According to the
vilâyetname, Otman Baba was born in 1378 or 1379. He belonged to the
Amuca tribe, and spoke an Azeri-accented
Oghuz language with few
Persian and
Arabic influences, like the Muslims in northeastern Bulgaria. Küçük Abdal characterized Otman Baba spiritually as a saint and prophet and physically as imposing, strong, and brave. While those outside his inner circle knew him as Otman Baba, A
vilâyetname account attributes the mystic's common name "Otman Baba" to Ottoman ruler Mehmed II. When the
sultan disguised himself as a commoner and visited the Eski Saray
tekke (a gathering place for Muslims) in
Constantinople, only Otman Baba recognized him. Convinced of the dervish's sainthood, Mehmed addressed him as "my beloved father, Otman" Otman Baba's proselytizing in the Eastern
Balkans and
Anatolia coincides with the settlements of the nomadic
Yürüks, who were hostile toward the Ottoman bureaucracy that forcibly recruited them as soldiers. Nevertheless, the
vilâyetname asserts that Mehmed II recognized Otman Baba as a true saint and the true Ottoman leader, and it presents supportive interactions between Otman Baba and Mehmed II. In one account, Otman Baba appears in Mehmed's dream to predict his reign as sultan while the then-prince was in
Manisa. summoning a storm that flooded Constantinople after Mehmed ordered the dervish to enter a monastery. Otman Baba's relationships with other Ottoman authorities varied. Those opposed to Otman Baba included the orthodox vizier Mahmud Paşa, who did not recognize the mystic's sainthood, and an
akıncı (military auxiliary), who apprehended Otman Baba and whose wife forced the mystic to pasture ducks for a month. After 30 September 1429 or 19 September 1430, Otman Baba began proselytizing in Rumelia. As Gramatikova notes, Otman Baba challenged rival Alevi and Bektashi spiritual guides and won, proving his spiritual superiority. Gramatikova dates Otman Baba's earliest presence in Bulgarian lands from 1445 to 1451, When Otman Baba defeated a
lamia in the
Ludogorie region, he achieved his first miracle in Bulgarian lands, an act that Gramatikova characterizes as "one of the greatest miracles of the Muslim saints". In the Kazanlak area, Otman Baba garnered a following of Sufi craftsmen and built a bridge with hunters, whom Gramatikova associates with nomadic Yürüks and
Turcomans. Near
Plovdiv, a local saint named Hasan Baba called Otman Baba the dual embodiment of Muhammed and Ali after spotting him in the
Maritsa River. One holds that Otman Baba propagandized in Azeri lands, departing with the claim: "I shall saddle a cloud, shall turn the lightning into a whip and shall go back to Rum." Another asserts that Otman Baba stayed in
Tarnovo as the guest of the local
kadi (judge) On 13 January 1478, Otman Baba and his disciples arrived at the unidentified village of Konukçu köy. He settled on the nearby riverbank opposite his followers and ordered them to construct a bridge "to go back to the place where [they] were before". After the bridge was built, Otman Baba spoke his last words: "Hey, destitute, miserable and feeble, you are afraid of Death. But I am not. In fact I am immortal, I have a horse, when I mount it I go to Heaven!" According to a manuscript annotation, Otman Baba died on 8
Receb 1478. The
vilâyetname describes Otman Baba's body releasing a halo that lit the universe the day after his death and two disciples dreaming that Otman Baba rode a horse through a portal in the sea. == Beliefs ==