Nahcuvanlıdır. Nahcuvânî Muhammed bin Ömer mahdûmudur. Küçük yaşında Amasya’ya gelip ibtidâ İbik Baba’ya sonra Şemseddîn Ahmed Baba’ya kırk yıl hizmet ederek Ahmed Baba’nın hâdim ve mürîd-i hâssı oldu. Bundan maârif-i sûfiyyeyi ve âdâb-ı sülûkü öğrendi.
İlim ve irfanı, talâkat-ı lisânı sayesinde Moğol Beylerini kendisine cezb ederek fevkalâde iştihâr etdi. Hankâh-ı Mesûdî şeyhi Baba İlyas Horosânî evlâdından Muhlis Paşazâde “Alâaddîn Ali, Âşık Baba” 721’de Sivas emîri Timurtaş Bey’in yanına gitdikde hankâh-ı mezkûr şeyhi oldu.
Amasya’da büyük bir nüfûz ve şöhret kazandı. Moğol Beylerinin mutâı olduğu halde 726 senesi evâhirinde vefât etdi. Hankâhın bahçesinde medfûndur. Âlim, umûr-ı dîn ve dünyaya vâkıf, Arap ve Acem Edebiyâtına âşinâ, Baba Nahcuvânî demekle meşhûr idi. mahdûmu Vilâyet-i [6] Rûmiyye Defterdârı büyük Şemseddîn Muhammed Şâh’dır.
In Modern English
He is from Nakhchivan. He was the son of Nahcıvânî Muhammed, son of Ömer. He came to Amasya at a young age; he served first İbik Baba and then Şemseddîn Ahmed Baba for forty years, and became Ahmed Baba's servant and special disciple. From him he learned the knowledge of Sufism and the proper conduct of walking the path of the order.
Through his learning, his spiritual insight and his eloquence he drew the Mongol begs to himself and became very famous. When Muhlis Pashazâde "Alâaddîn Ali, Âşık Baba," a descendant of Baba İlyas Horasânî and sheikh of the Mesûdî Hankâh, went in 721 [1321] to Timurtaş Bey, emir of Sivas, he became sheikh of the said hankâh.
He gained great influence and renown in Amasya. Obeyed by the Mongol begs, he died at the end of 726 [1326]. He is buried in the garden of the hankâh. He was a scholar, versed in matters of religion and of the world, and familiar with Arabic and Persian literature; he was famous as "Baba Nahcıvânî." His son was the great Şemseddîn Muhammed Şâh, treasurer (defterdar) of the Province of Rum.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- hâdim: one who serves, a servant
- mürîd-i hâss: the disciple closest to the sheikh, a special disciple
- maârif-i sûfiyye: the knowledge of Sufism
- âdâb-ı sülûk: the rules and manner of conduct for advancing on the path of the order
- talâkat-ı lisân: eloquence, skill with language
- cezb: drawing to oneself
- iştihâr: becoming famous
- hankâh: dervish lodge, a place where dervishes stayed and were fed
- evlâd: descendants, children and grandchildren
- mutâ: one whose word is heeded and obeyed
- evâhir: the last part
- Arap ve Acem edebiyâtı: Arabic and Persian literature
- defterdâr: head of financial affairs, treasurer
The Mesûdî Hankâh and the Line of Baba İlyas
The "Âşık Baba" in the text is most probably the sheikh known in research as Âşık Paşa. Âşık Paşa's real name was Ali; he was born in Kırşehir in 1272. His grandfather was Baba İlyas, who came from Khorasan to Anatolia in the thirteenth century and settled in Amasya. His father Muhlis Paşa was the youngest son of Baba İlyas. Âşık Paşa became vizier to Timurtaş Pasha, the governor of Anatolia, then went to Egypt, and fell ill in Kırşehir on his way back to Amasya and died there in 1332. The information Hüsameddin gives, that "he went to Timurtaş in 721," does not contradict this course of events. However, the sources we consulted contain no record that Âşık Paşa served as sheikh of the Mesûdî Hankâh in Amasya; they say only that he died in Kırşehir on his way back from Egypt to Amasya. The claim that he was sheikh of the hankâh therefore belongs to Hüsameddin and could not be verified in another source.
Baba İlyas was a Vefâî sheikh who settled in the village of Çat near Amasya (today's İlyas village) and founded a zawiya there. He was influential among the Turkmens of the area and was at the head of the uprising around 1240 that rose against the Seljuks and is called the Baba Resul Rebellion in the sources. The uprising was suppressed; Baba İlyas was besieged and captured in Amasya and executed. A master's thesis on this rebellion was prepared at Ondokuz Mayıs University.
Hüsameddin and the Babaî Debate
The word "Babaî" first appears in a contemporary Persian source narrating the rebellion, where it denotes those who took part in it. In later centuries it came to be taken as the name of a Sufi order. The author of an encyclopedia entry notes that Hüsameddin, the author of the Amasya Tarihi, was among those who adopted this view, and writes that only Claude Cahen came close to the truth in saying that Baba İlyas may never have founded such an order at all. The expression "descendant of Baba İlyas Horasânî" in this entry should therefore be read as indicating a family line rather than an order.
İbik Baba and Aybek Baba
No direct information on İbik Baba, who is mentioned in the text, was found in the sources. An article published on a Sufi named Aybek Baba, who lived in Amasya in the last quarter of the thirteenth century, argues that most of what has been written about him in Turkey is wrong and that his relationship with the Ilkhanid administration is disputed. Whether the names Aybek and İbik refer to the same person is uncertain and could not be verified from this source. Likewise, no information was found in other sources on the lives of Şemseddîn Ahmed Baba and Ahî Ahmed Baba, or on the office of treasurer of the Province of Rum held by his son Şemseddîn Muhammed Şâh.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 7, p. 265–265. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
- "Babaîlik", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/babailik
- "Âşık Paşa", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/asik-pasa
- Ömer Çaycı, Babaî İsyanı'nda Baba İlyâs-ı Horasânî'nin Amasya'da Yürüttüğü Faaliyetler, master's thesis, Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi, 2018 (abstract).
- Mustafa Uyar, "Bir Ortaçağ Anadolu Sûfîsi Hakkında Yeni Bulgular: Aybek Baba Şeyh mi, Emîr mi?", Belleten, 78/283, 2014, p. 879–890 (abstract). https://belleten.gov.tr/ozet/213/tur