On the other hand, though asceticism is part of the dervish’s creed, and though there be among them really honest and great men, it must be admitted that a good many dervishes entertain not the faintest scruples about intoxication and a good many other pleasures which do not seem very strictly in accordance with their vows. Among the wandering dervishes many savage and thoroughly bad characters are to be met with. They roam from country to country; climate, privation, hardships of all kinds, deter them not; they come from all lands and they go to all lands, but those of Persia and Bokhara surpass the rest in cunning, fanaticism, and brutality. There is no vice into which some of them do not plunge; and all the time they display a revolting excess of religious zeal, couched in the foulest and most abusive vocabulary their language affords.
One of these wretches once stopped my carriage under the windows of the Governor’s house at Monastir, and before the kavass had time to interfere he had jumped in and was vociferating “Giaour” and a host of other invectives in my face. It was lucky the guard was near and prompt in arresting him. Next day he was packed out of the town for the fourth time.
Notwithstanding their vices, nothing can exceed the veneration in which the dervishes are held by the public, over whom they exercise an irresistible influence. This influence is especially made use of in time of war, when a motley company of sheikhs and fanatical dervishes join the army, and encourage the officers and men by rehearsing the benefits promised by the Prophet to all who fight or die for the true faith. The voices of these excited devotees may be heard crying, “O ye victorious!” “O ye martyrs!” or “Yallah!” Some of these men are fearful fanatics, who endeavor by every means in their power to stimulate the religious zeal of the troops and of the nation. Every word they utter is poison to public peace. Among the numerous gangs of infatuated zealots that spread themselves over the country just before the outbreak of the troubles in Bulgaria, there was one wandering dervish who specially distinguished himself by the pernicious influence his prophecies and adjurations obtained over the minds of the Mohammedan population, exciting them against their Christian neighbors, who were completely “terrorized” by his denunciations.
The venerable Bishop of the town of L⸺ related to me the visit he had received from this dangerous individual, and assured me that this fanatic was in some measure the cause of the lamentable events that followed.
He first appeared in the town of X⸺, where, after preaching his death mission among the Mohammedans a few days before the Greek Easter, he walked up to the quarter of the town occupied by some of the principal Christian families, and knocking at each door entered and announced to the inmates that Allah had revealed to him His pleasure and His decrees for the destruction of the infidels within the third day of Easter. On reaching the dwelling of the Bishop he requested a personal interview, and made the same declaration to him.
The Bishop, with some of the leading inhabitants, alarmed at this threatening speech, proceeded at once to the Governor-General, and related the incident to him. The dervish was sent for, and, in the presence of the Bishop and his companions, asked if he had said what was reported of him, and what he meant by such an assertion. The dervish merely shrugged his shoulders, and said that he was in his hal, or ecstatic state, and could not therefore be answerable for what he talked about. The Pasha sent him under escort to the town of A⸺, with a letter to the governor of that place requesting his exile to Broussa; but the wily ascetic soon managed to escape the surveillance of the police of A⸺, and continued his mission in other parts of Bulgaria.
It is impossible here to enter into details as to the constitution of the various dervish orders (of which there are many), or the tenets held by them, or the ceremonies of initiation and of worship. Still, a few words are necessary about the two or three leading orders of dervishes in Turkey. The most graceful are the Mevlevi, or revolving dervishes, with their sugar-loaf hats, long skirts, and loose jubbés. Once or twice a week public service is performed at the Mevlevi Khané, to which spectators are admitted. The devotions begin by the recital of the usual namaz, after which the sheikh proceeds to his pistiki, or sheepskin mat, and raising his hands offers with great earnestness the prayer to the Pir, or spirit of the founder of the order, asking his intercession with God on behalf of the order. He then steps off his pistiki and bows his head with deep humility towards it, as if it were now occupied by his Pir; then, in slow and measured step, he walks three times round the Semar Khané, bowing to the right and left with crossed toes as he passes his seat, his subordinates following and doing the same. This part of the ceremony (called the Sultan Veled Devri) over, the sheikh stands on the pistiki with bowed head, while the brethren in the mutrib, or orchestra, chant a hymn in honor of the Prophet, followed by a sweet and harmonious performance on the flute.
The Semar Zan, director of the performance, proceeds to the sheikh, who stands on the edge of his pistiki, and, after making a deep obeisance, walks to the centre of the hall, and gives a signal to the other brethren, who let fall their tennouris, take off their jubbés, and proceed in single file with folded arms to the sheikh, kiss his hand, receive in return a kiss on their hats, and there begin whirling round, using the left foot as a pivot while they push themselves round with the right. Gradually the arms are raised upwards and then extended outwards, the palm of the right hand being turned up and the left bent towards the floor. With closed eyes and heads reclining towards the right shoulder they continue turning, muttering the inaudible zikr, saying, “Allah, Allah!” to the sound of the orchestra and the chant that accompanies it, ending with the exclamation, “O friend!” when the dancers suddenly cease to turn. The sheikh, still standing, again receives the obeisance of the brethren as they pass his pistiki, and the dance is renewed. When it is over, they resume their seats on the floor, and are covered with their jubbés. The service ends with a prayer for the Sultan.
The whole of the ceremony is extremely harmonious and interesting: the bright and variegated colors of the dresses, the expert and graceful way in which the dervishes spin round, bearing on their faces at the same time a look of deep humility and devotion, together with the dignified attitude and movements of the sheikh, combine to form a most impressive sight.
Equally curious are the Rifa’i, or howling dervishes. They wear a mantle edged with green, a belt in which are lodged one or three big stones, to compress the hunger to which a dervish is liable, and a white felt hat marked with eight grooves (terks), each denoting the renunciation of a cardinal sin. In their devotions they become strangely excited, their limbs become frightfully contorted, their faces deadly pale; then they dance in the most grotesque manner, howling meanwhile; cut themselves with knives, swallow fire and swords, burn their bodies, pierce their ears, and finally swoon. A sacred word whispered by two elders of the order brings the unconscious men round, and their wounds are healed by the touch of the sheikh’s hand, moistened from his mouth. It is strange and horrible to witness the ceremonies of this order; but in these barbarous performances the devout recognize the working of the Divine Spirit.