XIX. YÜZYIL BALKAN COĞRAFYASINDA BEKTAŞİ TEKKELERİ: YEREL İLİŞKİLER VE SOSYOEKONOMİK PROBLEMLER* BEKTASHI TEKKES IN THE XIXTH CENTURY BALKAN GEOGRAPHY: LOCAL RELATIONS AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROBLEMS (original) (raw)

Although tekkes were places where Sufi activities were carried out, they were an indispensable part of social life in the regions where they were located. Depending on the amount of their influence in the places where they existed, they were centres in religious, social, cultural, etc. fields to which the people went for various reasons. In addition to these, they were often the representatives of the state in the region. In this respect, Bektashi tekkes also represented the state in the geography where they were located until a certain period, and especially in the Balkan geography, they were the face of tolerance of the Ottoman Empire. However, the changing attitude of the state towards the Bektashis in the XIXth century brought about changes in the relations of the Sunni and non-Muslim population with this sect, especially in regions where the Bektashi population was not dense. In the context of changing relations, they were subjected to various accusations by the people of different faiths around the tekke. The most fundamental of these accusations against the Bektashi tekkes was that they were engaged in "dissident-i shar'i" activities. This concept is a very broad and debatable accusation. However, it is worth mentioning that there was also a very large group of people who abused Bektashism. This large group usually included the Sunnite people living in the vicinity of the tekke, local state administrators, religious officials of the Ahl al-Sunnah faith, sheikhs of other sects, members of the local gentry or notables, and sometimes even Christians in the neighbourhood. Tekkes interacted with each of these groups according to economic, social and religious factors. At times, problems arose not only with the environment but also within the tekke due to sheikh appointments, economic and external reasons. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the subject and analyses the relations of tekkes with the social environment as a result of the changing attitude of the state towards the Bektashis in the light of archival documents.