Ebûbekir Dede Efendi — Mevlevî Sheikh

In Modern English

He was a native of Amasya. Having completed his çile at the lodge of Hazrat Mevlânâ at Konya, he became aşçıbaşı. In 1112 [1700-01], on the death of Şeyh Alâeddîn Dede Efendi, he came as sheikh of the Amasya Mevlevîhâne. After serving as sheikh for some twenty years, he passed to the hereafter in 1131 [1718-19]. He was a man who knew the truth, well-mannered and devoted to worship; he had a share in Arabic and Persian literature.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• cenâb-ı Mevlânâ âsitânesi: the lodge of Mevlânâ at Konya; the central tekke of the Mevlevî order
• çile: the long period of training that a Mevlevî dervish passed serving in the lodge; ikmâl etmek: to complete
• aşçıbaşı: the senior dervish who headed the lodge kitchen
• irtihâl: departure, death; binâen: because of, upon
• icrâ-yı meşîhat: carrying out the sheikhship
• dâr-ı na'îm: the abode of bounty, paradise
• ârif: one who knows God and the truth; mü'eddeb: well-mannered; âbid: one who worships much
• behredâr: one who has a share, who has benefited

The Amasya Mevlevîhâne

The tekke Ebûbekir Dede headed was one of the oldest tarikat buildings in Amasya. In old records it appears as "Mevlevîhâne-i merhûm Alâeddîn der Amasya" and "Mevlevîhâne-i Pervâne der Amasya." Its waqf deed was lost in 1661, and its contents were re-established by appeal to the statements of those who had seen it; it was thereby understood that its founder was Alâeddîn Ali Pervâne Bey and that its waqfs were drawn up in 1314. According to the information Hüsameddin gives on the basis of old documents, there were Mevlevîs in Amasya even before the construction of the tekke; in 1276 Veliyyüddîn Ahmed Dede, in 1284 Alâeddîn Ali Dede and in 1300 Celâleddîn Mehmed Dede appear in the town as Mevlevî sheikhs.

The tekke burned in 1602 during the events of the brigands, and its sheikh had died at that time. When the last sheikh's son Mehmed Ârif Dede explained the situation to the former grand vizier Bayram Pasha, the Pasha, in the years when he was bringing water to Amasya, had the Mevlevîhâne rebuilt together with a caravanserai and enlarged its waqfs. After this renovation, Mehmed Ârif Dede, his son-in-law Mahmûd Dede, Abdülkâdir Dede and the Alâeddîn Dede named in the entry became sheikhs in turn. The Mevlevîhâne stood on the bank of the Yeşilırmak near the Hükümet Bridge. It is known that it last hosted, in 1919, the meeting at which a circular sent by Mustafa Kemal from Havza was announced to the people. It is thought to have stood in the area where today's Yavuz Selim Square was opened and most probably to have been demolished after the closure of the tekkes in 1925.

A Note on the Dates

The years of Ebûbekir Dede's sheikhship appear in forms that do not agree with one another in different places in Hüsameddin's own work, and the reader needs to be aware of this. According to this entry, Dede became sheikh directly on the death of Alâeddîn Dede in 1112 [1700-01], served about twenty years and died in 1131 [1718-19].

In the description of the Mevlevîhâne in the first volume, however, the sequence is different: when Alâeddîn Dede died in 1112, İbrâhim Çelebi became trustee of the tekke and Bilâl Efendi its sheikh; Bilâl Efendi also took over the trusteeship in 1113, and when he was removed from office in 1118 [1706-07] Ebûbekir Dede was brought to the sheikhship. In the same place it is written that on Ebûbekir Dede's death in 1131 Sâlih Dede Efendi became sheikh. In the annals of the fourth volume, on the other hand, "Ebûbekir Dede, sheikh of the Mevlevîhâne" is counted among those who died in 1127 [1715], the year of the Morea war, and immediately afterwards it is reported that Arap Sâlih Dede became sheikh. The annals also place Alâeddîn Dede's death at the end of Zilhicce 1111 [June 1700]; this is very close to the date 1112 in the entry. A study written on Mevlevism also gives Alâeddîn Dede's death as 1700.

In this case the dates 1112 and 1118 emerge for his coming to the sheikhship, and 1127 and 1131 for his death. Which is right cannot be said with certainty without seeing the sharia court registers and waqf records on which Hüsameddin relied. On the point that his successor was Sâlih Dede, the two records agree.

Another Mevlevî Sheikh of the Same Name

Ebûbekir Dede, sheikh of the Amasya Mevlevîhâne, should not be confused with Seyyid Ebûbekir Dede, who is better known in Mevlevî history. According to the encyclopedia entry by Sezai Küçük, Seyyid Ebûbekir Dede was born in 1117 [1705] at Kütahya, became sheikh of the Yenikapı Mevlevîhâne in Istanbul and died in 1189 [1775]; his descendants held the sheikhship of the Yenikapı lodge for about 180 years. The Ebûbekir Dede of Amasya, on the other hand, lived before this man, in the first quarter of the eighteenth century.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 91. amasya.bel.tr
• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 1 (description of the Mevlevîhâne); vol. 4 (events of the years 1111 and 1127).

Academic studies

• Sezai Küçük, "Seyyid Ebûbekir Dede", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (islamansiklopedisi.org.tr).

Other sources

• Abdulhalim Durma, "Amasya'da Mevlevilik" (semazen.net).