Tracing the Forgotten Dervish Lodge (Zaviye) of Mihaloğlu Alaaddin Ali Bey in Kruševac

Abstract

The paper deals with the dervish lodge (zaviye) which Mihaloğlu Alaaddin Ali Bey, one of the most influential raider commanders (akıncı uc beyi) in the Balkans, commissioned in the vicinity of Kruševac in the middle of the fifteenth century. Using Ottoman sources, the author endeavored to determine the approximate time and place of its construction. Based on the information about the appearance and manner of functioning of numerous dervish lodges built in the same period, the author presents the presumed appearance of the building, its rooms and their purpose. A part of the paper is dedicated to the administration of the zaviye and the conflicts over the position of the convent administrator.