outside his inner circle knew him as Otman Baba, other dervishes and the aristocratic sayyids called him Şah-i Kerbelâ—a reference to the prophet Muhammad's grandson Husayn, who died in the Battle of Karbala. A vilâyetname account attributes the mystic's common name "Otman Baba" to Ottoman ruler Mehmed II. When the sultan disguised himself as a commoner and visited the Eski Saray tekke (a gathering place for Muslims) in Constantinople, only Otman Baba recognized him. Convinced of the dervish's sainthood, Mehmed addressed him as "my beloved father, Otman"—"father" translating in Turkish as "baba". Relationship with Ottoman authorities Dervish leaders faced accusations of turning commoners against the Ottoman government's policies. Otman Baba's proselytizing in the Eastern Balkans and Anatolia coincides with the settlements of the nomadic Yürüks, who were hostile toward the Ottoman bureaucracy that forcibly recruited them as soldiers. Nevertheless, the vilâyetname asserts that Mehmed II recognized Otman Baba as a true saint and the true Ottoman leader, and it presents supportive interactions between Otman Baba and Mehmed II. In one account, Otman Baba appears in Mehmed's dream to predict his reign as sultan while the then-prince was in Manisa. Their relationship, however, was not always cordial, as scholars Stavrides and Gramatikova mention that Otman Baba frightened Mehmed II with his mastery over the elements, summoning a storm that flooded Constantinople after Mehmed ordered the dervish to enter a monastery. Although Küçük Abdal credits Mehmed II's military victories to Otman Baba's sainthood, the mystic predicted the sultan's defeat in the 1456 Serbia campaign. Otman Baba's relationships with other Ottoman authorities varied. Those opposed to Otman Baba included the orthodox vizier Mahmud Paşa, who did not recognize the mystic's sainthood, and an akıncı (military auxiliary), who apprehended Otman Baba and whose wife forced the mystic to pasture ducks for a month. A sancakbey (district governor) named Mihaloğlu Ali Bey, however, donated to Otman Baba's tomb after the mystic had supported his military victories. Wanderings During his life, Otman Baba wandered throughout the Ottoman Empire, mainly in Rumelia, spending the most time in Bulgarian lands and Aegean Thrace. After 30 September 1429 or 19 September 1430, Otman Baba began proselytizing in Rumelia. He performed his first miracle in the Balkans in Babaeski, extinguishing a candlestick's flame that had been lit by the mystic Sarı Saltık Baba, proving his sainthood to ordinary followers of Sufism. As Gramatikova notes, Otman Baba challenged rival Alevi and