Deer and dervish: Some new evidences on the 13th century sufi world

Abstract

People, throughout history, had always considered other species as sacred, to which they felt grateful. Especially, deer and the related spices, such as ram-sheep, goat-billygoat, occupied a prominent and primary place in people's daily life and their religious ritual. These animals were able to move with nomadic societies. Anecdotes on the fact that deers whose meat, milk, leather, horns and fragrance from belly, were roaming with much respected persons in remote places, had aroused interest. Deer and its species, which inspired many toponyms, are seen to have been used to name societies or clans and individuals, such as Akkoyunlular, Karakoyunlular, Tekeogullari and Kizilboga. Deer, identified with earth, is in respect of its horns resembled to trumpet blown by the Angel Israfil, thought to symbolise the "message" for darling and freedom. In this study, after the universality of deers has been put forward by considering the fact that they are common elements in various cultures, some leaders such as Kizil Boga, Geyikli Baba and Karaca Ahmed are approached and commented through inedited documents. Besides, based on a few waqfiya (endowment), the importance of deer in mysticism (tasawwuf) is emphasized. As such, this study is expected to make very important contributions to studies related to Qalandariyya. © 2020 Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University. All rights reserved.