Hacı Bektaş Veli
Hacı Bektâş-ı VelîBalım SultanElvan Çelebi
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For everyone
Hacı Bektaş Veli is a 13th-century Sufi who came from Khorasan to Anatolia and settled at Sulucakarahöyük (today Hacıbektaş) near Kırşehir. The Alevi and Bektashi traditions regard him as their "pir". Most of what is known about his life rests on the Vilâyetnâme, written about two centuries after his death. The Bektashi order that bears his name is held to have been institutionalised later, not founded by him.
For specialists
One of the earliest sources mentioning him is Elvan Çelebi's Menâkıbu'l-kudsiyye, written in 1358; Aşıkpaşazade also mentions him in his history. According to TDV, the Vilâyetnâme presents him as a shaykh carrying the Ḥaydarī tradition and Yasawī influence. The order's rules and rites were set in the early 16th century under Balım Sultan. The Makâlât is attributed to him. The complex containing his tomb today also serves as a museum.
Views on dating
No single date is given because the date is not documented with certainty; the views of different sources are listed.
| Date of death in the sources | Around 669 AH (1270–71); different sources give dates a few years apart.[1] |
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Claims
- The way to God is a process of moral and spiritual maturation described as four gates and forty stations.[1]
Positions
- Alevi and Bektashi traditions
- Hacı Bektaş Veli is the pir of the path; his teaching and legends are the source of a spiritual heritage passed down the generations.[1]
Connections
Parent
Sufism (taṣawwuf)Influenced by
Sources
- EncyclopediaHacı Bektâş-ı Velî. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisiislamansiklopedisi.org.trarchive
- Book (1994). God's Unruly Friends: Dervish Groups in the Islamic Later Middle Period, 1200–1550. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City
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Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). Hacı Bektaş Veli. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/haci-bektas/
@misc{athena_haci_bektas,
title = {Hacı Bektaş Veli},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/haci-bektas/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 28, 2026 · Last changed: September 28, 2026 · Page history