Saints and Tombs of Karaman

Hasan Kudsi Efendi of Ödemiş

A Naqshbandi-Khalidi scholar and sheikh, khalifa of Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi; nicknamed 'Kudsi' because his retreat was in Jerusalem, he guided disciples at the Ketenci Baba lodge in Karaman. He died in 1254 AH (1834) and was buried in the precinct of the Kethâne (Ketenci) Mosque in the Sekiçeşme quarter of Karaman. (Sources: Konyapedia; evliyalar.net; Karamandan.com)

Qutb al-Aqtab Sheikh Ahmed Efendi

An Ottoman-era Sufi sheikh who lived in the Kirazlıyayla (formerly Lafsa) quarter of Başyayla; his tomb inscription names him 'Qutb al-Arifin Sheikh Ahmed Efendi' and he is buried beside the Kirazlıyayla Mosque he himself built. Per the inscription he died in 1101 AH (1690); local tradition traces his lineage to Imam Muhammed Bağevi of Bukhara (flagged as traditional). (Sources: Başyayla District Governorate; kulturenvanteri.com KE No.4626; Karamandan.com)

Muhammed Alaeddin Çelebi (elder brother of Mawlana)

The elder brother of Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi; he died young in Larende (Karaman) during the family's migration and was buried there together with their mother Mümine Hatun. The Karaman Mevlevihane (Aktekke / Mâder-i Mevlânâ) was founded on the site of these graves; no firm death year is recorded (undated), and he must not be confused with Mawlana's same-named son Alaeddin Çelebi (d.1262, buried in Konya). (Sources: TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi 'Karaman Mevlevîhânesi'; Dünya Bizim)

Sheikh Mehmed Kudsi Efendi

A Naqshbandi sheikh, khalifa of Sheikh Hacı Muhammed Bahaeddin Efendi of the Memiş Efendi lineage, appointed mufti of Karaman in 1919. He died in 1962 and was buried, like Hasan Kudsi Efendi, in the precinct of the Kethâne (Ketenci) Mosque in the Sekiçeşme quarter. (Sources: Karamandan.com; tarihgezisi.com; evliyalar.net)

Mumine Hatun (Mother of Mawlana)

(the venerable mother)

Mother of Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi; daughter of Rukn al-Din, emir of Balkh, of the Khwarazmian Turks. During the family's migration from Balkh to Anatolia they stayed for a time in Larende (Karaman), where she died, reported in sources as 621 AH (1224). Her grave lies inside the Aktekke (Mader-i Mevlana) Mosque built in 1370 by Karamanoğlu Alaeddin Bey; the same structure also holds graves of Rumi's relatives.

Yunus Emre

(may his soul be sanctified)

Thirteenth-to-fourteenth-century Sufi poet regarded as the founder of Anatolian Turkish mystical poetry. A document places his birth in 638 AH (1240-41) and his death in 720 AH (1320) at eighty-two. He served for years at the lodge of his master Tapduk Emre. His burial place is disputed; alongside Sarıköy in Eskişehir, the tomb adjoining the Yunus Emre Mosque in Karaman is one of the two most widely accepted sites.