SOME EXAMPLES ON THE RELATIONS OF YORUKS (NOMAND) WITH AHI TEKKES IN WESTERN ANATOLIA

Abstract

The yoruks, who continue their traditional nomadic life style in Anatolia, are a social group that shows differences with their lifestyles and social structures. In relation to our study period, these groups, who played important roles in making Anatolia a Turkish homeland, took part in the establishment of many principalities and states. In addition to their mobile lifestyles, they also played prominent roles in social events and many political and economic activities. Especially in the last periods of the Seljuk period, especially when the Turkmens fleeing from the Mongol invasion took refuge in Anatolia, the settlement of these groups and the continuation of their lifestyles emerged as an important issue. In the environment of disorder and chaos that emerged in Anatolia with the Mongol invasion, these Turkmen groups attracted the attention of political focal points with their military skills and traditions. However, the environment of insecurity that developed with the disappearance of the central authority also manifested itself in the fields of production and marketing and brought other problems in the continuation of daily life. Although the Ahi organization, which can be described as an artisan organization, was more effective in cities and towns, it was also effective among the nomads both in the period of the principalities and in the Ottoman period. Although the main goal was to help the nomads learn different professions and to settle them, the ahi organization was also effective in developing a common understanding of production and consumption, in other words, in developing the idea of a common world.