BEYOND TURKEY SOUTH ASIA & SUB CONTINENT

Indian Cultural Heritage in Istanbul, Turkey

By Levent Ağaoğlu

14/03/2023

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IDEA: Indian Cultural Heritage in Istanbul, Turkey

QUESTION: Indian Cultural Heritage in Istanbul, Turkey

Indian Cultural Heritage Collection in Greater Turkey

Hindistan’da Türk Varlığı

Blue dots are the Indian dervish lodges in Istanbul.

The one on the left is in European part and on the right is Asian part of the city. Dervishes from India were staying at these lodges in the past.

In european part of the city, there is Murat Munzavi (died 1719) tomb as well who is from Keshmir.

So three historical districts ( Fatih, Eyüp, Üsküdar) have Indian heritage.

This shows the excellent interconnection base between Turkey and India; The Old World.

Murad Hermit; Kashmiri.. There is a mausoleum in Eyüp. There are mausoleums and lodges in many parts of Anatolia.

This work examines the Indian mystics, who came to the Near East in large numbers for centuries, in the context of the lodges where they sheltered and carried out their activities, and in the Ottoman period. The Indian mystics and their lodges, which were previously the subject of several researchers’ studies in Istanbul, Konya, Bursa and Jerusalem, were examined in this work throughout the Ottoman geography. In this work, which emerged by giving a great deal of effort in the pile of documents and records in different archives, an important issue that was understood in the studies of the history of Sufism in the Ottoman period, but could not be addressed as a whole, was clarified in detail. Human relations of the applied resources,

In this study, purposed to finding out of the foundation process of lodges which has named
in a general expression as named ‘‘Indian lodges’’ in Ottoman geography from fifteenth to
twentieth centuries. In addition to, analysing of commonities between the ‘‘Indian lodges’’
and also constructural similarities with Uzbek and Afghan dervish lodges aimed this work.
In light of this background, study has formed in five chapters. In chapters from one to four,
information has served about history, administrastors (shaikhs), incomes and repairings of
the buildings of the İndian lodges. In chapter five, made an analys of the datas about the
rules on role and responsables of administrastors (shaikhs), hiyerarchical element between
the lodges, difficulties on administration of the lodges in both administrative and financial
aspects.

Keywords: Lodges of Indians, Ottoman spritiual life, Ottoman religious life, lodges, zawiyas.