TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

Shaikh Safī’s children, the whole world will not be able to prevent it. So, be
relaxed and sure. Leave us by ourselves, because I seek no enmity with you. Be
sure of our honesty and afraid of God’s punishment. Now, you know what is
best. 528
Upon receiving Junayd’s answer, Cihanshah wrote a second letter, as reported in
‘Ālam-ārā-yi Shāh Ismā’īl, saying, “Make preparation, depart from my realm; otherwise
I will come not only to destroy Ardabil, but also to perform a full-scale massacre.” 529
This strong letter persuaded Junayd that against the powerful coalition 530 of Cihanshah
and Shaykh Ca’fer, Junayd had no choice but to leave Ardabil. 531
A further point to note, as clearly seen above, is that when the Safavid Order split
into two parties Cihanshah evidently took stand in favor of Shaykh Ca’fer. 532 At a first
glance, when looked at from a religious point of view, his support of Shaykh Ca’fer,
who advocated the traditional sunni line of the Order, seems somewhat controversial for
he was not a fanatic sunni ruler – not as much as Uzun Hasan, for example -, even his
shi’ite tendency is known. 533 When considering the bigger picture, however, his
528 ‘Ālam-ārā-yi Shāh Ismā’īl’s account is quoted in Youssef-Jamālī, p. 20.
529 Quoted in Youssef-Jamālī, p. 20. Also see Sarwar, p. 23.
530 This co-operation was further cemented by a marriage between two families: Seyyid Kāsim, one of
Ca’fer’s sons, married Cihansah’s daughter. See Hasan-ı Rumlu, Ahsenü’t-tevārih, çev. Mürsel Öztürk,
Ankara: TTK, 2006 (Ninth volume of Ahsenü’t-tevārih), pp. 393-4
531 HS states that Junayd was expelled by Cihanshah from Ardabil since his great number of disciples was
regarded as a threat to his throne. “Since he [Sultan Junayd] was such a perfect spiritual guide, a huge
throng of all nations gathered at his threshold to become his disciples. Indeed, the crowd at his assembly
was so great that Mirza Jahanshah, who was then the ruler of the two Iraqs and Azerbaijan, was afraid that
he would lose his throne and ordered Sultan-Junayd to leave Ardabil accompanied by many of his
disciples and headed for Diyarbakir.” See HS, p. 561. HS does not mention the intervention of Shaykh
Ca’fer in the affairs. AA follows HS. See AA, p. 29. According to Hasan-ı Rumlu, however, Cihansah
ordered Shaykh Ca’fer to make Junayd leave the Ardabil. See Hasan-ı Rumlu, Ahsenü’t-tevārih, IX, p.
393. Khunji does not mention any reason but simply records that “when his father Khwāja Shaykh-shāh
(Ibrahim) departed (d. A.D. 1447), Junayd for some reason or other had to leave the country and travel to
various parts of Syria, the West (maghrib), and Rūm.” See TA, p. 63.
532 It is not out of possibility that Cihanshah himself might have played an effective role in the division of
the order, either by promptly supporting Ca’fer of by provoking him to eliminate Junayd.
533 Indeed Cihanshah’s religious views are difficult to define. His attitude rather resembles traditional
pragmatism of Turkish rulers in this issue, not being tied down to any religious creed. Minorsky, after a
substantive study of his poetry, concludes, “Only on close examination can one discover in the poems a
tinge of shi’ite feeling and terminology.” (See V. Minorsky, “Jihan-Shah Qara-Qoyunlu and His Poetry
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