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A Vefâî-Kalenderî dervish who lived in the Balkans; he is known as Kızıl Deli.
It is related that he came from the region of Khorasan with forty companions, and that he was summoned in a dream by the Prophet to aid Yıldırım Bayezid's conquests in the Balkans.
It is recorded that Seyyid Ali Sultan and his companions took part in the conquest of Gallipoli, Bolayır, Kavak, Varmacin and other strategic fortresses in the Balkans. He served actively in the retinue of Gazi Evrenos during the Keşan-Edirne campaigns in the reign of Murad I.
He established a lodge near Didymoteicho, along the Kızıl Deli stream. In 1402 Bayezid I granted him three villages (Darıbükü, Büyükviran, Tıfulluviranı) as revenue. He is known to have been alive at least until 1412, when Mûsâ Çelebi renewed his documents.
His Circle of Influence — Within the Bektashi tradition he came to be counted the holder of the second post (the post of the kitchen) and the guardian of the lands of Rum. His lodge was reckoned among the four most important Bektashi centres. Later Bektashi poets remembered him as "the shah of the warriors of Rumelia".
He died after 815 (1412); the source gives no record of anything beyond that.
His Works — There is no work of his own composition; the principal source about him is the Velâyetnâme-i Seyyid Ali Sultan, which relates his life. The Velâyetnâme tells of his coming from Khorasan to aid Bayezid I's conquests in the Balkans. The manuscripts differ from one another: the Cairo manuscript names Orhan Gazi while others refer to Bayezid I — which points to the narrative spanning more than one Ottoman era.
His Tomb and Complex — His tomb is at Didymoteicho, beside a stream called Kızıl Deli. The epithet Kızıl Deli comes from this: from the red stream that runs beside the settlement where he founded his lodge. The lodge served both as a spiritual centre and as a derbend (a pass post), and remained quite active in later periods. The three villages granted by Bayezid I in 804 (1402) later became an endowment administered by the successors of Mûsâ Çelebi.
Differing Scholarly Views
His descent is disputed. There is disagreement among scholars: some claim that his father was Hacı Bektaş, some point to Seyyid Hüseyin Ata, and some deny any such connection entirely. The atlas records all three and chooses none.
The coming from Khorasan and the summons in a dream are TRANSMITTED REPORTS. His coming from Khorasan with forty companions and his being summoned in a dream by the Prophet are a legendary narrative, not a historical record; the atlas carries them in that mood.
The Vefâî-Kalenderî identity and the Bektashi adoption are separate layers. The source presents him as a Vefâî-Kalenderî dervish; his place in the Bektashi tradition is a position that formed later. The atlas does not confuse these two layers (principle 5).
Sources
- Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü (TEİS)
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) — Haşim Şahin · vol. 37, pp. 48-50, entry “SEYYİD ALİ SULTAN”
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