Baciyan-i Rum

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

Origins

The term Bâciyân-ı Rûm was first time mentioned by Aşıkpaşazade, an Ottoman historian lived in the 15th century.[3]

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 Rome) or "bahşiyân-ı Rûm" (clerks of Rome).[4] Zeki Velidi Togan also supported this view.[5]

On the other hand, Mehmet Fuat Köprülü, taking into account that Haji Bektash Veli's relationship with them was explained, and since female members of his sect were usually given the nickname "bacı", sees the existence of this organization possible.[4] A record that confirms Köprülü's view, was Bertrandon de la Broquière's travelogue. La Broquière mentioned that the Beylik of Dulkadir had a Turkmen militia consisting of women.[6]

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. Âşıkpaşazâde. Târih (in Turkish). p. 200.
  4. Körpülü, Orhan Fuad. BÂCİYÂN-ı RÛM (in Turkish). TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi.
  5. Togan, Zeki Velidi (1970). Umumi Türk Tarihine Giriş (in Turkish). Istanbul. p. 496.
  6. La Broquière, Bertrandon de (1892). La Voyage d’outremer (in French). Paris. p. 82, 118.
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