ABSTRACT
A distinction must admittedly be made between two spheres almost lacking in intercommunication: that of the Turcomans, as yet hardly touched by traditional Muslim culture, and for that very reason almost unknown to us before the Mongol period; and that of the townspeople of ethnically mixed origins, the only ones of whom something can be said because they alone left written records. The first Muslims in the towns of Asia Minor certainly worshipped in small makeshift buildings, no doubt disused churches or parts of such. Furthermore, throughout Sunni Islam from the time of the Great Seljuks there spread the institution of the madrasa, organized for the teaching of orthodoxy to those in training for key positions. The non-Muslim communities have been discussed in connection with some manuscripts, and some of their writings are mentioned in the historical sources of the present work.
