Pir Esad Sultan (Pisili Baba)

Pir Esad Sultan was a renowned sheikh of the Anatolian Seljuk period and a contemporary of Mevlana (Rumi); he is popularly known as 'Pisili Baba' (the cat-lover) for his great affection for cats. According to the inscription on his tomb he died in 662/1263 and was buried in the complex he built in the second half of the 13th century, comprising a small mosque, tomb and dervish lodge, in the neighbourhood that bears his name. Of the complex only the tomb survives; the tomb and lodge were rebuilt in 1440 by Musa Pasha, an emir of the Karamanid dynasty. The tomb stands in Karatay district beside the Pisili Mosque. (Sources: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, 'Pir Esad Kulliyesi'; Cultural Inventory; Konya Saints and Scholars)