The relationship between the Mevlevi order and the Ottoman State in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between the Mevlevi order and Ottoman State in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries within a comparative and analytical framework. It questions the nature and transformation of the Mevlevi order as well as that of the of the Ottoman state from a historical perspective. This thesis is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter studies the creation of the Mevlevi order and the heritage of the thirteenth century Anatolia that contributed to the making of the Mevleviye. The second chapter questions the impact of various Sufi orders in the Ottoman state between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries in order to reveal changing policies of the government on Sufi orders. The third chapter presents us the financial basis and empowerment of the Mevlevi order through the Celaliye Evqaf. In the fourth and fifth chapters, I focus on the development of the relations between the Mevlevis and the Ottoman state in different parts of the Ottoman Empire in individual and institutional levels first until the eighteenth century and then between 1780 and 1840 so that it will be possible to establish the status of the Mevleviye in the Ottoman State. The sixth chapter is heavily based on the archival documents and aims to look the representation of the Ottoman sultans as the patrons of the Mevleviye. This thesis is complemented with a chapter on a comparison of the Mevlevi order with the Bektaşi and Nakşibendi Sufi orders, which can provide us a comparative approach within the larger context of Ottoman Sufi world.