Otman Baba (c. 1378 – 8 Receb 1478) was a 15th-century
dervish
Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity
A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, ...
who traveled throughout the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, acquiring a following among
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...
in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
after 1445 that has developed into his veneration as a saint. After Otman Baba's death, a pilgrimage complex grew around his grave in the present-day Bulgarian village of Teketo, which was made a museum during communism. The
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
of Otman Baba, written by his disciple Küçük Abdal and regarded by his followers as a canonical text, maintains that Otman Baba performed miracles that proved his superiority to other dervishes and Ottoman authorities, particularly
Sultan Mehmed II
Mehmed II ( ota, محمد ثانى, translit=Meḥmed-i s̱ānī; tr, II. Mehmed, ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror ( ota, ابو الفتح, Ebū'l-fetḥ, lit=the Father of Conquest, links=no; tr, Fâtih Su ...
. Straying from orthodox Islamic tenets, Otman Baba asserted his unity with God and his mastery of divine secrets—as the embodiment of monotheistic religious figures such as
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
,
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, and
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
.
Sources
Written five-and-a-half years after his death,Gramatikova, p. 74. the ''vilâyetname'' (hagiography) of Otman Baba provides the most thorough if biased depiction of the mystic's life.Gramatikova, pp. 71–2. It differs from similar hagiographic accounts, as it more prominently presents historical information during Otman Baba's lifetime. Written by a direct disciple of Otman Baba named Küçük Abdal (also Köğçek/Köçek Abdal), the original ''vilâyetname'' was entitled ''Haza Kitab-i Risale-i Vilâyet-name-i Sultan Baba, kaddes' Allahu sırruh ül-aziz'' (''This book is a book with description of the miracles of Sultan Baba, let Allah consecrate his tomb''). Known manuscripts of the ''vilâyetname'' include a 260-page one transcribed by Şeyh Ömer (Umar) bin Dervish Ahmed in 1758 and one from the Bulgarian village of Gorna Krepost taken to
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
with the
Alevi
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
emigrants. A modern Turkish retelling based on various sources also exists.Gramatikova, pp. 75–6.
Other sources include the ''vilâyetname'' of Otman Baba's successor Demir Baba, which refers to Otman Baba as the "pole of poles" and "Pole of the Universe and Time", symbols of his high spiritual rank; the ''vilâyetname'' also avouches Otman Baba's ability to instantly appear and disappear.Gramatikova, p. 77 Another source is the work of
Evliya Çelebi
Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...
, which cites Otman Baba as a leader of ascetic dervishesGramatikova, p. 79. and a ''
gazi
A ''ghazi'' ( ar, غازي, , plural ''ġuzāt'') is an individual who participated in ''ghazw'' (, '' ''), meaning military expeditions or raiding. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by the Islamic prophe ...
'' (religious warrior) who helped conquer the Ottoman Empire's European province of
Rumelia
Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι), Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians f ...
.Gramatikova, p. 92.
Life
According to the ''vilâyetname'', Otman Baba was born in 1378 or 1379. He belonged to the Amuca tribe, and spoke an Azeri-accented Oghuz language with few
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
influences, like the Muslims in northeastern Bulgaria. Küçük Abdal characterized Otman Baba spiritually as a saint and prophetGramatikova, p. 82. and physically as imposing, strong, and brave.Gramatikova, p. 84.
While those outside his inner circle knew him as Otman Baba, other dervishes and the aristocratic ''
sayyids
''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...
'' called him ''Şah-i Kerbelâ''—a reference to the prophet Muhammad's grandson
Husayn
Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...
, who died in the
Battle of Karbala
The Battle of Karbala ( ar, مَعْرَكَة كَرْبَلَاء) was fought on 10 October 680 (10 Muharram in the year 61 AH of the Islamic calendar) between the army of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid I and a small army led by Husayn ...
.Gramatikova, p. 81. A ''vilâyetname'' account attributes the mystic's common name "Otman Baba" to Ottoman ruler Mehmed II. When the
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
disguised himself as a commoner and visited the Eski Saray '' tekke'' (a gathering place for Muslims) in
, only Otman Baba recognized him. Convinced of the dervish's sainthood, Mehmed addressed him as "my beloved father, Otman"—"father" translating in Turkish as "baba".
Relationship with Ottoman authorities
Dervish leaders faced accusations of turning commoners against the Ottoman government's policies.Gramatikova, p. 97. Otman Baba's proselytizing in the Eastern
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
coincides with the settlements of the nomadic Yürüks, who were hostile toward the Ottoman bureaucracyGramatikova, p. 88. that forcibly recruited them as soldiers.Gramatikova, p. 95. Nevertheless, the ''vilâyetname'' asserts that Mehmed II recognized Otman Baba as a true saint and the true Ottoman leader,Gramatikova, p. 94. and it presents supportive interactions between Otman Baba and Mehmed II. In one account, Otman Baba appears in Mehmed's dream to predict his reign as sultan while the then-prince was in
Manisa
Manisa (), historically known as Magnesia, is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province.
Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port ci ...
.
Their relationship, however, was not always cordial, as scholars Stavrides and Gramatikova mention that Otman Baba frightened Mehmed II with his mastery over the elements,Stavrides, p. 392. summoning a storm that flooded Constantinople after Mehmed ordered the dervish to enter a monastery. Although Küçük Abdal credits Mehmed II's military victories to Otman Baba's sainthood, the mystic predicted the sultan's defeat in the 1456 Serbia campaign.Gramatikova, p. 93. Otman Baba's relationships with other Ottoman authorities varied. Those opposed to Otman Baba included the orthodox vizier Mahmud Paşa, who did not recognize the mystic's sainthood,Gramatikova, p. 96. and an '' akıncı'' (military auxiliary), who apprehended Otman Baba and whose wife forced the mystic to pasture ducks for a month. A '' sancakbey'' (district governor) named Mihaloğlu Ali Bey, however, donated to Otman Baba's tomb after the mystic had supported his military victories.
Wanderings
During his life, Otman Baba wandered throughout the Ottoman Empire, mainly in Rumelia, spending the most time in Bulgarian lands and Aegean Thrace.Gramatikova, p. 85. After 30 September 1429 or 19 September 1430, Otman Baba began proselytizing in Rumelia. He performed his first miracle in the Balkans in Babaeski, extinguishing a candlestick's flame that had been lit by the mystic Sarı Saltık Baba, proving his sainthood to ordinary followers of
Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
.Gramatikova, p. 87. As Gramatikova notes, Otman Baba challenged rival Alevi and Bektashi spiritual guides and won, proving his spiritual superiority.Gramatikova, p. 98.
Gramatikova dates Otman Baba's earliest presence in Bulgarian lands from 1445 to 1451, where he propagated and interpreted Islamic mysticism. Beginning his propagandizing alone, Otman Baba recruited dervish followers—called Abdals—from the Balkan Muslim population.Gramatikova, p. 99. When Otman Baba defeated a
lamia
LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
in the
Ludogorie
The Ludogorie ( bg, Лудогорие, usually used with a definite article, Лудогорието, ''Ludogorieto'') or Deliorman (''Делиорман'', tr, Deli Orman, lit=mad forest and Bulgarian: lud - "mad", "crazy" and gora - "forest"), ...
region, he achieved his first miracle in Bulgarian lands, an act that Gramatikova characterizes as "one of the greatest miracles of the Muslim saints". Otman Baba travelled through the eastern foothills of Stara Planina, following Sufi doctrine by surviving on leaves and wild fruit as he meditated on God. Gramatikova proposes that the local woodcutters who saw him and hosted him in their village were Sufi Muslims and nomads who had migrated from Turkey during the mid-15th century.Gramatikova, p. 89 In the Kazanlak area, Otman Baba garnered a following of Sufi craftsmen and built a bridge with hunters, whom Gramatikova associates with nomadic Yürüks and
Turcomans
Turkoman ( Middle Turkic: تُركْمانْ, ota, تركمن, Türkmen and ''Türkmân''; az, Türkman and ', tr, Türkmen, tk, Türkmen, Persian: ترکمن sing. ''Turkamān'', pl. ''Tarākimah''), also called Turcoman and Turkman, is a ter ...
.Gramatikova, p. 91. Near Plovdiv, a local saint named Hasan Baba called Otman Baba the dual embodiment of Muhammed and Ali after spotting him in the
Maritsa River
Maritsa or Maritza ( bg, Марица ), also known as Meriç ( tr, Meriç ) and Evros ( ell, Έβρος ), is a river that runs through the Balkans in Southeast Europe. With a length of ,
By 1451, Otman Baba had proselytized throughout
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
—particularly in Ottoman-ruled Western
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
—working miracles and proving his sainthood. The ''vilâyetname'' offers conflicting accounts of Otman Baba's activities between 1451 and 1453.Gramatikova, p. 90. One holds that Otman Baba propagandized in Azeri lands, departing with the claim: "I shall saddle a cloud, shall turn the lightning into a whip and shall go back to Rum."Gramatikova, p, 86. Another asserts that Otman Baba stayed in
Tarnovo
Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province.
Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...
as the guest of the local '' kadi'' (judge) and that locals bestowed the mystic with gifts after Ottoman forces had captured Constantinople.
Gramatikova dates Otman Baba's arrival in Constantinople to 1456, where he contributed to the charitable activities of every ''
imaret
Imaret, sometimes also known as a ''darüzziyafe'', is one of a few names used to identify the public soup kitchens built throughout the Ottoman Empire from the 14th to the 19th centuries. These public kitchens were often part of a larger comple ...
'' and advocated the restoration of a fortress that he argued was the town of Hasan and Huseyn. After leaving Constantinople, Otman Baba spent time in
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...
with the Abdals and settled in the village of Tatar Köyü, which Gramatikova supposes is either the present-day village Radovets or Filipovo—both in the
Topolovgrad municipality
Topolovgrad Municipality ( bg, Община Тополовград) is a municipality ('' obshtina'') in Haskovo Province, Southeastern Bulgaria. It is named after its administrative centre - the town of Topolovgrad.
The municipality has a territ ...
of Bulgaria.
Death
In Tatar Köyü, Otman Baba predicted to his followers that they would develop into two branches. Physically weakening, he relocated near
Haskovo
Haskovo ( bg, Хасково ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Develo ...
, where he urged his followers to build mills and grow vineyards and claimed to follow an incomparable mystical path: "First I was a secret and I shall again become a secret. Nobody walks before me on my road nor would anybody come after me".Gramatikova, pp. 99–100.
On 13 January 1478, Otman Baba and his disciples arrived at the unidentified village of Konukçu köy. He settled on the nearby riverbank opposite his followers and ordered them to construct a bridge "to go back to the place where
hey
Hey or Hey! may refer to:
Music
* Hey (band), a Polish rock band
Albums
* ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014
* ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980
* ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
were before". After the bridge was built, Otman Baba spoke his last words: "Hey, destitute, miserable and feeble, you are afraid of Death. But I am not. In fact I am immortal, I have a horse, when I mount it I go to Heaven!" According to a manuscript annotation, Otman Baba died on 8 ''Receb'' 1478. The ''vilâyetname'' describes Otman Baba's body releasing a halo that lit the universe the day after his death and two disciples dreaming that Otman Baba rode a horse through a portal in the sea.
Beliefs
Gramatikova states that Otman Baba followed the Khurasan-region
Malamatiyya
The Malāmatiyya () or Malamatis were a Muslim mystic group active in 9th century Greater Khorasan. The root word of their name is the Arabic word ''malāmah'' () "blame". The Malamatiyya believed in the value of self-blame, that piety should be ...
, a tradition characterized by its adherents' independence of a director, a school, or conventional religious laws.Gramatikova, p. 78. Representing the doctrines of the halo of Muhammad and of the Perfect Man, Otman Baba held that the prophet Muhammad's divinity transmitted to the '' kutb'', the highest ranking Sufi mystics. Furthermore, Otman Baba asserted that he—as a ''kutb''—had mastered divine secrets, regarding himself above Ottoman rulers and other mystics and identifying himself as the religious and political figures Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Huseyn, Timur, and Sultan Mehmed II. Making the heretical claims of omnipresence and omniscience, Otman Baba insisted that anyone who harmed him would be harming themselves by denying his unity with God and that he could see the poor, starving, and ill and aid them.Gramatikova, pp. 81–2 Before his death, Otman Baba expressed his belief in immortality: "Do not cry after me, because I am not dying, I shall live all the time on the earth and in the sky."Gramatikova, p. 101.
Although Otman Baba disapproved of mystics who worked for personal gain, he collected ''kurbans'' (livestock) for his Abdals. Illustrating the traits of an Abdal, Otman Baba said the following: "An Abdal is the man who gives up all but Allah. He has passed through all stages of spiritual self-perfection and is guided only by divine love and divine truth. He is no longer a body. Renouncing imitation and subjection to the body he aims at ''Ayn el-Yakın''." Gramatikova interprets the term ''Ayn el-Yakın'' under Abdal and Bektashi teachings as experiencing God through God's eyes.
Otman Baba's beliefs extended beyond the spiritual, as he disapproved of Turks speaking Persian and Arabic instead of their native tongue. Otman Baba maintained that "the Oghuz language is the father of all languages" and the "only way to stay in the alien, unknown lands".Gramatikova, pp. 84–5
Legacy
Categorized by Markoff as a dervish branch of the Muslim Alevi (
Alians
The Alian Kızılbaşī community (in Bulgarian: алиани, in Turkish: Alevi), are a Shi`a order, similar to the Sufi Mevlevi, who live in several regions of Bulgaria. Alians revere the name " Ali" carried by their circle of 12 Imams '' ...
),
Qizilbash
Qizilbash or Kizilbash ( az, Qızılbaş; ota, قزيل باش; fa, قزلباش, Qezelbāš; tr, Kızılbaş, lit=Red head ) were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Iranian Azerbaijan, Anatolia, t ...
, and
Shi'ites
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
,Markoff, p. 1. the Baba'is have preserved their traditions in Bulgaria through the cult of Otman Baba. In
Nova Zagora
Nova Zagora ( bg, Нова Загора ) is a town located in the southeastern plains of Bulgaria in Sliven Province. It is the administrative centre of Nova Zagora Municipality. As of December 2009, the town had a population of 19,562 inhabita ...
, the Kizilbash venerate the life of Otman Baba,Bosakov, p. 278. considering him a local Shi'ite saintBosakov, p. 280. and regarding his ''tekke'' as their primary holy place in Bulgaria.Bosakov, p. 282. According to Gramatikova, the ''vilâyetname'' of Otman Baba is a canonical text in Bulgaria's Muslim community.Gramatikova, p. 75.
Cult complex
Although Otman Baba had rejected Mehmed II's offers to build him a ''tekke'', the mystic's followers developed a cult complex around his grave, located at the southeastern part of the Hızırilyas hill in the Haskovo-region village of Teketo. Evliya Çelebi reported a cloister near the Maden dere riverbank and credited Sultan Bayezid II for the construction of the ''tekke'', which included a heptagonal refectory, shaped like a dervish cap and associated with the ''yediler'' (cult of the seven).Gramatikova, pp. 101–2. Architectural historian Stephen Lewis also proposes the ''yediler'' symbolism of the seven-sided refectory—the ''
türbe
''Türbe'' is the Turkish word for "tomb". In Istanbul it is often used to refer to the mausolea of the Ottoman sultans and other nobles and notables.
The word is derived from the Arabic ''turbah'' (meaning ''"soil/ground/earth"''), which ...
'' (mausoleum)—which he classifies as an early sixteenth-century Ottoman funerary monument, observing its domed structure and ashlar masonry.Lewis, p. 8. Gramatikova notes, however, that in 1492 Sultan Bayezid II blamed Otman Baba's followers in Thrace for an assassination attempt on him and ordered their exile to Asia Minor. Nevertheless, the complex became a pilgrimage site for Otman Baba's followers, Muslim locals, and the
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
—who, according to Ottoman documents, have venerated the ''türbe'' since at least 1568.Lewis, p. 9. Bulgarian scholar Markoff attributes the continued prominence of Otman Baba's cult complex among Bulgarian miracle-seekers to its museum status during communism and protection during the Revival Process.Markoff, p. 2.