Alevism arose in the 13th century as a syncretism between Shi'a Islam on one hand, andKurdish and Turkic folk traditions on the other.
The Turkic peoples entering northern Iran and eastern Anatolia in the 11th and 12th centuries (the Seljuk period) were converted to Shi'a Islam during the Ilkhanate Mongol period by means of charismatic Sufi missionaries, who typically established family-based lineages.
The poet Yunus Emre and philosopher Haji Bektash Veli, whose names would later become associated with Alevism, lived during this period (or shortly after). Haji Bektash, who spent most his life as a missionary from an Iranian-based Sufi sect among Turkish tribes in Central Asia and Anatolia during the 13th century, is highly revered and generally seen as the founder of the Alevi faith. Most of his followers belonged to the Türkmen tribes. The tribes, who tried to keep their traditional customs, often stood in opposition to the Seljuk and later the Ottoman Empire.
The Alevi are ethnically distinct from the Alawi sect, whose members refer to themselves in Turkish as Arap Alevileri "Arab Alevi" for disambiguation.
[edit]Ottoman period
Further information: Ottoman persecution of Alevis
In the early 16th century, a militant ghulat Shia order emerged, called Kızılbaş or 'Redheads' after their distinctive headgear. Shah Isma'il was a hereditary leader of the Safaviyya Sufi order centered in Ardabil who led his (predominantly Azeri) followers in conquering Persia. The result was the founding of the Safavid Dynasty, and the conversion of Iran to Shiism. Shah Ismail's personal religious views are reflected in his Turkish-language Sufi poetry of aghulat nature (he claimed divinity), of which selections came to be included in Alevi scriptural compilations, the Buyruks. The religion of the Iranian populace, however, fell under the domination of Shia Arab clerics who downplayed the ghulat beliefs of the Turkish warrior class.
Meanwhile, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire gradually distanced themselves from their nomadic Turkic heritage, ultimately (during the thirteenth century) adopting the Sunnism of their Mediterranean subjects. During the long rivalry with Safavid Persia Qizilbashi tribes fought for Persian (or local) control of the Anatolian highlands, and were responsible for several 15th and 16th century uprisings against the Ottomans. The 1555 Peace of Amasyafound them on the "wrong" side of the Ottoman / Persian border, as subjects of an Ottoman court which viewed them with suspicion. Massacres of Qizilbashi occurred.
The career of Pir Sultan Abdal takes place in this context. Apparently a 16th-century folk musician from Sivas, Pir Sultan Abdal was known for playing a stringed instrument called the bağlama and singing songs critical of his Ottoman governors, in defense of the rights of the Anatolian peasantry. Hanged for fomenting rebellion, he became another beloved figure in Alevi folklore and is now often invoked as a symbol of Alevism's leftist aspect. He is also preferred by Alevi Kurds, who appreciate his protest against the Turkish establishment, over Haji Bektash Veli (whom they identify with the Turks).
After the Kızılbaş lost their power in Anatolia, they are assumed to have merged into the Anatolian Alevis. Kurdish Alevis are sometimes still called Kızılbaş. Even as far east asAfghanistan and Pakistan, many Shias have "Qizilbash" as their family names.[1]
Under Ottoman rule the Alevis emerged as an endogamous ethnic group, primarily Turkish-speaking but also including Kurdish communities, concentrated in rural Anatolia. (One writer speculates that Dersim's Kurds converted to Alevism from another ghulat sect.)[2] Led by hereditary dedes, and sometimes by Bektashi dervishes, they practiced taqiyya"dissimulation, secrecy" about their religion.
Bektashi identity may have been adopted to this end, since the Bektashis were technically Sunni and tolerated by the court. After the 1826 disbanding of the Janissary Corps, the now-proscribed Bektashi order began to meet underground, like the Alevis. Adherents of the two groups blurred together to some extent. In the years before and during World War I the Çelebi family, one of two leadership groups associated with the shrine of Haji Bektash, attempted to extend its authority to the village Bektashi (Alevi) dedes, whose own hierarchy was in disarray. Some Alevi groups accepted this Bektashi authority, while others did not.[3]
[edit]Modern history
[edit]Dersim massacre
Main article:
During the violent suppression of the rebellion of the local population of Dersim province by the Turkish Army in the summer of 1937 and the spring of 1938 thousands of Alevi Zazas (Zazaki)[4] were killed and thousands more were taken into exile, depopulating the province. A key component of the turkification process was the policy of massive population resettlement, a result of the 1934 law on resettlement, a policy targeting the region of Dersim as one of its first test cases with disastrous consequences for the local population.
Sivas massacre
Main article: Sivas massacre
The oppression reached its dénouement in Sivas on 2 July 1993, when thirty-six people (Alevis, intellectuals, and a Dutch anthropologist) attending the Pir Sultan Abdal Festival were burned to death in a hotel by Sunni locals. Attending the conference was a left-wing Turkish intellectual Aziz Nesin who was vastly hated amongst religious Sunnis in Turkey as it was he who attempted to publish Salman Rushdie's controversial novel Satanic Verses, in Turkey.
Thousands of Sunni locals in Sivas, after attending Friday prayers in a nearby mosque, marched to the hotel in which the conference was taking place and set the building on fire, chanting anti-Alevi and pro-sharia slogans. The Turkish government sees this incident as being aimed at Aziz Nesin only, yet most agree that the target was the Alevis since many of the Alevi victims in the fire were very important artists and musicians. One musician, Hasret Gültekin, the most important and influential bağlama saz player in modern time was also killed in this fire. Gültekin is still considered a great loss for Turkish and Kurdish culture by Alevis and others.
The response from the security forces at the time and afterwards was weak. The assault took eight hours without a single intervention by the police, military or fire department. Alevis and most intellectuals in Turkey argue that the incident was triggered by the local government as flyers and leaflets were published and given out for days before the incident. The Turkish government refers to the Sivas Madımak Hotel incident as an attack on the intellectuals but refuses to see it as an incident directed towards Alevis. The events surrounding the massacre were captured by TV cameras and broadcast all over the world. Every year, during the anniversary of the massacre, various Alevi organizations call for the arrest of those responsible. 33 individuals were sentenced to death in 1997 for crimes related to the massacre.
Recent developments
There was also a drive-by shooting of Alevis in Istanbul's Gazi neighborhood in 1995 which resulted in the death of some Alevis. Then when protests followed police periodically opened fire on the demonstrators. When the protests were over there were a total of fifteen Alevis killed. The result was a revival of Alevi identity, and debate over this identity which continues today.
With the political thaw of the 1990s, Alevis in Turkey, influenced by the activities of their brethren in Europe, especially Germany, began to actively publish Alevi books, and open Alevi cultural centers.[6] After the fall of the Soviet bloc, Alevi activists have re-valorized Alevism as a religious or even ethnic designation.
Alevism is now recognized in Turkish law as an "indigenous" Anatolian religion, and the government now sponsors certain Alevi festivals.
