Tapduk Emre

Taptuk Emre, a Turkmen mystic and Sufi shaykh from amongst the Khorasani saints, and the mentor/murshid of Yunus Emre. He was from Khorasan and came to Anatolia during the reign of Genghis Khan to spread the Bektashi style of the Qur'an and the Ahl al-Bayt creed, that is, the belief in Muhammad and the Twelve Imams. He is thought to have been born between 1210 and 1215. Many sources point out that he was a Babai-Haydari dervish. He is the successor of Barak Baba, but Bektashis claim he was the successor of Haji Bektash Veli. It is said that Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli left the job of raising Yunus Emre to Taptuk Emre. Starting with Tapduk Emre, the existence of a community of followers of Tapduk has been encountered in Anatolia. Dervish Yunus, who carried wood to Taptuk Emre's dergah in Nallıhan for forty years, is regarded as one of the greatest bards/poets raised by the ascetics of Anatolia.