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

on Shirvan, Bayram Beg Karamanlu commanded the troops of the Tekelu and the
Dulkadir tribes. 889 During the war with Shirvanshah Farrukhyesar, the Shamlu tribe
constituted the right wing and Ustaclu tribe constituted the left wing of the Safavid
army, 890 while the Tekelu, Rumlu, and Dulkadir tribes were avant-garde. 891 The
qizilbash army which defeated Alvand Mirza in 1501 was almost exclusively composed
of these qizilbash oymaqs. 892
To sum up, it is not an exaggeration when Efendiev states that, “L’État safavide
fut donc crée par l’aristocratie féodale des ces tribus kızılbaš de langue turque.” 893
Masashi Haneda, who conducted a detailed study on the military of the early Safavid
state, concludes that although there were certain religious figures and statesmen of
Persian origin, the portion of Iranian element in the early Safavid army is almost
negligible; he rather underlines the tribal and Turkoman character of this army. As he
puts, “Il ne serait donc pas exagéré de dire que l’armée safavide se composa, en gros, de
tribus turkmènes. En effet, l’existence de gens issus de tribus dans l’armée y apporte
Sufioğlu Ustaclu, Bayram Beg Qaramanlu, Kılığ Beg Qaramanlu, Qaraca Đlyas Bayburdlu, Đlyas Beg
Hınıslu, Sultanshah Beg Afshar, Dana Beg Afshar, Halil Beg Muhurdār Afshar, Husayn Beg Sofracı
Afshar, Lala Muhammad Tekelu, Bekir Beg Çakirlu, Pīrī Beg Qajar, Pīrī Beg Pervāneci Afshar, Salman
Beg Hāzin Dukadir. See Efendiev, “Le rôle des tribus de langue Turque”, p. 31.
889 Efendiev, “Le rôle des tribus de langue Turque”, pp. 30-31.
890 Aubin, “L’avènement des Safavides”, p. 11 ; Haneda, Le Châh et les Qizilbāš, p. 66.
891 Efendiev, “Le rôle des tribus de langue Turque”, p. 31 ; Haneda, Le Châh et les Qizilbāš, p. 31.
892 For detailed analysis of Ismail’s army in the early battles, such as that against Shirvanshah, Alvand,
Murad, Shaybānī Han, and Sultan Selim, see Haneda, Le Châh et les Qizilbāš, especially pp. 29-47.
893 Efendiev, “Le rôle des tribus de langue Turque”, p. 33. For a similar approach, which put primary
stress on the role of Turkoman tribes in the forming of Safavid Military, thus in foundation of the, state
see Hans R. Roemer, “The Qizilbash Turcomans: Founders and Victims of the Safavid Theocracy”, pp.
27-9. Roemer writes, “Obviously, the appearance and success of the Qizilbash are primarily to be related
to the Turkomans. … First of all, the Safavid state, founded by Shah Ismail, was a Turcoman
achievement.” Also see Irène Mélikoff, Hacı Bektaş Efsaneden Gerçeğe, trs. Turan Alptekin, Đstanbul:
Cumhuriyet Kitapları, 1999, p. 174.
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