The Teqe of Baba Ali ( sq, Teqeja e Baba Aliut), or Teqe of Baba Abdullah, is a
Bektashi tekke in the village of Alipostivan,
Qendër Piskovë
Qendër Piskovë is a former municipality in the Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Përmet
Përmet (; sq-definite, Permeti) is a city and municipality in Gjiro ...
, Përmet municipality, Albania. It sits upon a hill overlooking the
Vjosa valley and the
Nemërçka mountain, and the name of Alipostivan itself is said to derive from ''Ali, post i vendit'' ("Ali, sheepskin-sitter of the place"). The tekke of Baba Ali is known for the preservation and development of Bektashi traditions, particularly in spreading
Bektashism to the
Deshnica area and along the border villages of
Skrapar. Historically, it has cooperated closely with the tekke in
Frashër.
History
The tekke is said to have been founded initially around 1767, but the site may possibly be older due to the presence of ancient ruins, which most probably sat upon an old trade route from
Skrapar to Përmet. The tekke was re-founded by Baba Ali in 1857 or 1860. It was again re-founded in 1903 by Baba Abdullah, who was originally from the tekke of
Konica and whose
tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...
is located within the tekke. Baba Abdullah and Baba Dule Përmeti were supporters and participants of the
Albanian National Awakening
The Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where the ...
, particularly in regards to the
Albanian language
Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...
during 1908–1909.
Greek andartes burnt down the tekke in 1914, but it was rebuilt in 1920. On 14th–17 January 1921, the tekke was represented by Baba Meleq at the First National Congress of the Bektashi. In 1923, it was visited by
Margaret Hasluck
Margaret Masson Hardie Hasluck M.B.E. (1944) (18 June 1885 – 18 October 1948) was a Scottish geographer, linguist, epigrapher, archaeologist and scholar.
Biography
Margaret Hasluck was born Margaret Hardie and graduated from Aberdeen Universi ...
, who encountered one
baba and three
dervishes. It was closed in 1967 during the
Communist period, due to the
Albanian communist party
The Party of Labour of Albania ( sq, Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh), sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded on ...
's crackdown on religion, and torn down by the surrounding villagers. Reconstruction began in 1997, and the tekke reopened in May 2003.
Pilgrimage
In the past and the present, the tekke of Alipostivan has been an important site of pilgrimage for the
Albanian Bektashis, due to the fact that Abdullah Baba —considered by many in the region to be a Bektashi saint —was buried and is still venerated here. Many men in the region still bear the first name Abdullah. The Bektashi villagers of
Kosinë gather at the tekke of Alipostivan for prayer, particularly on the feast of
Novruz
Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Sufi tekkes in Albania
Bektashi tekkes