Eş-Şeyh İbrâhim Efendi

In Modern English

He is from Merzifon. He is the son of Ahmed, from the people of that place. After completing his studies he attached himself to es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ali Efendi, one of the Naqshbandi sheikhs and sheikh of the Pîrî Baba zawiya, and became his khalifa; when his sheikh died in 1259 [1843-44] he became sheikh of the Pîrî Baba zawiya. But after serving as sheikh for about two years he died in 1261 [1845]. He was one of the pious men of the Naqshbandis.

Notes and Research

Old Words in the Text

• tahsîl-i ulûm: pursuit of learning
• meşâyih: sheikhs
• intisâb: attaching oneself to a sheikh, becoming a disciple
• halîfe: the disciple able to succeed the sheikh, permitted to guide in his name
• meşîhat: sheikhship
• sulehâ: pious, devout people

Pîrî Baba and His Zawiya

Pîrî Baba is a dervish who has held a special place in the spiritual life of Merzifon for centuries. According to the legend he came to Anatolia with the permission of Hoca Ahmed Yesevî; researchers accept that he most probably lived in the second half of the fifteenth century. When Evliya Çelebi visited the zawiya he described it as a Bektashi zawiya. Suraiya Faroqhi notes that the lodge was in Bektashi hands in the seventeenth century, but that it is hardly possible to say it was founded from the start as a Bektashi zawiya. In the survey register of 926 [1520] the name of Şahkulu Baba b. Bâyezîd appears as sheikh of the zawiya, and it is understood that the same person held this post in the register of 982-983 [1574-75].

In local accounts many legends live on, such as Pîrî Baba's spending nights in a retreat adjoining the furnace room of the Old Bathhouse, and his friendship with Koyun Baba of Osmancık. His tomb is square in plan, single-domed and two-storeyed; the grave is on the lower floor and the sarcophagus on the upper. The Pîrî Baba Mosque beside the tomb was rebuilt in 1957 and opened for worship in 1958. The tomb still receives visitors today, and customs of wishes and votive offerings continue.

The Zawiya's Passing to the Naqshbandis After 1826

Hüsameddin's placing Naqshbandi sheikhs at the head of the Pîrî Baba zawiya in this entry may at first seem surprising, since the zawiya is associated with the Bektashi tradition. This is explained by the policy carried out against the Bektashi lodges immediately after the abolition of the Janissary corps. According to Fahri Maden's study, based on archival documents, the Pîrî Baba Lodge was closed in 1826 together with the other Bektashi lodges, the lodge's meydan room was demolished, and the tomb was left untouched. The zaviyedar İbrahim Dede, because he was "of the Bektashi group" and was not considered fit for the post, was removed together with his dervishes, and Osman Efendi, from the ulema of Merzifon and of the Naqshbandi order, was brought in as türbedar. The lodge's land, goods and waqf revenues were also left to Osman Efendi, bearing in mind that its property was small and that the services of the tomb had to continue.

Maden interprets this change as an effort to Naqshbandize, that is, to Sunnify, the Bektashis, and thinks that for a long time the Naqshbandi sheikh was no more than an appointed attendant who opened the door of the tomb in the morning and locked it in the evening. With the easing of pressure from the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid, the Bektashis approached the tomb again, and after the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz at the latest the services of the tomb again passed into their hands. In 1867 Hasan, Osman and Ömer Efendis were appointed to the stewardship and lodge-residency posts, in 1869 Seyyid Osman and Seyyid Hızır Efendis, and in 1870 Şükrü Dede was appointed zaviyedar.

The Value of Hüsameddin's Record

In the list of zaviyedars and türbedars that Maden drew from the archival documents, no name appears between Osman Efendi in 1827 and the appointments of 1867. The two names Hüsameddin gives, the sheikh es-Seyyid el-Hâc Ali Efendi (died 1259 [1843-44]) and his khalifa İbrâhim Efendi of Merzifon (died 1261 [1845]), fall exactly into this gap. This record shows that after 1826 Naqshbandi sheikhs were indeed for a time at the head of the zawiya and that the sheikhship passed from sheikh to khalifa. Whether Ali Efendi was Osman Efendi's successor or someone who came to the post in another way could not be determined from the sources. No other record of İbrâhim Efendi was found.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 6, p. 74–74. amasya.bel.tr

Academic studies

• Haşim Şahin, "Pîrî Baba", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/piri-baba
• "Merzifon", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/merzifon
• Fahri Maden, "Merzifon'da Bir Erenler Ocağı: Piri Baba Tekkesi, Türbesi ve Vakfı", Alevilik Araştırmaları Dergisi, no. 2 (Winter 2011). https://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D04118/2011_2/2011_2_MADENF.pdf

Other sources

• Danyal Aşık, "Bektaşi Dervişi Piri Baba ve Türbesi, Merzifon" (2020). https://danyalasik.com/2020/04/30/bektasi-dervisi-piri-baba-ve-turbesi-merzifon/