On the Interpretation of the Türbe of Elmalı Baba in the Village of Bivolyane, Kardzhali Region: A Forgotten, Silenced or Unheard Legend? Cover Image
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Към интерпретацията на тюрбето Елмалъ баба в село Биволяне, Кърджалийско: забравена, премълчана или нечута легенда?
On the Interpretation of the Türbe of Elmalı Baba in the Village of Bivolyane, Kardzhali Region: A Forgotten, Silenced or Unheard Legend?

Author(s): Bojidar Alexiev
Subject(s): Anthropology, Cultural history, Semiotics / Semiology, Customs / Folklore, Architecture, Regional Geography, Ethnohistory, History of ideas, Local History / Microhistory, Theology and Religion, Comparative Studies of Religion, Politics and religion, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Culture and social structure , Sociology of Culture, The Ottoman Empire, History of Islam, Ethnic Minorities Studies, History of Religion, Identity of Collectives, Turkic languages
Published by: Институт за етнология и фолклористика с Етнографски музей при БАН
Keywords: Bektashi; the türbe of Elmalı baba; Turks in Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: The türbe of Elmalı baba in the village of Bivolyane is probably the most visited by the Heterodox Muslim Turks place of pilgrimage in Eastern Rhodopi Mountains in Bulgaria. Nevertheless, there is no information about a narrative dedicated to the worship of the saints there. Most probably the reason for that is connected to two traumatic events: the closing of the türbe by Sultan Mahmud II in 1826 and the forceful change of the names of the Turks in Bulgaria in 1984–1985. The article offers a hypothesis explaining the existence of an extremely rare co-presence of six (considered male) and one (worshiped as female) graves, which have appeared in the period between these two traumatic moments.

  • Issue Year: XLVI/2020
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 105-130
  • Page Count: 26
  • Language: Bulgarian