Traces of Alevism and Bektashism in Kusadasi

Kuşadası’nda Alevilik ve Bektaşilik İzleri

Abstract

Bektashism, which started to come into being with the visits of Hacı Bektaş Veli to Anatolia in the 13th century, also operated in Aydın and Kuşadası. Bektashism in the region was first represented by Abdal Musa, who grew up in the Hacı Bektaş Veli Lodge. In the region, Gazi Umur Bey is the person who, according to tradition, was dressed in a börk by Abdal Musa and given moral support for the conquests. The traces of Bektashism in the region go back to the Aydınoğulları period. Bektashism spread through Kusadasi to Rhodes, Lemnos and Crete in the Mediterranean. Represented by the janissaries in the city in the 17th century, the order was spread by the deceased Muhammed (Mehmed) Dede and Derviş İsmail in the Bayraktar Dede Tomb at the beginning of the 19th century. Bektashism, which was banned in 1826, was revived in the city at the end of the 19th century with immigration from Crete, and just before all dervish lodges, zawiyas and tombs were banned in Turkey, the sect was popularized by the Cretan immigrant Hüseyin Cevraki (Cevre) Baba. Hüseyin Cevraki Baba, an extremely knowledgeable and wise person, turned the vineyard house in the city's İkioklu District into a convent. Yunus Ölmez Baba and Assoc. Dr. Bedri Noyan Dedebaba is one of the beneficiaries of this modest convent in Kuşadası. Bektashi convent in Kusadasi was closed with the death of its founder, Hüseyin Cevraki Baba. Although the Cevraki Bektashi Cemetery, which is named after the family, remained behind, unfortunately, not even a Bektashi honorary gravestone has survived from this cemetery. In this study, the subject of Bektashism in Kuşadası has been tried to be explained with the information obtained from archival documents and first-hand sources. 

Keywords: Hacı Bektas Veli, Abdal Musa, Bektashism, Kusadasi, Huseyin Cevraki (Cevre) Baba, Yunus Olmez Baba.