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

Upon not receiving Ottoman gifts in its traditionally established time, Junayd dispatched
a messenger and asked the sultan why he had not sent their annual ‘çerağ akçesi’.
Mehmed II’s answer is rather interesting: ‘The old man of the tekke is now dead!’ 539
This answer, of course, annoyed Junayd.
The answer of Mehmed II is actually quite meaningful. He must have referred to
Junayd’s father Ibrahim by saying ‘the old man of the tekke’ (tekkenin kocası). Thus
Mehmed II (Murad II) expressed his ideas to Junayd in a symbolic way, ‘you are no
more a true Shaykh because of your political ambition. The last true Shaykh of your
tekke was your father and he has already died. It is because of that I have stopped
sending ‘çerağ akçesi’’. The desire of Junayd for temporal power, at the cost of
contradicting the tradition in the Safavid historiography, is clearly stated by the historian
of Shah Abbas the Great: “When Joneyd became established as leader and defender of
the faith, he gave them spiritual guidance in a way that gave clear evidence of his desire
for temporal power and kingship. His disciples flocked to Ardabil from all sides, and a
cardinal point in his spiritual guidance was the incitement of his disciples to raid and
carry on a holy war against the infidel.” 540
It is well-known that Ottoman administration had always regarded sufi orders as
their allies and had been generous in granting lands to those sort of fraternities. During
the formative period especially, the close co-operation between the two sides is
documented by several historians. Even the Order of Safaviyya, though being far away
from Ottoman territories, benefited from the Ottoman’s benevolence. It is recorded by
until his death in 1451. On the other hand, Shaykh Junayd arrived in Anatolia after the death of his father,
in 1447 or 1448. So the Ottoman sultan corresponding with Junayd must be obviously Murad II.
539 “Vallahi tekkenin kocası ölmüştür!” ANMH, pp. 35-36. Compare Hinz, p. 17.
540 AA, p. 29.
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