Istanbul
love of his life, [his] partner Emine. O visitor! Stop for a moment before these
silent stones and with a fatiha [prayer] send your final wishes to this traveler
who will not return from the endless journey.The gravestone of Osman Şevki ( 1868 – 1926 ) includes a very large open
book, whose Ottoman script has unfortunately been made illegible by the
elements. The inscription refers to him as a teacher who passed away after
he had spent “his entire fifty-eight-year life as a teacher educating people
for his native land” which is assumed to be Salonika, another reference to
the lost past of the Dönme.
Famous musicians with Sufi connections were also buried in the
Kapancı section. Most notable is “the great musician and composer Salon-
ikan Oudi Ahmet Bey” ( 1870 – 1928 ), as he is referred to on his tombstone,
topped by an oud. An oud also appears on the side of the tomb. The
inscription reads “The deceased devoted his fifty-eight years to Turkish
music. He composed over 500 works and trained hundreds of students.
That delicate mind, which created the greatest songs of Turkish music of
the past century, is now mingled with the earth. May God forgive the sins
of the deceased within the melodies of paradise and console his wife and
daughter with the reflection that his name will not be forgotten in the
music world.” Again it is important to note the reference to the contri-
butions the deceased made to Turkish culture and how he is depicted as
a teacher. As we know from other sources, this bespectacled, fun-loving
man with a large, bushy mustache had a life marked by religious and
political tendencies typical of Dönme in his era. Oudi Ahmet Bey was
known for playing in Salonika’s Mevlevi lodge,^50 more evidence of the
connection between Sufis and Dönme in the city. He came to Istanbul in
1909 with the “Action Army” that put down Abdülhamid II’s supporters
inspired by Dervish Vahdetî’s Volkan.
One finds a mix of women in this section of the cemetery. They range
from the chador-wearing wife Hatice (d. 1935 ) of the Ottoman consul to
Iran Abdi Efendi (fig. 8. 1 ) to young women wearing low-cut formal dresses
and bobbed hairstyles, such as Vahide Kara Ali (d. 1928 ), who offers the
camera a profile and exposed right shoulder (fig. 8. 2 ); formal dresses, such
as worn by a stunning woman named Sabite ( 1886 – 1934 ) (fig. 8. 3 ); fur
and earrings such as worn by Atiyye Zeki ( 1886 – 1932 ) (fig. 8. 4 ); just as
one sees a range of men, some in fezzes and bow ties, others with exposed
heads and ties.