THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ISLAMIC CIVILISATION

                               I N T H E B A L K A N S

                                                           BUCHAREST, ROMANIA

                THE MOSQUE WITH THE EARLIEST DATE IN DOBRUCA IN THE BALKANS: DERVIŞ BEY MOSQUE

                                                    Mehmet Zeki İbrahimgil

    It is a historical fact that the Turks had settled in Rumelia much before the  establishment of the Ottoman State and Islam had spread in this area before the Ottomans. Unfortunately, the names of colonizing Turkish dervishes who spread  Muslim and Turkish traditions for many centuries remained unknown. However, it was only the fame, bravery and characteristics of Sarı Saltuk, one of the disciples of Hacı Bektaş Veli in the thirteenth century as well as legendary reports that emerged upon his death that spread from one person to the other in the Balkans until the present day. It is stated in Oğuznâme-i Seyyid Lokman that Sarı Saltuk passed to Rumelia with some Turkish tribes in 662 A.H. (1263 A.D.) The general view to the effect that the settlement of Muslim Turks in Dobruca began during the Seljukid period is based on the accounts of Sarı Saltuk. There is a dearth of archival documents dating from the Seljukid and the early Ottoman periods and insufficient accounts in the chronicles. Therefore, we do not have definite  statistical documents about the composition and the number of the population of Muslims during these two periods.Within the framework of the “Project on the Inventory of Turkish Cultural Assets Abroad”, which is carried out in Bulgaria by Turkish Historical Society, the inscription of the Mosque of Jeglarsi (Umur Fakih) Village in Dobriç in the area of  Dobruca was found. The inscription is dated 698 A.H. (1298 A.D.). According to the transcription of the inscription of this monument with an early date, the  Mosque was built by Derviş Bey. The architectural characteristics and plan of the mosque, which is in ruins, will be examined in detail. This study will bring into light the Derviş Bey Mosque, which stands as a document or a title deed of thetraces of the existence of Turks and Muslims in the area in the historical process.