Baciyan-i Rum

Bacıyân-ı Rûm (literally Sisters of Rûm)[1] was an alleged female militia organization in the late Anatolian Beyliks era.[2]

Origins

The term bâciyân-ı Rûm was first time mentioned in the 15th century by Aşıkpaşazade, alongside other groups called gāziyân-ı Rûm (Ghazis of Rum), ahîyân-ı Rûm (Akhis of Rum) and abdalân-ı Rûm (Abdals of Rum).[3][4] Another record appears in Bertrandon de la Broquière's travelogue. La Broquière mentioned that the Beylik of Dulkadir had a Turkmen militia consisting of women.[3][5]

Since Bâciyân-ı Rûm was an organization made up of women and that no such group was mentioned in any other source than Aşıkpaşazade's work, it attracted the attention of many researchers. It was claimed that it might be a mistake of copying to take the form of the word "bâciyân" (sisters). Franz Taeschner argued that the original of this might be hajiyân-ı Rûm (pilgrims of Rum) or bahşiyân-ı Rûm (clerks of Rum).[3] Zeki Velidi Togan also supported this view.[6] Mehmet Fuat Köprülü argued that female members of Haji Bektash Veli's sect were given the nickname "bacı", therefore saw the existence of this organization possible.[3]

References
  1. Didem Havlioglu (2017). Mihrî Hatun: Performance, Gender-Bending, and Subversion in Ottoman Intellectual History. p. 78.
  2. Kasapoglu 1992, pp. 67–68
  3. Körpülü, Orhan Fuad (1991). "BÂCİYÂN-ı RÛM". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. 4 (Âşik Ömer – Bâlâ Külli̇yesi̇) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Turkiye Diyanet Foundation, Centre for Islamic Studies. ISBN 978-975-389-431-9.
  4. Âşıkpaşazâde. Târih (in Turkish). p. 200.
  5. La Broquière, Bertrandon de (1892). La Voyage d'outremer (in French). Paris. p. 82, 118.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. Togan, Zeki Velidi (1970). Umumi Türk Tarihine Giriş (in Turkish). Istanbul. p. 496.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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