KONYA
The entire Konya basin was a lake 18 thousand years ago. Over 10 thousand years, it had drained to form a rich alluvial plain with fertile grazing land in the east and thick forest to the west and south.
Size: 5th largest city
Altitude: 1,028 m / 3,372 ft
Industry: Aluminum, chrome, textiles, sugar, cement, animal foods, salt
Agriculture: Grain (90%), chickpeas, sugar beets, apples, grapes
Animal husbandry: Sheep
History: Chalcolithic, Hittite, Phrygian, Cimmerian, Lydian, Persian, Alexander the Great, Pergamum, Roman, Seljuk, Ottoman, Turkish Republic
In the days of the Roman Empire, Konya was called Iconium, "the city of icons". Konya has become a place of pilgrimage for Moslems because the leader of the Mevlevis, Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi was buried there.
The Mevlevis
The Mevlevi order of whirling dervishes is a mystic group whose members are followers of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, a great Turkish poet and mystic. The brotherhood is based in Konya, where its founder is buried.
Mevlana was never the head of an order, and the brotherhood was not established by himself but by his followers and devoted companions. The order derived its essence, rites, moral code and discipline from the mystical path first shown by Mevlana. It was a synthesis of spiritual love attained by a combination of music and dance which was considered to be the basic requirement for the spiritual ecstasy and devotion.
Mevlana was born in 1207 in Balkh, Afghanistan. His father, Bahaeddin Veled, was a distinguished teacher who, because of his great learning, had been honored with the title of Lord of Scholars.
Possibly because of the threat imposed by the approaching Mongolian armies, Bahaeddin decided to take his family away from Balkh. They went to several places and after staying here and there, Bahaeddin felt drawn to Anatolia and came to Karaman in 1221. There they stayed for 7 years and Mevlana was married in 1225.
Alaattin Keykubat, the ruler of Konya, implored him to come to Konya. Bahaeddin finally acceded to the sultan’s request in 1228 and he taught in Konya until his death in 1231. Mevlana took his father’s place and quickly established a reputation for scholarship. He had an extensive understanding of all aspects of philosophy and was an avid reader of the works of classical authors.
One day in 1244, he met a ragged dervish who asked him a number of searching questions. This was the man known as Shams Tabrizi. Shams and Mevlana quickly became close friends and spent days and weeks closeted together in philosophical discussion. Mevlana left his teaching and appeared rarely in public. This caused jealousy and anger among his students and friends who believed that he had been bewitched by an evil sorcerer. In 1246 Shams disappeared as suddenly and as mysteriously as he had appeared. Mevlana became crazy and wrote poems about the separation of Shams. After long inquiries he finally learned that Shams was in Damascus. He wrote him letters begging him to return. Shams returned and their friendship and discussions resumed. In order to draw him more into his family, Mevlana offered his adopted daughter to Shams in marriage. However, one night in 1247, Shams disappeared for good. He was most probably murdered by his enemies.
Mevlana could not be comforted. He gave himself again to writing poetry about Shams. This time it was Husameddin Celebi who helped him to continue his philosophical speculations. He inspired him to write his greatest work, the "Mesnevi". It was a collection of 25,600 poems in 6 volumes.
In 1273, Mevlana became sick and people around him knew that he was dying and they cried in sorrow. He told his friends that death was union with God and he was longing for this union. Finally he died on December 17, 1273, was buried in Konya, and a tomb was built upon his sarcophagus.
His views
Mevlana was not a man of reason, he was on the contrary a man of love and affection. His aim was unification with God. According to him God could not fit into the universe but fit into the heart. Therefore we have to tend to the heart and not to reason.

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