The Meşihat Archive, affiliated with the office of the Sheikh al-Islam in the Ottoman Empire, contains 54 registers and numerous documents belonging to the Council of the Sheikhs. The Council of the Sheikhs Registers document the Council's activities within the scholarly bureaucracy, including appointments, promotions, and dismissals within the Council's scholarly bureaucracy, the assessment of sheikhs' qualifications, complaints regarding sheikh appointments, requests from tekke officials, the requests and needs of dervishes residing in the tekke, differences in practices between orders, requests from tekke officials, and zikir-ayin procedures. The documents in the archive are an important source for understanding the structure of tekkes and orders during that period.
Meşihat Archive Council of the Sheikhs