Seyyid Ali Sultan (Kızıldeli) und seine spuren auf dem Balkan

Seyyid Ali Sultan, also called Kızıldeli, is an Alevi-Bektashi saint about whom biographical traditions exist. He is one of those Saints from Khorasan (Horasan Erenleri) who, from the twelfth century at the latest, came from Central Asia and settled in what is now Anatolia and then the Balkans with their mystical interpretation of the Islamic faith and gained many followers. In the hagiography, the Velâyetnâme of Seyyid Ali Sultan, we receive information about his life, his miracles and his work. It says that he saw Prophet Muhammad in his dream. It is mentioned that on the Prophet's order he set out with forty of his closest men to support Sultan Bayezid I. in the conquests in the Balkans. After Seyyid Ali Sultan had been at the forefront of the conquests in the Balkans for a long time, he settled near Dimetoka in present-day Greece next to a river called Kızıl Deli and founded his dergâh, his dervish monastery, there. Sultan Bayezid I. transferred several pieces of land to his foundation to serve as sources of income. The importance of Seyyid Ali Sultan as the founder of one of the most important dergâh in the Balkans and Anatolia is highlighted not only in his hagiography, but also in another type of source in the Alevi-Bektashi context, namely in Alevi-Bektashi prayer songs (deyiş, nefes). This article will examine Kızıldeli’s role in the conquest of Thrace and Rumelia based on his Velâyetnâme and will present exemplary Alevi-Bektashi prayer songs about him with an explanation into German.