Islamic state. The bureaucrat-historian
Mustafa 'Ali advised the sultan to banish those preachers who
compared themselves to Bayazid Bistami or Junayd Baghdadi and
misled sinrple-minded people by their demagoguery. "Those socallecl spirittral guides (nrursltid) cause alienation of people from the

Deruish and Sultan

27

Sultan by their unfounded criticisms."2t An irrrportant part of the

putrlic treasure goe.s to thousand"s of r/rl. a-gtiyan, who hatl no other
fitnction than "sayirrg prayers" for the sultan. But, in fact, these clt{ a.gilyan, who includccl dervishes, were expected to perforpr a rnest
fundamental function for the sultan by supporting hirn among the
people. Such a function was assumed by deryishes in the countryside.
The vilayetname, however, bitterly atta'cks all those copforrlist
dervishes:
T'hey are afraid of the lords of this rvclrlcl (d[inS,6 begleri),
They invite people ro rhe parh of the Trurh,

B,t their follorvers arc rone but boys and w.rnen.

All they are concernccl about are. rnaterial gains,
They have no self-respect or honest1,.

Tlte gror-rp which Otman clenourrced as hypocrites incluclecl ulerrn,

sufis, rlanislunerutCs, and nnsh41,iftlr. Ulema ancl clanishmencls were
particularly hostile, even llore inte-nsely than govctrnment authorities,
toward otman and his abdal:. rvho attacked thcnr because abclals
believed they were concerned only with zahir.-.- rhe appearancesand not with the Truth. In the Vilal,synanre, sufi

Are those devout

Muslims who perform only the outwarcl ritual for the sake of favors
in the other world. Mashayikh are those sheikhs of religious orders
who acceptwa.kf grants from people or thc sta1o, establish a lnonas*
tery, and secure for themselves and their offsprirrg arl easy life. In fact,
many such zaviyes, established for the sheikhs o1'particular orders,
controlledquite large sources of income iri the fonrr of land and. anirtral
stock free of taxation. Adrninistration of the inconre was in the hancls
of the sheikh, who transmittecl it to his offspring. Some of the sheikhs
were very prosperous indeed.22In their diplornas from the slltan they
were asked to serve the travelers and the poor ancl to constantly pr.ay
for the sultan. For the abdals, such conforrnist rnashayikh vvere
hypocrites. As the vtlayetnonrc puts it, "They sell a false ma,rifa,
amass worldly possessions, and pretend to provicle spiritual guiciance."
Without any wakf, Baba perfornred char-itable acts. on the mountain he started building a bridge, inviting others to cooperate in its
completion. I-Ie and his abclals livecl on alrns rvhich were given
voluntarily. In all the stories in tlre l/iloyetnome, Otrnan Baba reacts
violently against those who tr1, to give lrir-r"r gifts, even when the sultan

28 = Holil Inalctk
offcrs tlrcrn in tcltal hunrility. Sonretinres as a favor (rnu.ruvvrl)

Dervish arrd Sultar^t

he

accepts a gift in order to distribute it iu"nong his abdals and the needy.
In the ascetic period of his career he sustained himself by eating leaves
and the fnrit of rvild trees. But when later on he established his own
tartko. and had his oivn abdals, he had to feed them. Apparently he
never accepted wakfs from the sultan, and when the sultan offered to
build a monastery for hirn he refused. The Vilayetname tells us,
horvever', that he asked peasants or ghazi begs returning from a booty
raid to send sheep as votive offerings (nadhr). Otman Baba and his
abdals are described as rernaining absolutely faithful to the Sufi
principle of poverty (fakr), in orcler to distinguish themselves from
those "hypocrite" dervishes and mashayikh. Nevertheless, Otman
Baba r.vas against begging. Charities can be accepted, he said, only
u,lterr the1, n1. givert absolutely volurttarily try the donor.
Otrlan Raba neither rejectecl rror directly challenged the porver and
thc authority c'll the great ghilzr sultan l\4chnrect the Conclueror, Lrut he
made hinr believe and adrnit tliat Otman Baba himself was responsible
for all his ghaza victories, because he was the axis (kutb) of the world
in the age, the Divine J'ruth, and the one and only ptlwer in the
turtiverse rvhich determined things to happen both here and in the
hereafter. Sultan Mehnred claimed to be the forentost ghazi of his age,
as expressed in his victory letter to the sultatt of Egypt after the
collquest of Cclnstantinople. Later, he declared to the world that the
sword of ghaza was in his hand. After the conquest, when Ak Shams
al- Din, his spiritual mentor, said that the conquest was the work of the
awiLlts, Mehrnet replied: "It was my srvorcl that took the city." Now
Otrnan Baba, the spiritual guide of the frontier ghazis, came and
shou,ecl tlre ghazi sultan that rvithout his knowledge and support he
could achieve nothing.
What makes ctur 1/ilayetnanrc of special interest is that unlike most
of the rnanakibnames it chronicles the career of the saint in close
relation with that of Mehmed the Conqueror, and associates the saint's
most spectacular rniracles with the sultan. The Vilayetnarzre follows,
rvith remarkable accurac)'itt chronology, the sultan's deecls and the
irrlportant e\/ents of his tinre.
One day,, Otn-ran Baba, sitting at Silivr-i-Kapr in Istanbul, overheard
the sultan express his intention to capture Belgrade front the l-lurtgarians, while walking and discussing the carnpaign with Mahmud
Pasira. The den'ish rvarned the sultan not to undertake this canipaign:
"The1, shall squeeze fire in the bells and you rvill have to flee"

29

("Qttnla.nna od trktr.rlar, kagarstn"). 'I'lre sultan becanre angr.y

ancl
pulled out his sworcl out. Mahmuci pasha rushecl up arrd saic1, .,My

lord, this man is not what you think. I{e is a nran of viltiya.Despite the

warning, Mehnred undertook the carnpaigrr, ancl everything otrnal

had said came true. Artother tinre, Otrnan interceyrted the sultan
on his
tour of the city, ancl asked straiglrtarvay: " l'ell nre who is the sultan,
you or I?" The sultan, remenrbcring Baba's wortls about the Belgracle
campaign, dismounted at oncc and kissecl the dervish's hand: ,,you
a-re the pAdishah and the Divine sirr, my belovecl father.
I am only your
hurnble servanr." Baba said: "yor should knorv that I am pRdisirah,

not you," attd then they exchartged mysterious sign s (nnrntttzti.t).

Later, when the sultan sent ornran Baba golcl pieces with one of his
soloks, the dervish becarrrc angrv ancl shoutecf at rlte solak. ,,Do 1ot
bring this filth close to nte." Thus, aftcr the Ilelgracle carnpaign the
sultan had complete faith in Otnran, s wiltt1t11.
It was tltc cttstorrt with Otfomun sultans to rvalk around thc city in

disguise to hear',vhat was said about them

and. to

surprise wrorrgdoers.

When the sultan was touring the citr,'s monasteric.s to fincl out wlat
people were saying about hirn, Raba recognizccl hinr ancl
askrrd:
"Now, tell n-re at once, who is otrnan, you or I?,'J'he
strltpn, startlecl
by this cluestion, repliecl: "My bel.vecl father, olrnan, is y.u, I anr
not." Baba said: "You nrust believe that I arn otman ancl vou are mv
J
J
sorl."

The most drarnatic Stor5r in the Vilayettnnre is the one ciescribilg

hor'v the dervish irnposed himself as a mentor of the sultan.
The story
begins with the arrival of Otman Baba in Eclirne u,itlr his three hunclred
abdals in late 1414. By their appcarance ancl behavior Baba ancl his

abdals stunned the torvnspeople: "'rhel,dicl not lclok like an1, group
ef
people in this world." Crowcls nrshecl to see these strange clerviihes
"with the awe-inspiring huge lna." at their head. with a club in his
hand otman Baba rvas chasing the crorvcl, shouting, .,you
ugly
townsmen, shall I have to be afiaicl of yo,? No, beca'se I a*r
Gocl's
Mystery (sirr) lvitho.t a sign." Their presence i. the citv causcrl
people to argue and becorne clividecl arnong themselves. Ii
appears
that the sirnple people fearecl ancl showecl an intense hostilitl,; aricl

tle

adnrinistrators, cadi ancl subcrslu,tried to get rid of these trorrblemakers as soon as possible. Otrnart Ilaba's public statements macle
the
ulema furious. He declarecl: "It is I who cieated this city, I anr
the sign
of rruth (hakk).I am the Prophets Adanr, Muhammad, Jesus, ancl
Moses' I have no fear of yo.. . . . with Gocl's cornmanci I horci in nrv

30 = llalil Ina.lctk
hands the souls of all of you." The ulerna decided that by uttering these
rvords he proved hintself an infidel. The cadi, threatening to put all in
jail, urged them to leave the city; otherwise, he said, he would report
to the sultan.
Ornran Baba and his abdals left in the direction of their original
horuelancl in the eastern Balkans, but they had to retum from KrrkKilise (rrow Krrklareli) to Edirne. The reason given in the Vilayetname
is that there Baba, throwing a look (nazar) in the direction of Istanbul,
received the inspiration to go to "the City of Hasan and Husayn." The
sante source makes it clear a bit later that the sultan had ordered that
Baba and his abcials be sent to Istanbul in custody." At this point a
dreant ctre anrt by one of the abdals shorvs horv they actually felt abotrt
tlris order. In the dream, f|rc lrilayetnarne relates, a nlan with the
appearaltce of 'Ali descends frolrt the sky wearing red headgear (ktztl
bork)and holding a sword, atrcl addresses Otrnan Baba,saying: "You,
the sirr of the two worlds. do me a favor and let me massacre these
hypocrites." Otman replies thatit is not the time, and says to be patient.
The nran front the sky says: "How can we be patient in the face of such

oppression and injustice, already beyond endurance?"

Such a rebellious mood reflects how Sheikh Badr al-Diti's abdals,
and later Shah-Kulu's follorvers,2o felt about the Ottoman governlnent. Irt fact, Baba challenged even the sultan. When the sultan's
emissary, a ku1, arrived to take him to Istanbul in a coach, he said, in
"his arve-inspiring majesty" (lnybava jalal):"Who is that man you
call Mehmed?" and waved his club in the air. He dissipated his abdals'
fears and led them to Istanbul. The Vilayetname tells that his journey
to Istanbul served to enhance his fame ancl prestige. At Baba-Eskisi,
for exanrple, tlie people rvelcomed him, kissing his hands and slaughtering sacrificial sheep for him. Even the kul, evidently a Janissary,
confessed that his headgear (bork) canre from Hajji "Bekdash." When
the company came in sight of Istanbul at Ktigiik-Qekmece, Baba told
his abdals: "Halt, let us take this fortress and massacre the almy of the
jealous ones, and cut the breasts of the atheists." The Vilayetnarne
interprets these words as follows: Sultan Mehmed and the Muslims
living in this city conquered and made it Muslim only in appearance
(zahir) ; but no"v it rvas the age of vila1,a, and the city should be the
scerle of its rniracles.
When Otrnan Baba and his abdals entered the city, crowds came to
rvatch thern. While some people found them odd and srange, others
were deeply impressed, taking them for holy men. The authorities,

Dclish

and Sultan

3l

unaware of the sultan's change of nrind, hacl nracle preparations to

irnpale or srike thent on hooks at the At- I\4ei'clarrr, but thought that
they shotrld have the sultan's final orcler.'I<l thcir arnazenrent, thc
sultan orclered irtsteacl that Otnran Baba ancl his abclals shoulcl be
settled in the Krhq-Manastlrl (ne ar Silivri-Kapr). T'he abclals believecl
this was a rniracle by Otrnan Baba. On the part of thc sultan it rvas the
correct decision, if one considers rvhat the poptrlar reaction rvould.
have been throughout his realm to such a ntass execution of the abclals.
The ulerna, however, not bound by such concerns, insisterl that their
heresy should be elinrinatecl frorn the earth.
TheIrila,:'ctrtdrne tells us that the nlonastery was still sunounclecl by
a regirnent, and that the threat rvas still tlrere. In lutger, Otman Raba
then struck the ground with his club ancl shoutecl: "Look, I anr the Olcl
Man of the Last Age in this rvorld. I shall show 1,ou rvho I arn by
demolishing your palace oVer 1,11111 head. " Then a tcrrible storm broke
ottt in Istanbr,rl. The sultan was rt'rrning frorn one conter to another in
his palace. On the next day, he convokecl tlre impcrial council arrcl

asked about this unusual pherromenon. "'l'hey tolcl hinr," the

Vilayetntine sa1's, "thAt you choose to fight against a rlran who hacl the
power of thewhole universe rvitlr thc twent),-four thousancl prophets.
Otman Baba sits on the zodiac of both prophethoocl ancl sainthoocl
(nttbuvva and vilaya). rf you fell upon him even rvith an army of a
hundred thousand men, he woulcl crush 1,ou lvith orre hancl and bring
yourcrown ancl throne to the ground." The ulerna, hou,ever, rtrged the
sultan to execute at least sonre of the abclals as an exanrple to ,'those
who rnight atternpt to cause disscnsion arnong the Muslims." In
reading theVtlaT'etrutnrc one senses the extrenrely tense atmospherc
in Istanbul at that tirne. These events happcnecl just after the executiorr
of Mahmnd Pasha, whom public opinion, in opposition to the excessively atltocratic rule of thc conqueror, hacl nracle a ntartyr. Finally, the
sttltalt sent to the rrronastery the Grand Vizir Sinan Pasha with the
kadl'ttsker, then the heacl of the ulenra, r,vith a large conlpany.
Surrottncled by his abdals Otman Baba challengecl tlrenr also. Irinalll,,
he had to leave tlre citt,.
Gentile Bellini was in I\4ehnrecl the Conqueror's service in IstanLlul
during the period 1480 to 1481. The sultan askecl him to painr rhe
portrait of a dervish. Gian-Maria Angiolello, then a page at rhe
seraglio, tells us that the sultan rvas not pleased with the dervisfu, ancl

prohibited him front praising hinr by relating his concluests at the

Bazaar.zs When the painting was completeit the sultan askecl Bellini

Dervish ancl Sultan

32 = Halil Ina.lctk
rvhat he thought

of thc dervish. Upon his insistellce' the pairtter

expressecl his canclicl opinion and said: "FIe ntust be a madtttatl." The
sultan replieci: "But I do not wanf to be lauded by a nraclnlAn." Bellitti

said, "then why don't you make hirn your chief dervish?" and the
sultan acted accordingly. Angiolello adds that, in fact, "the Conqueror
did not believe in an1' religion, and that was everybody's opinion'"
From this interesting conversation it may be inferred that the sultan
showed the clervish reverence not out of sincere conviction but for
-l'opkapr Palace
pfactical reasolts, although letters discovered in the

archives inclicate that Mehmed II consulted holy men about the

outconle of his undertakings. Perhaps he, thought this was unavoidable, attcl even useful, in the envirottntent in rvhich he lived. In his
youth his teacher was the noted Molla Khosraw, who was known as
a legist of positive thinkirrg. But the dervish referred to in this story

cilllnot be. oturan Baba.

Accordirtg to the I/ila)'ctrtrlrnc, Otntart Baba died on 8 Rc.ieb 883/
5 OctoLrer I4TS.We are able to follorv his legacynotin rheVilayetname,
rvhich Stops with his death, but in a popular anollytllous chronicle.26
The assassiltation attempt against Bayezid II in the summer of 1492
mft1, [s related to Otman Baba's abdals. The chronicle says,
Returning frorn his canrpaign in Albania, Bayezid came
over to Mottastir wltere he stayed a few days. The same day
he set out frorrr Monastir. When he was crossing a stream,
a cursed man of heresy and unbelief, clad in felt, maybe a
I-Iaydari dervish, with rings on his neck and ears, an ullcircr.rmcised infidel, attacked the sultan to kill him. Waiting
for the sultan on his w?!, and thinking it was the right time
to attack, he suddenly assaulted him. Shouting "I anl the
I\4ahcli" (menem lv[altdl) and pulling a sword frorn inside his
felt cloak, he ruslied against the sttltan. Those cowardly
cltaushes who were marching in front of the sultan dispersed when the dervish approached to attack him. At this
moment Iskender Pasha, one of the sultan's viziers who
happened to be there, rushed and struck the man with his
mace so hard that he instantly rolled over his crushed head.
Some brave rnen rvho were close hastened and tore the

attacker into pieces with their srvords.2?

Two years later, rvhen there was great anxiety as a result of

preparations for a crusade in Rome with Jenr Sultan, pretellder to the
Ottonran throne, Bayezid ordered the cadi of Edirne to round trp all

-13

atheist abclals, clervishes, and rslrrks "in tlre area cast of I;ililrc ancl
Zagra,and punish, after inve.stigation ancl hcarings, tlrose anlong thenr

uttering blasphemous words."28 Accorclingly, the cacli nracle investigations and an'ested a few of "the followers of Othrnan Decle, rvho
was a possessed ntan (majzub), and exccuted thcm by trtrture. Another
group of forty or fifty dervishes were put to t()r tul'e, arrd trvo of thenr
who were found guilty under the shar'I larv rvere hanged. 'I'he rest of
the derryishes were deported to Anatcllia."
The chronicle, written for sirnple peclple, then relates a rniracle
performed by a dervish in Istanbul. This dervish crossed the se a frorn
Davud-Pasha-Kapusu to the other sicle of the rvater sitting on his
cloak. The chronicle aclcls: "There is rro rvonder, there are and the re
will be among people abclals, ntajztTlts, cre)$ antl r:c/is. Thc ordcr of
this trrtiverse clepertds ott tlterrr. But err:rrs cclnccnl thenrselves fi'rtnr
people and rvandcr about unkrtorvn. They clo not
'ulrke their uriracles

known to the public. T'hey rarely nrake thenr :tp1rt1r'cnt."

The abdals of the eastern Balkans survived thc 1 494 purge, horvevet.2e The khalifas and da"rs of Shah Isnta'il founcl follorvers antong
them in the area in the last anarchical years of Sultan Bayezid II. and
tunder Selirn I.30

NOTES
1. The author tells us that Otnran Baba hintsell' askecl solne

of his

abduls to recast his deeds.The work was entrusted to KiiEtik Abclal

The rnanuscript was originally a rvakf of ihe library of Hircr Bektag in
Krrgehir. It is a unicunt copied by Sheikh Onrer ("[Jnrar') b. f)arvislr
Ahmed, cornpleted in August 1759. At the present tiure it bckrngs tcr
tlre Ankara Genel l{iitriphanesi (no. 6aT; I have usecl the photocopy
preserved at the i\4illi Ki"ittiphanc, Ankara, microfilm no. A22.
2. Sharns al-Din Ahmad al-Aflaki, Manakib al-"Arifin, erl, T.
Yaztct (2 vols.; Ankara: Ti,irk rarih Kurumu [TTK], 1959); Muhyi-i

Giilqeni, Manakib-i Ibrahim Gtilgeni, ecl. T. Yazrcr (Ankara: 'l'TK,

1987); E,bu'l Hayr Runri, Saltukname, ed. Fahir Iz, Sources of

oreintal Languages and Literarurcs, r'lo. 4 (Cambriclge: 1974-84).

3. "Abd al-Rahrtran b. Alrnracl al-Janri, Nafalyrt ttl-tJns min llrtzttrLlt
a.l-Kuds, ed. Mahcli Tar.vhidipur (Tchran: Sa'cli, 1957), pp. 9- 15. In lris
translation (Terciirne-i Nafahirt al-Uns Istanbtl, l2l0lt 853), Sheikh
Mahmud Lanri'i exparrded Janri's renrarks on kalanclaris, cl.v.

T. Yazrct, "Kalandarivya," E[2,

,1.

4]3-7 4.

Dcrvish and Sultan

34 = I'{alil Inalctk
4. Ji1r"ni, NaJ-al.tat, p. 20, sumnrarizes Ibn al-'Arabi, al-Futul.tat alkki .tt,a, chapter 3 1 .
5. T. Burckhalclt, An Introtluctiort to St(i Doctrine, Lrans. D. M.
Matheson (Lahore: M. Ashraf, 1963), pp. 89-95.
6. Brrrckhardt, p. 94; also see A. Schimmel, M1,511cal Dintensions
of lslatrt (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, I9l5),
It4 o

Index, s.v. "Perfect Mart."

7. Max Weber, Ecortortty and Soctery, ed. G. Roth and C. Wittich
(Berkelel,: University of California Press, 1978), I,pp. 541-49.

8.lbid, p. 548.
9. On Skeikh Badr al-Din (Becireddin) see note 18 below.
10. See FI. Inalcrk, "The Yiiriiks: Their Origins, Expansion and
Ecorromic Role, " Orie ntnl Carpet andTextile Studies II: Ca,rpets of
ilrc Mediterroneott Cotmtries, 1400-1600, ed. R. Pinner and W. D.
Denny (London: IlALI Maga.zirtc,1986), pp. 39-65.
ll.lltid, pp.53-5a.
12. Ibid., pp. 44-47.
13. See'Agrk Paga-zirde irt OsnanhTarilileri, ed. Atsrz (lstanbul:
Ttirkiye Pub., 1941), pp.237-238.
1zl. On the role of the abdals in early Ottoman history, see M. F.
Kdpriilii, "Abdal ," Turk Halk E,debiyan Ansiklopedisi, I (Istanbul,
1935), 23-56; I, M6likoff, "Les babas Turcomans contemporains de
It{evlAnA," Uluslararsr Mevl0nd Semineri (Ankara, 197.1), pp. 26874; Qelebi Elvan, Manakibu'I-Kudstyyefi Menasibtt'I-Unsiyye, ed. I.
E,. Ertinsal and A.Y. Ocak (Istanbul: Edebiyat Faktiltesi, 1984); A.Y.
Oc ak, " Kalencleriler ve B akta gilik," D o ! tununun I 0 0 . Y t I do nundinde
Atat[irk' e Anna.!an (Istanbul: Istanbul Universitesi Edebiyat Faki,iltesi,
1981); Hatib-i Farisi, Menakilt-i Cannl al-Dln-i SavI, ed. T. Yazrct
(Ankala: TTK, 1972); A.Y. Ocak, "Qr-relques remarques sur le role
des den,iches kalencleris dans les mouvements populaires et les

acti\/it6s anarchiques au XV" et XVI" sidcles dans I'empire

.lotrrnl of Ottornq.n Studies, 3 ( 1982) , 69-80; C.
Itnber, "The Wandering Dervishes," Ma.sltiq, Proceedings of
tlrc Eastern Mediterranean Seminar (Unlersity of Manchester, 1971-7 8), pp. 36-50.

ottonran ," Thc

15. Inalcrk, "The YiJriiks," pp. 51-56.

i6. T.Gdkbilgin, Rumeli'de Yirukler,'fatarlar ve Evldd-i Fdtthdn

(Istanbul: Istanbul Universitesi Edebiyat Fakiiltesi, 1957); Inalcrk,
"The Ytiri.iks," p. 64, n. 86; for abdal/Ytiriik identity, see Koprillti,
"Abdal," pp. 38-53.

35

17. For the process of settlement in tlris area ancl its characte ristics,
the sixteenth-century Ottoman suryey registcrs (taltrlr de.fterleri) <tf
Nigbolu (Nicopolis), preserverl in tlre Bagbakanlrk Arclrives, Istanbul,
provide extelrsive nraterials, particLtlarly Tapu nos. 775, 625, 439,
416; compared to Bulgariarr villages Ytiri"ik villages are strikingly
small.

18. Sheikh Badr al-Din, who declared hinrself "Malik Mahdi."

joined his "Sufi" followers in Agag-l)enizi (Deli-Onnan) and macle
the Zagra Plain his center of activities. The commotr original source
for Ottoman accounts on Badr al-Din comes dorvn to us in the least
di storted fonn in the anonymou s chron ic les T awa r t k I r i t\ I - i' O t lm m n,
ed. F. Giese (Breslau, 19ZZ), pp. 53-54. In various versions of this
tradition Badr al-Din's followers were torlo.k, or tslttk, names used
pejoratively for the abdals. In the salne sources merrtion is nrade also
of frontier raiders anrong his rlen ',vho were seeking ti.mar; on Badr
al-Din, see A. G0lprnarh and I. Sungurbey, Sarnavrn Kcrtltst oglu$eylt
Bedreddin (Istanbul: Eti, 1966); I{. J. Kissling, "Badr al-Din ," EI2 ,I,
869; there is no doubt that Baclr al-Din espouserl kalandari doctrine
and became one of the most active lc aders of abdal activi srn rlurin g the
period of intensified struggle benveen the central power ancl the fron-

tier, following the restoration of the centralist govemrnent under

Iv{ehmed I (1413-21); N. Filipovii, Princ Musa i $ejh Rerlredclin
(Sarajevo , 79J 1) is the ntost conrprehensive r.vork on Raclr al-Din.
19. Inalcrk, "The Ytirtiks." pp.44-45; ident, "Arab CarnelDrivers in
Western Anatolia in the lrifteenth Ccntury," RevLtc d'I{istoire
Maghr(.birre, nos. 3l-32 (Tunis, 1983), 210.
20. See H. Inalcrk,"AdAletnAmeler," B elgeler,2 (Ankara, 1967), 4963.

21. A. Tietze, Mustafa'Alt'

,s

Counsel.for Sultans of I581, I (Vienna:

Akadenria,I9T9), text 149, trans. 56.

22. S. Faroqlii, "XVI-XVIIL ytizyrllarda Orta Arradolu'da $eyh
Aileleri," Tiirkil,e iktisat Tariltl Sunineri , M etinler, Tarttsntalar, ed.
O. Okyar and U. Nalbandoglu (Arrkara, 1975),225; idern, Der
Bektasclti-Orden in Anarolien (Yienna: WZKM. 198 l), pp. 49-75.
23. ln |444,during Mehmed II's first sultanate, Orkharr, an Ottoman
pretender, had fourrd support amorlg the frontier raiders and heretics
of Deli-Orman: see I-I. Inalcrk, Fotih Dettri IJzerinde Tetkikler ve
I/esikalar (Ankara: TTK, 1954), pp. 37-38: I{. Inalcrk ancl I\,1. O[uz,
Gazavdt-i,SultanMurddb. A4ehnune d IIan (Ankara: TTK, 1978), pp.
37 -39;Deli-Ornran ancl Dobru ja bccame classic tcrrains of heresy anci

36 = Halil Ina.lctk
rcbellion in the Ottonralr Erupire; the last violent uprising occurrecl itt
1555, rvltert an adventurer preteltding to be the executed Prince
N4ustafa rvas able to organize an anny of rebels, made up mostly of
discortterrtedraiders and sipahis atrd heretics, see $. Turan, Kanunt' nin
Oglu $elntttle Bat,eztd l/ak'a.st (Arrkara: TTK, 1961), pp.37-44.

24. See Q. Ulugay, "Yavuz Selim Nasrl Padigah Oldu?" Tarilt

Dergisi VI (1954),61-74; VII (1955), 117-31.
25. Donado da Lezze, HistoriaTurclrcsca(1300-1514)ed. I. Ursu
(Bucharest: Academiei Romane, 19 10), pp. 120-IZI.
26. T a,v arlkh- i A l - i' O t hnmn, ed.F. Giese, p . 126; a detailed version
of this chronicle, housed at the Bibliothbqqe Nationale, Paris (MS
Suppl. no. 1047, folios 103-104), gives the following chronologl':
The sultan celebratecl the ttlu-bayv61nt at Depe-Delen (July 26-28),
tlren nroved to Monastir ivhere he stayed a few clays (birkaE giin);he
then left the torvn to re tunt to Edirne. The sanle day that the sultan left
Ir,lonastir the attack occurred rvhile lte rvas crossing a creek near
N4orrastir'. He rvas in Edirne on 1 i Dhu'i-ka"da987 l4 September 1492;
H. J. Kissling, Sultan Bdjezid's il Bezielu,mgen zu Markgraf Fran'
ccsco II von Gonzaga (Municli: Max Flueber, 1965), p.12, says
Ba1'ezid Stal;sd at "Tepedelen" during the month of Ramadan, which
star-ted on January 28, 1495.
27 . For the identity of haydari and abdal, see Kopriilti, "Abdal," pp.
28-31.
28. Deportation occurred in the year 900 of the Hegira, which
started October 2, 1494; cf. Kissling p. 39, note 87. The event is put
iri the Tat;arlkh before the miracie of the dervish that took place irt the
rt-torrth of Jumada I, which started on January 28,1495. Jern Strltan
die d orr 29 Jumada I, 900/25 February, 1495.
29. Followers of Otn'rarr Baba called Bedreclditri were for-rnd in
Krrklarili still in 1894; see V. L. Sa1cr, "Trakya'da Tiirk Kabileleri, I:
Anrtrca Kabilesi," Ttirk Antact,I/7 (January 1943),311-15 (reproduced in A. Gdlprnarh and I. Sungurbey,SantavnaKadtst,pp. XXVIXXX); in 1894 sonre of their leaders were exiled to Libya. Salcr
reports that they believed Otman Baba to be "the Divinity of Rain" and
fh,ing as a cloud. He took over functions attributed to Flidr.
30. See Q. UluEay, "Yavuz Selim Nasrl Padigah Oldu?" r-nentiotred
irr note 24 above.

The ottornan succession ancl Its Relation to the

Tirrkish Conccpt of Sovereignty

A o.o*.s at the tree of the Ottoman Sultans rvill shorv rhat until the
death of Ahmed I (1603- 1617) the throne alrvays passcd f rorl
father
to son; it is only after that clate that rve see the accessiclrr of
brothers.
Joseph von Flamrner-Purgstallattempted to e xplain
this pheponrerlos
in the following manner: the ottornans followed the sc:rriority

principle, inherited from the tirne of chinggis Khan, rvher.eby theihrone

devolved first upo' the eldest son or, if there were no so., upon
the
oldest living relative of the rleceased ruler., Recause of the practice
of
fratricide, however, the need to invoke the latter proviso dicl not
arise
until 1617 when, for the first time upon the death of a Sultan, a brgtSer
was found to be still living. Rejecting this explanation, Frieclrjch
Giese put forth the view that there was no larv or principle governing
sultanic succession among the ottomans.'similariy, wirheln Radloff
had earlier given examples showing rhat n<; established rules
for
succession prevailed arnong any of the Turkish peoplcs., Fi'ally,
Ldszlo Ferenc vierved the ploblem frorn a wider perspective,
statilrg
conclusively that alltollg the Turks, "every nrerrrber clf t6e lrlipg
dynasty has a clainr on trre right to rule, there exists neither a
prirnogenttura nor A seri.ctratus pri^ciple of succession.,',
More recently, proponents of both the senioratlts principle,
whereby the eldest member of the ruling farnily assulnes tlre throne,
and of the prtmogenituraprinciple, rvhereby oirly the elclest
son has

the right to succeed, have come fonvard. zeki velidi 'roga,, for
instance, statecl that "because the title of great khan p,,rr..l to the
eldest brother, the area of his resiclence would beconre the center of
the state. This practice r.vas prevalent also among the Karakhanicls,
successors to the Kok riirks."' Togan elservhere stated, rather
am_
biguuusly, "Among the Karakhanids the right to Kaghanship, accorcling to old Turkish traclitions, belonged to the eldest prinie of that
segment of the family which was predominant.", osrrran Turan statecl