Karadonlu Can Baba Shrine
The Karadonlu Can Baba Shrine, in the centre of Oğuzlar district, is a faith site visited by Alevi-Bektashi communities. Legend attributes it to Karadonlu Can Baba, an Anatolian holy figure said to have lived in the 13th century; the district’s own name evolved from Karaviran to Karaören and then to today’s Oğuzlar — and, according to folklorist Kutlu Özen, local tradition holds that in an earlier period the district was also known as “Karadonlu.” Claims of this kind about names and origins rest on oral tradition and single sources, and should be treated with caution.
Who Was Karadonlu Can Baba?
Little is known for certain about Karadonlu Can Baba. He appears in an illuminated manuscript hagiography titled “Vilayetname-i Kutbü’l-Arifin Gavsü’l Vasılin Hazreti Hünkâr Hacı el-Horasani” (an account of the miracles of Hacı Bektaş Veli), where he is described as a “baba,” saint and holy warrior (alperen) believed to have received the blessing of Hacı Bektaş Veli (1210-1271). According to the legend, Hacı Bektaş Veli sent Karadonlu Can Baba to halt a Mongol campaign into Anatolia led by Kavus Han; after Can Baba survived several trials (including being held in a boiling cauldron and walking into fire), Kavus Han and his army converted to Islam. This is entirely a legendary narrative and carries no documentary historical value; a 1998 symposium paper recorded in the İSAM database also addressed the subject under the title “Karadonlu Can Baba, Buried in Oğuzlar, Who Lived in the 13th Century,” though its full text could not be accessed for this research.
The Shrine in Oğuzlar
According to an account Kutlu Özen attributes to researcher Abdullah Ceyhan, the shrine — originally built with four walls and a wood-and-brick roof — was later rebuilt in stone as an eight-sided structure with a zinc roof. Inside are two graves side by side: the one marked with a headstone bearing a black turban and covered with a black cloth is said to be Karadonlu Can Baba’s, while the second, adjacent grave is said to be his wife’s. The same source notes that an unrestored section near the shrine’s entrance holds a sarcophagus inscribed “Karadonlu,” and that mortar taken from an unrepaired part of the nearby minaret is described as being of “Khorasan type.”
Visiting Traditions
The shrine is visited by people from Çorum and nearby villages, most of them identifying as Alevi. According to Kutlu Özen’s account, visitors perform ablution, pray two rak’ahs inside the shrine, and offer prayers; outside, they sacrifice a rooster, and inside they light candles. The shrine is visited in particular by couples unable to have children, by those who have lost children, by the sick, and by people with nervous or mental illness; it is also customarily visited when young men are sent off for military service and during prayers for rain.
Each year, at the start of spring, the district holds a traditional ceremony known as the “Aş Pişirme Merasimi” (stew-cooking ceremony). A stew made from at least 40 kinds of fruit, vegetables and grains is cooked in large cauldrons and distributed to everyone present. One of the ceremony’s most important functions is reconciling people who have fallen out with one another; local residents credit this tradition with helping keep the district largely free of serious crime and conflict.
The Same Name in More Than One Place
As is common among Alevi-Bektashi holy figures, shrines attributed to Karadonlu Can Baba also exist elsewhere: in the Ömerli hamlet of Divriği district in Sivas province, and in the village of Hıdırşeyh in Balışeyh district, Kırıkkale province. Sources do not agree on which is his “true” grave; this likely reflects a pattern common in Anatolian Alevi-Bektashi tradition, in which either more than one holy figure shares a name, or a single figure is claimed by several regions.
Connection to District History
As noted in the History of Oğuzlar article, the official history page of the Oğuzlar District Governor’s Office cites Karadonlu Can Baba’s influence on this cultural continuity as evidence for the widespread belief that the district’s population descends from an Oghuz tribe. Like the tribal-origin claim itself, this rests on a single source and should be read with the same caution.
Nearby Places
For the district’s general history, see History of Oğuzlar.