Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Leila Abu Lughod, Veiled Sentiments: 

Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society (Berkeley: Univer-

sity of California Press, 2000); Donald P. Cole, Nomads 

of the Nomads: The Al Murrah Bedouin of the Empty 

Quarter (Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1975); 

Dale F. Eickelman, The Middle East and Central Asia: An 

Anthropological Approach. 4th ed. (Englewood Cliffs, 

N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001); Jibrail Jabbur, The Bedouins 

and the Desert: Aspects of Nomadic Life in the Arab East

(New York: State University of New York Press, 1995).

Bektashi Sufi Order

The Bektashi Order, which is based in t

Urkey

, was 

formed by disciples of the 13th-century 

saint

 Haji 

Bektash Veli (

wali

), who is said to have migrated 

to Anatolia from Khorasan. He settled in a village 

in central Anatolia and exerted a strong influence 

over the Turkish peasants and wandering der-

vishes living in the region. After his death, the site 

of his tomb attracted followers, who eventually 

formed a coherent order, which was firmly insti-

tutionalized by Balim Sultan in the early 16th cen-

tury. The order spread through lands occupied by 

the Ottomans, especially in the Balkans. Bektashis 

were affiliated with the J

anissary

 corps of the Sul-

tan’s army, for whom they served as chaplains. It 

was this relationship that led to their suppression 

when Sultan Mahmud II abolished the Janissaries 

in 1826. Bektashis later reappeared but were again 

officially closed down along with all other dervish 

orders in Turkey in 1925. Nevertheless, Bektashis 

have continued to exist in Turkey, and there are 

also communities in Bulgaria, Bosnia, Macedonia, 

and Albania.

Like the Shia, Bektashis revere Ali and the 

Twelve Imams but also Haji Bektash and other 

saints. They seek spiritual perfection through cor-

rect behavior and disguise their beliefs through 

a complex symbolism that pervades all Bektashi 

ritual, clothing, 

art

, and poetry. Disciples are