Adaptation of Buyruk Manuscripts to Impart Alevi Teachings: Mehmet Yaman Dede and the Arapgir-Çimen Buyruğu

Abstract

Today, many Alevis believe that the central teachings of their religious tradition are represented in a book called Buyruk, or Command. In the last decades, some twenty books have been published to make the relevant texts, originally written in the Perso-Arabic alphabet of Ottoman Turkish, available for readers familiar only with the Latin-based alphabet of modern Turkish. However, too little is known about the manuscripts that served as exemplars for these printed works. The Arapgir-Çimen Buyruğu is such a manuscript, however, through its last owner Mehmet Yaman Dede, a religious specialist of the tradition, it can now be understood how variously he adapted its contents for presentation in a published version for community members eager to become acquainted with these writings. It is suggested here that his work on both text and manuscript reflects earlier practices, partly rearranged, however, and that his endeavours must be reflected in light of his life story, and his educational history in particular. Buyruk is a living document. There is no single definitive version agreed upon by all Alevis. Numerous versions of the text exist in manuscript form. It is readily available in a variety of inexpensive published versions. Although these versions differ both in length and content, they generally contain a similar collection of narratives, descriptions of ritual, poetry, and explanations of theology. This definition of Buyruk, as presented by Vernon Schubel, alludes to major questions that are to be raised in the following. In the absence of a definitive version of Buyruk, can we assume that some scribes, compilers and others involved in the production of such manuscripts were free to make changes in order to adapt the texts to certain needs? Moreover, are there adaptations that can be linked to requirements in teaching and learning? And last but not least, how do recent print versions relate to the previously handwritten collections of texts? || 1 Schubel 2010, 331. 466 | Janina Karolewski Given the different text versions in Buyruk manuscripts, it is apparent that they have been subject to adaptation from the outset. Indeed, it is probably fair to admit there has been a generally unstable transmission of Buyruk texts. But some manuscripts known to us thus far, display massive textual parallels. When cursorily comparing the latter, we observe a number of recurring modifications – among them abbreviated or expanded text versions, but also differences in spelling or word choice. An ideal case, however, enabling an understanding of which scribe departed from his exemplar when copying and which copyist tried to faithfully reproduce the texts before him, is a rarity. For this reason, we have decided to focus here on an individual case in which we can compare the manuscript exemplar with the resultant adaptations, albeit in print. Following an overview on Buyruk manuscripts and printed versions, we will introduce the Alevi religious specialist Mehmet Yaman Dede (1940–2014), who worked intensively with written sources of his tradition. Then, we will zoom in on the Arapgir-Çimen Buyruğu, the manuscript which served Mehmet Yaman Dede as an exemplar for his printed Buyruk publications. Finally, we will analyse his adaptation strategies, which, as proposed, can be interpreted to some extent as continuations and rearrangements of practices that were already commonly employed with manuscripts. 1 Buyruk books: From manuscripts to prints The Alevis are members of a marginalised religious tradition from Anatolia and other neighbouring regions, often referred to as Alevilik, or Alevism. In their private book collections so-called Buyruks or Buyruk manuscripts are often || 2 See e.g. Karakaya-Stump 2010, 279; Kehl-Bodrogi 1997, 135; Otter-Beaujean 1997, 224; Yildiz 2017, 80. 3 The first critical Buyruk edition was accomplished by Rıza Yıldırım only after the submission of the present paper (see Yıldırım 2020). We thank him for sharing parts of his, at that time, still unpublished book with us. 4 We feel deeply indebted to the late Mehmet Yaman Dede and his son Prof. Dr. Ali Yaman, Abant İzzet Üniversitesi, Bolu, Turkey, for their boundless confidence through all the years. Our research would not have been possible in this form without their support. We also express our thanks for giving the authorisation for publishing all images reproduced here. 5 For a short introduction to the Alevi tradition see Dressler 2008; and for a special focus on teaching and learning in Alevi communities, see the contribution by Janina Karolewski in the present volume (Section ‘Educational Setting’, pp. 151–184). Adaptation of Buyruk Manuscripts to Impart Alevi Teachings | 467 found. The designation Buyruk, translated as ‘command’, can be understood as a label that Alevis used to apply to books belonging to a corpus or set of texts. It is said that this corpus or set contains the central religious and social teachings of Alevi communities. It seems to have been a rare exception to indicate this label within the manuscripts, either as a heading or on the cover. Buyruks, therefore, can have both identical or non-identical titles, if at all, and they can comprise similar texts, display textual differences, vary in extent and order, and so forth. The earliest copies are said to date back to the first quarter of the 17 century, but most of the recently documented manuscripts were copied between the late eighteenth and early twentieth century. Buyruk texts are usually composed in Ottoman Turkish, i.e. Turkish written in Perso-Arabic characters, with occasional use of short phrases in Arabic. Alevi religious specialists educated in the Arabic alphabet made use of these text collections to acquire knowledge themselves and disseminate it among their community members and followers. The specialists were not allowed, however, to disclose the texts to outsiders, and it is even said that access to Buyruks had been restricted to chosen, presumably male-only members of the ocaks, or holy lineages. Such esoteric codes of conduct, in part at least, are present in many Buyruks and are a common feature regarding mystic interpretations of Islam. The common use of Buyruks and many other manuscript books came to an almost absolute end by the mid-twentieth century approximately. Following the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, several reforms and modernisation programmes took hold in Turkish society, severely affecting the educational practices of Alevi communities. The most significant and obvious repercussion was the conversion to the Latin alphabet, which was implemented by means of || 6 For short overviews on Buyruks see e.g. Otter-Beaujean 1997; Karakaya-Stump 2010; for comprehensive analysis, see Kaplan 2010; Yıldırım 2020. 7 We suggest this understanding of Buyruk (Karolewski 2018, 81–82), which is based on the concept of multiple-text manuscripts as ‘corpus organisers’ (see Bausi 2010). See also Ayfer Karakaya-Stump 2010, 279. 8 On these copies see e.g. Yıldırım 2012, 178, n. 5. The earliest occurrence of the label Buyruk, however, has been attested as 1857, when the protestant missionary Dunmore reported on Alevis in larger Dersim (see e.g. Karakaya-Stump 2010, 278). It remains unclear when the label Buyruk came into being. 9 See e.g. Kaplan 2010, 43–58; Yıldırım 2020. 10 Also referred to as Arabo-Persian characters or alphabet. 11 See e.g. Kaplan 2010, 92; Karakaya-Stump 2010, 282; and the text sample in Appendix 1 and 2. 468 | Janina Karolewski various literacy campaigns and the introduction of public schooling. Furthermore, social changes such as secularisation, industrialisation and urbanisation led to an abandoning of Ottoman Turkish manuscripts for the transmission of Alevi practices and beliefs. Many young Alevis opted for state school and university education, paving the way for well-paid jobs, especially in the civil service, thus supporting social mobilisation in manifold ways. Not only did education shift to other domains of knowledge, but Alevis left their villages for fast-growing provincial capitals and urban centres such as Ankara and Istanbul, some even migrating abroad. In 1958, Sefer Aytekin was the first to publish texts from several Buyruk manuscripts in the form of a small book (Aytekin 1958), which was well-received by many Alevis, interested in what they assumed to be their written tradition. In the following years, other popular Buyruk publications in the Latin alphabet were published. The editors, frequently Alevis themselves, often published their own books or worked with small publishing houses specialised in such publications. Towards the late 1980s in particular, these publishing houses began to meet the demand of many young Alevis who felt the need to engage with their tradition, from which they felt they had become estranged from over the previous decades. Aside from the numerous popular editions and compilations that still appear to this day, growing academic interest in Buyruks has spurred further publications and editions from the early 2000s. The most outstanding among them, nevertheless, were those appearing in the series titled Alevî-Bektaşî Klasikleri, that is to say Alevi-Bektaşi Classics. The series was established by Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı, or Religious Foundation of Turkey, which is a subordinate to Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, the Presidency of Religious Affairs. The presidency had previously turned down requests by Alevis to receive recognition of their own religious authorities or forms of religious practice. But the situation purportedly changed in 2007, when the government initiated the so-called ‘Alevi Opening’ for the purpose of bringing together state officials, Alevi functionaries and specialists on the issue. While this process ended without any real political outcome around 2015, || 12 On the Turkish language reform, see Lewis 1999, esp. chap. 2 and 3. 13 For these social transformations see e.g. M