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

was the customary gear in those days 659 , and wore the twelve-gored hat, which has been
called since then the Haydarî hat or Tāc-i Haydarī 660 ; likewise his adherents followed
him. 661 Thus, the followers of the Safavid family distinguished themselves from other
people and acquired the sobriquet ‘Qizilbash’ or ‘redheads’. 662
4.3.3. ‘Gazā’ on Circassia
Iskender Beg clearly figures the temporal authority which accumulated at the hands of
Haydar. To him the number of disciples that frequented Haydar’s court increased day by
day. As a result “Haydar possessed both temporal and spiritual authority. Inwardly,
following the example of shaykhs and men of God, he walked the path of spiritual
guidance and defense of the faith; outwardly, he was a leader sitting on a throne in the
manner of princes.” 663 Iskender Beg also underscores the role of amity and concord
Haidar, and said to him: ‘Oh my son, the time is now at hand when my children from among your
descendants shall arise and sweep Infidelity from off the face of the Earth. It now behoves you to fashion a
cap for the Sūfīs and your disciples, and you must take it of scarlet cloth.’ Sa saying His Sanctity cut out
of a cap with twelve points [tarlak].” See Denison E. Ross, “The early years of Shah Ismail, founder of the
Safavi Dynasty”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, XXVIII, 1896 (from now on Ross), pp. 254-5.
659 AA, p. 31. Also consider Youssef-Jamālī, p. 38.
660 “The basis of this crown was a hat made of red wool which was joined to a long red conical shape
made of wool. This part of the hat, as a sign of the Twelve Imāms, had twelve folds or slits. Round the red
hat, there was a white or green Turban made of wool or silk.” Youssef-Jamālī, p. 43.
661 Savory argues that Haydar invented twelve-gored hat, by the instruction of Imam Ali in a dream,
shortly before his last expedition in 1488. But he refuses the second part of the story, which is related to
Uzun Hasan’s adoption of Haydarī Tac, since the latter died ten years earlier, in 1478. See Savory, Iran
under the Safavids, p. 20.
662 AA, p. 31; Ross, p. 255. According to Ross Anonymous, on hearing Haydar’s doings Hasan Padishah
requested Haydar to send him one of those caps. Thereupon Sultan Haydar sent him a cap. Hasan
Padishah was pleased when saw it, kissed it and placed it on his own head. The he bade each of his
children to do likewise. But his son Yakub refused to do so. “In this manner” says the Anonymous History,
“he bind round his soul the girdle of hostility towards Sultan Haidar.” See Ross, p. 255. This tradition
must be a fabrication of later Safavid historians. Likewise, HS does not mention such a dream simply
saying “On his head Sultan Haydar used to wear a scarlet red hat with twelve folds, and everyone who
joined him as a disciple was given similar headgear. He always encouraged those who were engaged in
holy war, and with those holy warriors and Sufis, who because of the red hat became known as qizilbash
(“redhead”), which name is still applied today to the adherents to the family…” See HS, p. 561.
663 AA, p. 31. Qādī Ahmad Qumī too makes clear reference to Shaykh Haydar’s combined authority of
temporal (saltanat) and spiritual (hidāyat). See HT, p. 155. See also HS, p. 561, where the Shaykh’s
enthusiasm for engaging in holy war against infidels and the strength of his army briefly indicated.
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