BEKTASHISM ON THE TOMBSTONES OF 17th TO 20th CENTURIES

Abstract

With this article, it has been tried to determine what will enable a tombstone to be handled within Bektashism. In Turkey, some highly qualified assessments have been made about the tombstones in the graves of important Bektashi lodges in the Balkans. The fact that there were differences in method among them and the examination of the examples in a dervish lodge led to the inability to reach an inclusive conclusion. With this article, a general evaluation has been made for the first time according to a single method based on all the examples in the publications and theses. For the first time, general results based on the form such as the body, the headgear, the teslim stone and the expressions related to Bektashism in the inscriptions have been tried to be put forward. Bektashism-Alevism and Janissary quarry relations are so intertwined that they cannot be easily separated in any case. There are many difficulties in separating Alevi and Janissary tombstones as well as for Bektashis. For this reason, we did not include the Alevi and Janissary tombstones in the scope of the subject. We identified 488 specimens (432 heads, 56 feet) that were shown as Bektashism with their inscriptions from the 48,870 tombstones that we entered in our data log, and visual elements such as headgear and teslim stone. Although they are buried in Bektashi lodges - tombs, we have excluded the tombstones without these elements. This data also gave the result that the tombstones in Bektashi burials had the same characteristics as the general ones in Turkey. For example, all of those in Merdivenköy Kırklar Graveyard and seventy percent of those in Rumelihisarı Lodge do not have Bektashi ties. On the other hand, 60 (49 heads, 11 feet) excluding Bektashi burials which are given at the and of list, which do not have a sect name and have expressions that we find only on the tombstones of the Bektashis such as Ahl al-Bayt, Karbala, as well as the Khalwatī, Mawlawī, Naqshibandī, Saʿdī, Sünbülī sect tombstones. Since our examples are from the years 1604 to 1945, our date limit was the 17th to 20th centuries. We have handled our examples in two main clusters, according to the lodge order, as dervish and father dervish officers, and dervish lodge followers, consisting of soldiers, civil servants, shopkeepers and their relatives, apart from the lodge. Apart from the 432 head stone fractures, 234 (54%) were made for officials, 195 (45%) were made for the relatives, dependents and relatives of the officials. When we consider Bektashism as certain, we have identified 18 title types in 3 main clusters: 24 body types, 2-sliced elifi, 4-sliced edhemi and 12-sliced huseyni. The titles are as high as 72.5%. The rate of expression patterns such as hu, hu dost (friend), ya hu is 40.1%, but these patterns are also seen in other sects such as the Mawlawī. Keywords: Tombstone, Bektashi, Headgears, Submission Stone (teslim taşı), Expressions of Bektashism.