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

Ardabil anymore. Rüstem Beg Karamanlu, the uncle of Bayram Beg Karamanlu, who
had managed to flee from the battle with eighty qizilbashes and take refuge in a
mountain in the vicinity of Ardabil, took the princes (Ismail and Ibrahim) at night to
Korgan, a village in the mountain 9 km. to the north east of Ardabil, and hid them. 788
Taking counsel with Husayn Beg Lala, Khadim Beg, Dede Beg, and other prominent
sufi āmirs 789 , Ismail decided to go to Gilan. 790 On their way to Gilan, they first visited
Rasht 791 , where Ismail met with a goldsmith, named Āmir Najm. From then on Āmir
Najm became a servant of Ismail and one of his eminent advisors and teachers. 792 They
arrived in Lāhijan towards the end of 1494. 793 Ismail, with his elder brother Ibrahim and
two hundred devotees, was welcomed by the ruler of Lāhijan, Mirza Ali Karkiya, who
was the most powerful ruler of Gilan and head of one of the most ancient families in the
region. 794
Khwandamir says after several months Ibrahim decided to return to Ardabil,
“removing the twelve-fold Haydarī hat, the emblem of the Safavid house, and putting a
felt cap on his head in the manner of the Akkoyunlu Turcomans.” 795
788 Ross Anonymous, p. 285; HR, p. 7.
789 HR gives the list of these prominent qizilbash amirs as Kipchak Mansur Beg, Husayn Beg Lala, Kīrk
(Kazak) Seydi Ali, Cholpan Beg, Khulafa Beg (Khadim Beg Khulafa), Kūk Ali. See HR, p.7. Ross
Anonymous gives the same list but adds Dada Beg too. See Ross Anonymous, pp. 285-6. Also consider
Youssef-Jamālī, p. 84.
790 HT, p. 168. According to HR, however, Ismail decided to go to Rasht. See HR, p. 7. Also consider AA,
p. 40.
791 According to Ross Anonymous and HR, at the beginning they decided to go to Rasht. See Ross
Anonymous, p. 286; HR, p. 9. HR says that Ismail and his entourage stayed in a mosque although they
were invited by the governor of the city to stay in his own house.
792 See HR, p. 10; Sarwar, p. 31.
793 Sarwar, pp. 31-2.
794 HS, p. 567; Ross Anonymous, p. 287; HR, p. 10; AA, p. 40. It is already mentioned in the previous
chapter that his ancestors were visited by Timur during his return from Anatolia in 1402 and benefited
from the generous grants of the latter.
795 HS, p. 567. AA repeats the same account. See AA, p. 40. Also consider Youssef-Jamālī, p. 93.
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