Türk Kültürü ve Hacı Bektaş Velî Araştırma Dergisi (Sep 2020)
Eskişehir Kırsalında Bir Bektaşi Zaviyesi: Bahşayış Baba
Abstract
The Turkification and Islamization of the Anatolian lands in the Seljuk age was carried out both through the sufi movements, which had the Asian and Turco-Persion cultural past and, the activities of the military and occupational organizations, called as the “dervishes colonisateurs” in the Turkish history-writing, based on the Islamic ghazā (the holy war) principle. Many dervish orders were built in the Anatolian lands during the settlement process of Turks came from Asian steps. Eskişehir and its region, was one of the transition points for the Turkish conquest and settlement in Anatolia, was an important region where the sufis played an active role since the time of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad (1220-1237). It is the oldest one, among the numerous zāwiya (small Islamic monastery) buildings in Eskişehir, is the Sheikh Shehabeddin Sühreverdi which was built in the period of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad. There was another zāwiya building in Eskişehir, whose historical existence can be determined through the archival documents, known as Bahşayış Baba, which its building cannot be find anymore. The Bektashi Order (tarīqa) found an opportunity to spread its teaching in Eskişehir when the Ottoman State was supporting the orders, whose genealogies (silsila) were based on the Caliph Ali, against Shah Ismail’s Shia expansionism. Bahşayış Baba was one of those zāwiya buildings which was built at that time. The administration of that building, which started its activities as a Bektashi lodge in the 15th century, was carried out by the Khalwati family from the second half of the 18th century. This essay aims to study the Bahşayış Baba Zāwiya in Eskişehir in the context of spatial organizations of Bektashis that shaped the Anatolian human geography in the Ottoman age. It suggests, based on the Ottoman archival sources, that the Bahşayış Baba Zāwiya was in a connection with another dervish lodge, Balıklı Tekke, known as Khalwati in Kütahya.
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