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

Selim I was appointed to the governorship of Trebizond and remained there until
1510. 603
Sümer determines from the Tahrir registers of the region dated 1468 and 1515
that in the second half of the fifteenth century almost all the Çepnis settled down in
villages. Following the conquest, the Ottomans applied the timar regime upon the region
and allotted all timars to Çepni begs. In tahrir registers Giresun and its neighborhood is
called ‘Çepni Đli’. In the first tahrir, the majority of the Çepnis were recorded as
müsellem, those who participate in campaigns with their own facilities but in return do
not pay tax. In the second register, dated 1515, however, most of them are recorded as
ordinary peasants or reāya and were deprived of tax exemption. But timar holders were
still Çepni begs. 604
On the other hand, Çepni Turkomans are known for their heterodox beliefs and
‘shi’ite’ tendencies. Upon arriving in Suluca Karahöyük, Hacı Bektaş Veli was
welcomed to the house of Kadincik Ana and her spouse Idris in this village and
recruitted his first disciples from among the Çepnis who populated the village. 605
Towards end of the fifteenth century a considerable part of çepni oymaqs joined Safavid
ranks. 606 Ottoman Geographer Mehmet Aşıkî (1555-1600) describes the Çepnis as
having converted to qizilbashism and worshipping Shah Ismail. 607
603 Sümer, Tirebolu Tarihi, p. 47.
604 Sümer, Tirebolu Tarihi, pp. 48-64.
605 See Irène Mélikoff, “Bektashi/Kızılbash, Historical Bipartition and its consequences”, in her Au
banquet des quarante. Exploration au coeur du Bektachisme-Alevisme, Istanbul: ISIS Press, 2001, p. 38;
“Recherche sur une Baciyan-i Rum: Kadincik Ana”, in her Au banquet des quarante. Exploration au
coeur du Bektachisme-Alevisme, p. 34; Sümer, Tirebolu Tarihi, p. 35. Chepni oymaqs scattered several
parts of Anatolia. In the sixteenth century, for example, some of them constituted Halep Türkmenleri,
while some others joined Ulu Yörük living in Sivas-Tokat-Amasya region. On the other hand, a crowded
branch of Chepni was still living in the region of Trabizond, Bayburt, Gümüşhane, Giresun, Ordu, and
Samsun. See Sümer, Safevî Devletinin Kuruluşu, p. 50.
606 See Faruk Sümer, Safevî Devletinin Kuruluşu, pp. 50, 66, 80, 82, 104, 194; Oğuzlar, pp. 322-330;
Mélikoff, “Bektashi/Kızılbash”, p. 38; “Recherche sur une Baciyan-i Rum”, p. 34. However, one of his
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