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A Baba'i-Haydari dervish who lived in the 13th century; he is known as the shaykh of the great Sufi poet Yunus Emre.
He is thought to have come to Anatolia from Khurasan. Whether the word Tapduk was his name or his epithet is uncertain. Some of Yunus Emre's verses show that, like many dervishes of the Baba'i groups, he bore the title baba; the existence of persons using this name in Anatolia in his time is also known.
The sources give differing accounts of the period in which he lived; but if the periods of his disciple Yunus Emre and of his shaykh Barak Baba are taken into account, it can be said that he lived in the second half of the 13th century. Majdi states that he led a secluded life in his village near the Sakarya river; most sources agree that he lived in this village, which today bears his name. Like many dervishes of his time he is thought to have engaged in farming and in the training of his disciples.
The sources differ on the identity of his spiritual guide. His disciple Yunus Emre himself, in the verse "Yunus's portion comes from Tapduk, Saltuk and Barak", places him among the disciples of Barak Baba; according to the source, these words establish conclusively that he was Barak Baba's disciple. Through Barak Baba his chain reaches Sarı Saltuk. Since Barak Baba is known to have been a Haydari dervish, Tapduk Emre too is thought likely to have been a Baba'i-Haydari dervish. According to M. Fuad Köprülü, because of his close ties with Baba'i circles he appears, like his shaykh, as a Turkmen baba; Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı holds that he belonged to the ta'ifa-i abdalan.
What is told of his family is adorned with hagiographic reports. It is related that one of his daughters married Yunus Emre, but this report appears neither in Yunus's divan nor in other contemporary sources. Another daughter named Bacı Sultan, whose grave is in the village of Emre Sultan near Nallıhan, is also reported. Gölpınarlı further draws attention to the possibility that Yunus Emre may have been Tapduk Emre's son.
His exact date of death is not known. It is highly probable that the guide whose death Yunus Emre announces in one of his poems died at the end of the 13th century.
His Circle of Influence — The sources indicate that he had many disciples, known as the Tapduklular. His best-known disciple is Yunus Emre, who served him for many years: he spread his views in Anatolia and Syria, spoke of him with reverence and praise, and like his shaykh embraced Qalandari-Malamati thought, expressing this in the verse "We scattered Tapduk's meaning among the people, praise be to God". Two further disciples, Shaykh Ömer and Shaykh Ja'far, are named in the sources. Village names show that his influence reached the Balkans as well: a village of the central district of Aksaray, one of the Havsa district of Edirne and one attached to Varna bear the name Tapduk. The source notes that even if this does not prove he went to these regions, it matters for estimating the spread of his disciples.
His Tomb and Complex — According to the source, the most reliable view is that his grave lies in the village of Emresultan in the Nallıhan district of Ankara; this is recorded in many sources as well as in the Afyonkarahisar Sharia Court Registers. In the tomb in the village there are the graves of many other persons said to belong to his family.
Miracles
The following are reports that appear in the source as TRANSMITTED accounts; the atlas records them not as 'this happened' but as 'this is what the sources relate'.
The legend of the name Tapduk — The Bektashi tradition connects his being given the name Tapduk with his relationship to Hajji Bektash Wali and bases this on a widespread legend; according to the Vilayetname, Tapduk Emre acknowledged the superiority of Hajji Bektash Wali, and the name was given to him during a meeting between them. (Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “Tapduk Emre”, vol. 40)
Forty years of service — The famous legend that Yunus Emre served at his shaykh's door for forty years appears in many sources, including the Vilayetname and Lami'i. (Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “Tapduk Emre”, vol. 40)
Differing Scholarly Views
The period in which he lived — Aşıkpaşazade holds that he lived in the time of Orhan Gazi (1324-1362) and died in the reign of Yıldırım Bayezid (1389-1402); Majdi counts him among the dervishes of Yıldırım Bayezid's time; Abu'l-Khayr-i Rumi, author of the Saltukname, makes him a contemporary of Karaca Ahmed, who is known to have lived under Orhan Gazi. The author of the source, however, relying on the periods of Yunus Emre and Barak Baba, says that he lived some fifty years earlier, in the second half of the 13th century, and that he very probably died at the end of the 13th century. The atlas does not choose between these views.
A historical person? — Some recent studies argue that the word "tapduk" in Yunus Emre's poems is used to describe God, and that there was therefore no person named Tapduk (Kabaklı). The source notes in reply that Yunus's verses show he bore the title baba, and that persons using this name are known in Anatolia at that time.
His guide and his order — The sources diverge. The Vilayetname of Hajji Bektash Wali places him, together with Sarı Saltuk and Barak Baba, among the disciples of Hajji Bektash Wali and so includes him in the Bektashi tradition. The author of the Saltukname makes him directly a disciple of Sarı Saltuk without mentioning Barak Baba; according to the report, Tapduk Baba, who gathered men and women together in the dhikr assembly, was at first criticised by Sarı Saltuk, then persuaded him and became his disciple. The two names also appear together in the Hızırname. Isma'il Haqqi Bursawi, for his part, names as his shaykh a Naqshbandi Turkmen shaykh known as Sinan Efendi or Sinan Ata who migrated from Bukhara to Anatolia before the Mongol invasion. Discipleship to Barak Baba, based on Yunus Emre's verse, is the view the source finds most concrete; the atlas records the others as well.
Where he lived and his marriage — While most sources agree that he lived in the village near the Sakarya river, there are also reports that he lived in a village between Kula and Salihli in Manisa. It is also related that he married Hajji Fatma Sultan, daughter of Saruhan Bey; the source notes that this view has found little acceptance in academic circles.
Accusations against the Tapduklular — Kadı Ahmed of Niğde claims in al-Walad al-shafiq that the Tapduklular did not observe religious rules. The author of the source does not consider it possible that these statements reflect reality, and regards them as a reflection of the rivalry between different religious circles of the time. The atlas does not reproduce the details of the accusation; it records its existence and the author's assessment.
Location of the grave — The source records that there are graves attributed to Tapduk Emre in Bursa, in a village called Emre between Kula and Salihli in Manisa, and in places such as Afyon-Sandıklı, Karaman, Sivas, Erzurum, Aksaray and Isparta-Keçiborlu, some of which are regarded as belonging to both Yunus Emre and Tapduk Emre. The most reliable view is that the grave is in the village of Emresultan in Nallıhan. The atlas marker agrees with this view; the shrines in the other places are also associated with his name in tradition.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · vol. 40, pp. 12-13, entry “Tapduk Emre”
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