City
6 sourced records · 1 verified locations
The atlas holds 6 sourced records for Niğde; every record is published with scholarly review and a citation chain. Breakdown: 5 Saints · 1 Scholar.
Regarded as the founder of the lodge in Güllüce village near Niğde. The village holds a kümbet and adjoining tomb dated to the first half of the 18th century, with Sheikh Ibrahim and Sheikh Musa reported buried in the kümbet. Studied academically by Halit Çal in Vakıflar Dergisi (1998). (Sources: H. Çal, Vakıflar Dergisi 1998; Niğde Provincial Directorate)
A saint buried at the Türbeönü site, about 3 km from Altunhisar, Niğde. Per the naskh inscription above its door, the tomb was built in 955/1548; the inscription reads 'This is the tomb of Şeyh Güzel,' with a chronogram. Repaired in 1726 and 1803. (Sources: Niğde Provincial Directorate; M. Özkarcı, TTK)
A venerated scholar and saint who gave his name to Şeyhömerli village in Ulukışla, Niğde. Tradition holds he aided Sultan Murad IV during the Baghdad campaign (1637), after which the village was tithe-exempt. Per its inscription his domed square tomb was built in 1080/1669 by Sheikh Yakub. (Sources: Niğde Provincial Directorate; Kültür Envanteri; M. Özkarcı, TTK)
A frontier warrior (alperen) who played an active part in the Turkification and Islamisation of Anatolia and the Balkans; a figure whose legendary renown outran his historical record. It is difficult to establish his historical identity with certainty. The source states this limit plainly: the period of his life down to 697 (1297-98) can be connected with historical information only in part , while what precedes 1263 remains obscure. According to the account of Yazıcıoğlu Ali, Sultan Izz al-Dîn Kaykâ'ûs II, after his defeat by Mongol-backed forces, fled around 1261-62 with his Turkmen followers to Dobruja (present-day Romania). Sarı Saltuk moved about the region at the head of these groups and passed to western Anatolia around 1304. He died in 697 (1297-98). Kemâleddin Serrâc presents him as having died in Dobruja at about the age of seventy. His Circle of Influence — Sarı Saltuk is a syncretic figure embraced in different aspects by Sunni, Alevi and Bektashi circles ; he lives on as a figure bridging the Islamic tradition and local traditions. He is connected to the Rifâî chains through his sheikh, Şeyh Mahmud; the biographical details, however, are contested. His Tomb and Complex — He has more than one shrine in the Balkans and Anatolia: Kaliakra (Bulgaria), Babadağ (Romania), Blagaj (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ohrid (North Macedonia), Krujë (Albania), as well as Tunceli, Diyarbakır, Niğde, İznik and Istanbul. The lodge at Babadağ was turned into a complex in 1484 by the order of Bayezid II. Russian invasions destroyed the complex; restoration work after 1828 kept a plain domed structure standing, and the building was reopened to visitors in October of 2007.
A mystic poet; his real name was İsmâil. He used the epithet Ümmî because he had not received a formal education. Where he came from is contradictory in the sources. Latîfî and Âlî Mustafa Efendi state that he was from the town of Lârende in Karaman; Âşık Ahmed says that he was of Khorasanian origin. According to Âşık Ahmed, whom the source counts the most reliable, he lived in the region of Aladağ and Bozarmut near Bolu and won the attention of Hacı Bayrâm-ı Velî . In Sufism he was among the dervishes of Şeyh Mehmed Bedreddin and among the followers of Cemâl-i Halvetî. His sheikh was Ubeydullah Hâmid (Ebû Hamîd Aksarâyî), also known as Somuncu Baba. He died in 880 (1475). His Poetry and Sufi Line — His poems fall into two groups: those of the kind of tevhid, münâcât and na't, and poems of religious and Sufi counsel. He used a plain Turkish and preferred an idiom laden with wisdom and aphorism; this plainness allowed his poems to be read in a wide circle. His Works — 1. Dîvân. Twenty-seven manuscripts of it have been identified; the richest copy (Beyazıt no. 3357) contains 140 poems, including seven mesnevîs. 2. Kırk Armağan. A mesnevî of about 200 couplets on the theme of preparation for death. 3. Risâle-i Vefât. A mesnevî describing the moments of death and the states of the grave. 4. Risâle-i Îmân. A prose treatise on faith and worship. His Tomb and Complex — Although he is stated to be buried at Bolu, there is also a report that he is buried at the Niğde Mevlevîhâne.
Hazrat
A mystic poet who grew up at Bor; a Qādirî dervish whose poems were widely read in Anatolia. He was born on 15 July 1769 in the district of Bor in Niğde. His father was Hacı İbrâhim Efendi, a Naqshbandi scholar. After his father's death in 1786 he set out on long journeys; he travelled through Anatolia and visited the major Islamic centres. He resided in Mecca for seventeen years ; he afterwards saw Damascus and Egypt. At first he followed the Naqshbandi path and later passed to the Qādirî path; the source records the reason for this transition as his finding the Qādirî way more suited to his spiritual temperament. He himself expressed this multiple affiliation in a line of verse: "I am Halvetî and Celvetî and Qādirî and Naqshbandi." The later part of his life was passed at Bor. On his return there he met with severe pressure and for thirteen years could not leave his lodge. He contracted sixteen marriages and had twenty-six children. He died in 1849 in the Kavaklı quarter of Bor. His Circle of Influence — His spiritual chain continued within his family: his son Abdurrahman and his grandson Ali carried on his path. His Poetry and Sufi Line — He wrote his poems in both the aruz and the syllabic metre; this double idiom allowed the Sufi content to reach beyond the circle of the medrese as well. His line rests on a temperament that does not close itself within a single order but, in his own words, claims all four paths at once. His Works — He has a published Dîvân containing mystical poems in both the aruz and the syllabic metre. He also has the treatises Pendnâme and Vasiyetnâme .
