HAJI BEKTASH VELI, PERSIA 19TH CENTURY

Ink heightened with gold on paper, depicting the famous sufi Haji Bektash wearing coat and a cap, his right hand holding his beard, appear to be sitting on an animal skin with brown spots surrounded by a snake/dragon. The margins stylized with gilt floral sprigs. 29 by 23.8 cm.

Haji Bektash Veli is a very important historical figure. He is also the mentor of the Janissaries, the most important elite infantry of the Ottoman army. He is an important figure of Alevi and Bektashi culture in Turkey and Balkans muslims. Bektashism was an influential order in the Ottoman empire because the Ottoman miltary order Janissarys considered Haji Bektashi Veli as their saint-patron.