226 REV. G. E. WHITE, ON THE SHIA TURKS. 
population about one-fourth — some suppose one-third — are not 
Sunnite at all but are schismatic Shias. For the present this 
line of cleavage is kept very much out of sight, but circumstances 
might easily take such shape that this internal breach would 
come to the surface as a deadly wound. 
To describe these Shia Turks is the object of the present 
address. My information is not drawn from the writings of 
others, but comes from personal observation and acquaintance 
during long residence in the country. One large element in the 
The illustration is that of Piri Baba, Sheikh of the Bek Tashi Tekye, 
of Marsovan, Turkey, and his three children, with the author of the paper, 
the Rev. G. E. White, B.D. 
heterogeneous population around my home is composed of Shias. 
I have slept in their houses, eaten at their tables, visited their 
shrines, and engaged in long conversations with their people, 
whether humble villagers or revered hojas and dedes. 
The Shias are among the most simple, ignorant and despised 
of the people of Asia Minor. They are cunning, secretive, 
deceptive. They are reproached with having no “book.” Jews 
are recognised as the people of the Tevrat or Law, Christians as 
people of the Injil or Gospel, and orthodox Mohammedans as 
