Salih Nijazi
Salih Nijazi was Dedebaba of the Bektashians from 1930 until his death in 1941. He was the last Dedebaba of Turkey and the first Dedebaba of Albania.
Biography
Early life
Salih Nijazi was born on 5 March 1876 in Starja, a village in the Kolonja region of southeastern Albania, which was then in the Ottoman Empire. He and his family emigrated to Istanbul when he was young. He received a Bektashi education at the pir evi of Haji Bektash Veli in Hacıbektaş, central Turkey.Religious leadership
In 1897, Salih Nijazi served as a muhib under Fejzi Dede of Maricaj. In 1908, he rose to the rank of baba, and was then sent to serve in Albania. When he returned to the pir evi of Haji Bektash Veli, he was appointed as a gjysh.In 1916, Salih Nijazi was appointed Dedebaba of the Bektashi Order, succeeding Fejzi Dede. However, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk banned all dervish orders and their tekkes in 1925 as part of the secularization of Turkey. He unsuccessfully appealed to Atatürk, saying that the Bektashis had helped him gain power in Turkey. As a result, the Bektashis were forced to move outside Turkey and soon operated primarily from Albania.
In 1930, Salih Nijazi established the World Headquarters of the Bektashi movement in Tirana. Nijazi himself became dedebaba reportedly on 20 March 1930. The construction of the headquarters was finished in 1941 during the Italian occupation of Albania.
In Albania, he introduced major Bektashi ceremonies that were traditionally held at well-known tekkes in places such as Hacıbektaş in central Turkey, Dimetoka in Thrace, Karbala in Iraq, and also Göztepe, Kadıköy in Istanbul.