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

tune down the devoted extremism that prevailed during the shaykhdom of Junayd and
Haydar – and, ironically, that provided the necessary excitement, energy, and
enthusiasm necessary for the advent of Ismail, thus for the foundation of the Safavid
state. Thus the ignorant attitude of Safavid historians regarding Shaykh Junayd and
Shaykh Haydar is quite understandable. This being the case, they could not totally
overshadow the political aspirations and military deeds of Shaykh Haydar. Rather, these
points are more toned by Safavid historians compared to the depiction of Shaykh
Junayd.
On the other hand, Ottoman sources are not as informative as they are on Junayd.
The most informative account on Shaykh Haydar is interestingly, like in the case of
Shaykh Junayd, provided by a vehement Qizilbash enemy and a sunni zealot, namely
Fazlullah b. Ruzbihan Khunjī, the court historian of Aqqoyunlu Yakub Beg. One should,
however, be very careful regarding his account for his bias is excessively exuberant and
his effort to depict Shaykh Junayd, Shaykh Haydar, and their followers as ‘heretics’ is
evident. For this purpose he does not hesitate to exaggerate or even to fabricate
especially when dealing with the faith of Ardabil sufis, their devotedness and reverence
to their shaykhs. Yet we learn the most original and interesting details of deeds of
Haydar from Khunjī.
4.3.1. Haydar in Ardabil
Haydar grew up in the Aqqoyunlu Palace under the protection and auspice of his uncle
Uzun Hasan. It was on the return of his victorious campaign on Azarbaijan, which ended
with the death of his foremost enemy, Cihanshah, and with the annexation of whole
Azarbaijan, that Uzun Hasan permitted Haydar, who was a child of only seven years, to
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