The success of the Menâkιb among its audience in the Kastamonu region helped to consolidate the order at a time when a new generation of followers, increasingly distanced from its subject, were coming to the fore. In many cases, the work's appearance would represent the final point at which the historian could continue tracking the evolution of an order's narratives and doctrines under their hagiographer's direction. Yet what makes the Şacbâniye especially fruitful for historical inquiry is that we can continue tracking their evolution through the subsequent activities of its membership and the continued output of their leader, cÖmer el-Fuɔâdî. Growing acclaim for the Menâkýb soon translated into attempts to transform the burial place of Şacbân-ı Veli into a fully-fledged Sufi institution. This infrastructure building further swelled the order's following, which required more educational initiatives to better prepare them for growing challenges emerging during a religiously and politically turbulent eleventh/seventeenth century.

CONSTRUCTING A TOMB FOR ŞAcBÂN-İ VELİ AMID GROWING POLITICAL INSTABILITY

The spread of Fu'âdî's hagiography had an immediate impact that resonated far beyond the Şacbâniye. We have already seen its dedication to Sultan Ahmed I, and its arrival at court may well have sparked the enthusiasm of a Kastamonu native who had risen to a position of power there. This dignitary, cÖmer Kethüdâ (d. 1020/1611), had risen to become a steward to a powerful Ottoman grand vizier, Kuyucu Murad Paşa (d. 1020/1611).