According to Orhan Köprülü, the Abdals of
Turkey might be descended from the
Hepthalites.
Albert von Le Coq mentions the relation between Abdals of
Adana and
Äynus of East Turkestan, by them having some common words, and by both referring to themselves as Abdals and speaking an exclusive language among themselves. The three most notable characteristics of the group are its close relationship with the
Alevi sect, its use of a secret language (Abdoltili/Teberce) or
argot and its wide distribution. It seems that the name
Abdal was associated with Alevi dervishes of Central Anatolia, whose existence is first recorded in the 16th century. These
Abdalan-ı Rum were extreme Alevis practising celibacy and withdrawal from the world. Their unorthodox behavior led to their suppression by the
Ottoman authorities. According to the Abdal themselves, their ancestors once came from
North India and went to Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia and then to
Ottoman Anatolia and intermarried with
Turkmen tribes. They say they are not like the
Romani people in Turkey and distance themselves from them. In the 15th century, the Abdals were gradually excluded from the process of centralization and transformation of the
Ottoman Empire into a bureaucratic empire, and as a result of the establishment of Sunni Islam in Edirne and, from 1453, in Istanbul, they took on an irregular character. With the establishment of the
Safavid State in Iran and the spread of
Qizilbash activity in Anatolia, the Abdals became integrated in the 17th century with the
Shamlu Qizilbash movement. The Ottoman state started to collect Gypsy (Turkish:
Kıpti) poll tax (Turkish:
cizye) from Abdal communities in Kastamonu, Çankırı-Tosya, Ankara, Malatya, Harput, Antep, and Aleppo no later than late 17th century. Abdals in Teke (modern-day Antalya) were affiliated with another fiscal category,
ifraz-ı zulkadriyye, until 1858, when the Ottoman reformers incorporated the fixed tax of relevant groups into the Gypsy poll tax. ==Language==