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

accumulation of power soon made the dynasty inclined to embrace the bureaucracy
produced by Islamic scholars, or ulemā, at the cost of tribal founders. This inclination of
the dynasty in the meantime marked the beginning of the alienation process between the
tribal-nomadic Turkoman milieu and the rising state machinery. The alienation,
however, was not limited to the diffusion of the tribal elements from the political scene
but also accompanied cultural, economical, ideological, and religious detachments as
well. During the mid-fifteenth century the estrangement between the two ‘realms’
reached such a degree that a reconciliation was no longer possible.
On the other hand, a similar, but completely opposite in direction, story was
developing in the East: The Sufi Order of Safavids attained a vast amount of audience
among statesmen and men of culture in Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Iran, Syria, and
Anatolia, as well as enjoying great prestige and power in many palaces. During the mid-
fifteenth century, however, the Safavid Order underwent a fundamental transformation:
under Shayh Junayd, both the esoteric doctrine and disciple landscape of the order
fundamentally changed. The Order of Shaykh Safī (d. 1334), which once had the image
of a ‘high’, well-cultivated sufi Order within the sunni sect of Islam, as long as one can
speak of ‘sect’ (mezhep) regarding Sufism, now pursued a militant-shi’ite character and
political aspirations. In the meantime, closely linked to the doctrinal transformation, the
order gained wide-spread audience among Turkoman tribes of Anatolia and Northern
Syria, which had already been distanced from the Ottoman regime. The third chapter
elucidates how the Safavid Order and Turkoman milieu of Anatolia encountered, both
experiencing significant transformation.
Then comes the most crucial turning point in the story: the rise of Shah Ismail.
When he died during a battle with the Akkoyunlu army in 1488, Shaykh Haydar left to
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