SEYYİD MAHMUD-I HAYRANÎ VE AKŞEHİR’DE SEYYİD MAHMUD-I HAYRANÎ MANZUMESİ

Seyyid Mahmud-i Hayrani and the Piece of Verse ‘Seyyid Mahmud-i Hayrani’ in Akşehir

Seyyid Mahmud-i Hayrani is a Turkish mystic who lived in Akşehir in the 13th century. He was in contact with his contemporaries Khadji Bektash-i Wali, Mawlana Calal al-Din al-Rumi and Sarı Saltuq, and exchanged his ideas with them. Although he was a sheikh of tasawwuf (Islamic Mysticism), the religious order (tariqat) he had established did not spread outside Akşehir. However, he was known as an Awliya (Muslim Saint) during the reigns of Anatolian Seljuk and Ottoman Empire, and his grave was continuously visited. Of the building mentioned in the piece of verse ‘Seyyid Mahmud-i Hayrani’, today only the tomb and Ferruh Shah Masjid (small mosque) stand still. But the zaviye (complex), madrassah (theological school), imaret, madrassah masjid, hamam (public bath) and the graveyard had disappeared. Because of this, the places of the mentioned buildings cannot be determined. Seyyid Mahmud-i Hayrani Complex was used by the Rufais when Seyyid’s grandson Seyidi Ali was a sheikh. In the second half of the 18th century, it was seized by the Bektashis, and it remained under their control until the tekkes and zaviyes (complexes) were closed in 1925.