TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

wish of nomadic mentality for freedom of action and the demand of a sedentary state to
constrain its subjects within well-determined limits. When the beg heard about Rüstem,
his immediate response was to ask: “with which courage could this torlak create a field
in my land and stray out of the sphere of obedience? How could he reside there without
permission?” 333 It is obvious from this conversation that in the intervening years a
system had been developed to which subjects were expected to conform.
The final symptom of distinction between the two parties reflected in the second
part of the hagiography refers to the religious interpretation. In the first part, there is a
complete harmony in religious perceptions of the dervishes and the members of the
dynasty. They dream the same thing at the same time; they do not utilize written Islamic
rules, but rather learn what to do through dreams. In one instance, Orhan saw the
Prophet in a dream, ordering him to take certain portion of the booty for the state
treasury. Upon Orhan’s question of how much of the booty he should take, the Prophet
replied “Seyyid Rüstem knows, ask him!” Seyyid Rüstem in turn, was informed to take
one fifth of the booty again through dream. 334 There are many other passages in the text
reflecting the religious perception of those dervishes, which was mystical, tolerant, and
relied on subjective spiritual experiences rather than the written laws of Islamic Shari’a.
The crucial point is that the hagiography depicts first Ottoman Sultans and begs as not
just respecting that sort of interpretation of Islam represented by dervishes, but as
accepting, sympathizing, and sharing it. In the second part, however, the beg is certainly
disdainful of the dervish and his way of religious life.
333 Noyan, p. 70.
334 Noyan, p. 86.
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