This dissertation deals with the thirty-six Mevlevi sheikhs who presided over the Mevlevi lodges in Istanbul in the 18th century Istanbul. In this period the Mevlevi order was already fully institutionalized in the Ottoman capital and the Mevlevis have become increasingly more visible and influential in the intellectual and artistic spheres. The main purposes of this study are to determine the factors that contributed to these people's rise to the post of sheikh in Mevlevi lodges in Istanbul, as well as their scholarly and artistic contributions and various networks that they were connected to. The first chapter presents that besides moral virtues some ''external'' factors such as completing the obligatory service (çile) in one of the Mevlevi lodges in Istanbul, family connection to an established scholarly or sheikh-family or being a reciter of Mathnawi were consequential for appointment as sheikh in one of the Istanbul lodges. The second chapter demonstrates that the Mevlevi sheikhs in Istanbul have contributed in a significant way to the scholarly and artistic landscape of the time by their works in religious sciences, linguistic sciences, literature and, music. While strictly scholarly discussions were rather stagnant throughout this century, the Mevlevi sheikhs were driven to compile works by an approach that prioritized understanding and observing Mathnawi and by an emphasis on the states of the heart and spiritual perfection. Their general preference for poetical expression can be attributed to the centrality of symbolic language in Sufism, as well as the particularity of experiences during the spiritual journey (sayr wa sulūk) and most importantly emulating Mevlana, the first master of the order. The third and last chapter aims at exploring family connections, the networks among sheiks, disciples and sympathizers, friendships and relations with the political and scholarly establishment. Thus, it is revealed that some of the sheikhs belonged to centuries old renowned scholarly or sheikh-families, while others themselves started households whose members occupied critical positions in the Ottoman state until the end of the Empire. Some new family and kinship relations have been discovered for the first time and it has been shown that the Mevlevi sheikhs have developed positive relationships with the statesmen and scholars of the Empire. This dissertation contributes numerous new findings and insights to the history of the Mevlevi order in particular and to the Islamic intellectual history in general. Among all the Mevlevi sheikhs of the period, Nâyî Osman Dede was the most prolific author; he wrote works in various genres and subjects including the theory and practice of music, which was mainly transmitted through oral methods. Besides his extensive family and scholarly connections, Nâyî Osman Dede still speaks to the modern readership by his Mi'râciyye and as such he can be considered as the most distinguished name and the pinnacle of the century.

Keywords

18. century, Galata Mevlevihane, Mawlawiyya, Mystic, Yenikapı Mevlevihanesi, Islamic History, Islam, Istanbul, Sheikhs