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

account; but mistakenly narrates as if this happened in the spring of 1500, when Ismail
moved from Arjuwan. 822
…[Not deeming it wise to remain in Ardabil] He [Ismail] discussed with the
leading Sūfis what road he had better take. They being all of one mind, suggested
that before he left his winter-quarters he should send orders by swift messengers
to the sufis in Rūm and Shām, and then betake himself to the frontiers of
Arjinjan by way of Gökcha Dengīs, for there he would be near his ‘supporters’,
who on hearing of his arrival, would the more speedily assemble. Such was the
most reasonable plan. Having collected an army he might then, with the help of
Divine favour and the assistance of the Imāms, turn whither he would. 823
Accepting this suggestion, Ismail sent swift messengers to the various provinces
of Asia Minor and Syria carrying his message, which ordered the followers of the
Safavid house to summon under the banner of the young shaykh in Arzinjan the next
summer. 824 Ismail himself spent the winter of 1499-1500 in Arjuwan, a village near
Astārā on the Caspian Sea, 825 allowing “those sufis, which he had retained in his army,
to return to their homes, to rejoin him on the New Year’s Day [Nevruz].” 826
decisions, at the beginning of the advent, and without a doubt during the following years, the decisions
were made primarily by his tutors.
822 Indeed HS is also not clear about the time of this meeting. Khwandamir is completely silent on Ismail’s
almost one year stay in Arjuwan. Rather he narrates as if Ismail directly went to Gökçe Deniz from
Ardabil, and then to Arzinjan. If we accept his account, then it means that Ismail stayed in Ardabil for one
year, which is obviously impossible, even according to HS’s former expressions. Thus Khwandamir is
evidently wrong in this matter. On the other hand, Ross Anoymous’s account doesn’t appear to be
reasonable either. If Ismail dispatched heralds to their disciples in Anatolia and Syria in the spring of
1500, how could they gather in Arzinjan in a couple of months? This was impossible simply because of
the technical reasons. So the best conclusion that can be deduced from these accounts appears as follows:
Ismail sent swift messengers to all disciples in Anatolia, Northern Syria, and Azarbaijan in the summer of
1499, during his first visit to Ardabil. In the following spring he simply passed through Ardabil on his way
to Arzinjan, which was determined as the gathering place the former summer. Iskender Beg Munshi, who
had access to all these sources when he wrote his history a century later, also arrives at the same
conclusion. See AA, p. 42. Also compare Sümer, Safevî Devletinin Kuruluşu, p. 17.
823 Ross Anonymous, pp. 339-40. One of those heralds was Kıcoğlu Hamza Beg, who was sent to his own
tribe Ustaclu. See Sümer, Safevî Devletinin Kuruluşu, p. 17.
824 In addition to the mentioned Safavid sources also see HSE3, p. 345; SLZ1, p. 428.
825 Ross Anonymous, p. 334; Sarwar, p. 34.
826 Ross Anonymous, p. 337.
260