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

The crucial point neglected by most historians is the stimulating factors that led
Junayd to combine the mystical teaching of the order with shi’ism. Was it simply a
result of his personal religious synthesis and spiritual experience? Or did he express and
formulate the religious sentiment of a certain branch among disciples? In other words,
was this fundamental change in the doctrine of the order a ‘top-down’ process or a
‘bottom-up’ one? Most historians followed the former type of explanation. However, as
already pointed out, such an explanation fails to explain later developments. Thus, one
should look at the issue from the other side.
4.2.4. Junayd’s Journey to Anatolia: The Merging of Turkoman Culture with
Safavid Sufism or the Seeds of the ‘Safavid Movement’
4.2.4.1. Kurtbeli: The Dominance of Tribal Disciples
Aşıkpaşazāde states that Junayd left Ardabil because he was offended by his uncle. He
came to Anatolia (Rum), which was under the rule of the Ottoman sultan Murad II. He
sent an envoy to the sultan with gifts. His gifts were of symbolic connotation: a prayer
rug, a Qur’an, and a tesbih. They obviously symbolized the dervish life, which can be
regarded as complementary of Junayd’s request from Murad II. He demanded the region
of Kurtbeli, a highway passage between Sivas and Amasya, in order to settle down and
establish a tekke. As Sohrweide has already mentioned, this place in the eastern borders
of the Ottoman territories was apt to provide a quite favorable situation for Junayd for it
was on one of the main trade routes; he could easily establish communication lines with
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