REV. G. E. WHITE, ON THE SHIA TURKS. 227 
people of the Koran, while the poor Sliias have no authoritative 
Scriptures corresponding. They prefer the name “ Alevi ” for 
themselves, which indicates their allegiance to the fourth Caliph : 
and are asserted by outsiders to revere Ali and his martyr sons 
Hassan and Husseyn far more than the Prophet himself. They 
ignore as far as possible the first three successors of Mohammeid 
and never give the names Abu Bekr, Omar or Othman to their 
sons. The deadly struggle between the house of Ali and their, 
rivals, during the first generation after Mohammedanism was 
launched upon its career, must have produced a deeper and 
more lasting influence than students of history can easily realise. 
The victorious party accepted the Sunna, or traditional doctrine 
supplementary to the Koran, while the Alevis rejected it. The 
latter claim to be primitive and puritan Mohammedans, and 
hold the whole line of Caliphs since their hero Ali as usurpers 
and impostors. They profess allegiance to a line of Twelve 
Imams, of whom Ali was the foremost. In return for the name 
“ Bedhead,” flung at them in contempt by their orthodox 
neighbours, they retort with the epithet “ Vezidees,” which they 
interpret to mean devil-worshippers, though originally the term 
may have come into use from the fact that Vezid was the Caliph 
under whom the last representatives of the house of Ali were 
slain. When a Shia Turk lays aside his habitual mask of 
secrecy he pours forth a terrific flood of denunciation and 
vituperation upon the devoted heads of his present masters. 
“ Ah, in the next world we’ll saddle them for our asses, and 
we’ll ride them, and we’ll ride them! ” 
Most of my Redhead acquaintance are an agricultural or 
pastoral people, living near to nature and in close sympathy 
with her changing moods and seasons. They do not intermarry 
with any other sect or race, whether Mohammedan or Christian, 
and reside, for the most part, in separate villages of their own 
people. They love the fertile plains and upland pastures of 
Anatolia, with its clear streams running among the hills, its 
wholesome climate, its abundance of nourishing food, and, over 
all, its sky of Mediterranean blue. The Shias probably 
represent the original inhabitants of the country with but 
little intermixture of foreign blood. They perpetuate many 
ideas and customs handed down by tradition from the centuries 
before the Christian era. Government officers give them no 
place in the civil administration, and socially, they are a class 
inferior and apart, but they render their full quota of recruits 
to the Turkish Army, and pay taxes with none to intercede in 
their behalf. An Armenian has perhaps a better chance of 
