An Evaluation of Akhi Evran Waqf and Waqf？yyas from Socio-Cultural Perspective

One of the most important sources of concrete information about Akhi culture and tradition is The Akhi Evran Waqf？yyas. These Waqf？yyas contain social, cultural, religious, economic and political information of their time period. During Turkish Seljukid period, many waqf？yyas with extensive facilities were established by ？zzeddin Keykavus and Alaeddin Keykubat. Motivations behind establishing such foundations included benevolence, humanitarianism, generosity and the idea of performing good deeds for the hereafter. K？r？ehir Akhi Evran Waqf？yya that has a great importance in terms of Akhi Evran and Akhism studies was written up in Arabic in Hijri 676 / AD 1277. Copies of this waqf？yya have been preserved to our present day. In this study, the information obtained from the copies of five different waqf？yya was evaluated by making comparisons. Based on these copies, 27 separate settlements and their names were identified. In these waqf？yyas, Sheikh Nasuruddin Akhi Evran was described as a person with excellent morality, the most virtuous in the world and P？r-i P？ran (master of masters). Having realized that the world was mortal, Akhi Evran donated all his wealth and possessions to these waqfs, thus ensuring their sustainability through legal registration