Bektaşi-Alevi geleneğine göre Seyyid Ali Sultan

Abstract

Seyyid Ali Sultan is among the most prominent spiritual leaders of the Bektashi Order. Besides his distinguished role during the formative period of the Order, the hospice he founded near Dimetoka preserved its central position throughout the Bektashi history. It must be expected that such a prominent shaykh who had a decisive influence on both the formation process of the Order and the later developments through his hospice -, would attain an outstanding position within the Bektashi collective memory and the traditional knowledge. This article aims to discover how Kizildeli is depicted in the Bektashi tradition. It will first classify the stores of the traditional knowledge (sources) under four categories. Then it will evaluate how these sources reflected the portrait of Seyyid Ali Sultan. This article also aims to make some observations on the dynamics of the traditional knowledge through examining the relationship of these sources with each other.