Architecture and Hagiography in the Ottoman Empire

The shrine complexes examined in this book were established as independent institutions in medieval Anatolia and became the primary centres of the Bektashi order of dervishes in the classical Ottoman period. Based on a thorough examination of the buildings, their inscriptions, archival documents, and Bektashi hagiographies, this book uncovers the particular political significance of Bektashi shrines in the Ottoman imperial age, and thus provides a fresh and comprehensive account of the formative process of the Bektashi network.