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

and spending the winter-season in the vicinity of Antep and Halep. 899 The earliest record
about Shamlu Turkomans traces back to the late fourteenth century. Bezm u Rezm, the
history of Kadı Burhaneddin, mentions them grazing their herds in the summer pastures
(yaylak) near Sivas-Kösedağ. 900 Their adherence to the order traces back to Shaykh
Junayd’s visit of the region half a century ago. And since then the Shamlu tribe had
became one of the main pedestals of the Safavid order. Husayn Beg Lala, Abdi (Abidin)
Beg, his son Durmuş Han were some of the influential āmirs of this tribe.
Among the qizilbash tribes in Ismail’s retinue, the origin of Karamanlu oymaq is
perhaps the vaguest one. According to Faruk Sümer, they had no connection with the
Karaman-oğlu tribe of Anatolia, but did have one with an indigenous Turkoman tribe of
the Errān region, in the north of Azerbaijan, since the time of Karakoyunlu. The name
was seemingly derived from their eponymous leader Emir Karaman, who governed
Gence and Berda’ during the rule of Kara-Yusuf of Karakoyunlu (late fourteenth- and
early fifteenth century, d. 1420). Before the rise of Safavids, this tribe served in the
Karakoyunlu and Akkoyunlu armies. 901 Tarīh-i Kızılbaşān confirms Sümer’s
suggestion. 902 It counts Karamanlu among Akkoyunlu (ex-Karakoyunlu) oymaqs and
describes Emir Karaman the greatest among emirs under Kara Yusuf. Tarīh-i Kızılbaşān
also mentions Bayram Beg Karamanlu, saying he was the governor of Balkh during the
899
See Tarīh-i Kızılbaşān, p. 8-11; Sümer, Safevî Devletinin Kuruluşu, p. 44; “XVI. Asırda Anadolu,
Suriye ve Irak’ta yaşayan Türk aşîretlerine umumî bir bakış”, Đstanbul Üniversitesi Đktisat Fakültesi
Mecmuası, c. 11, no. 1-4, 1949-1950, pp. 511-513, 517; Đlhan Şahin, “XVI. Asırda Halep Türkmenleri”, in
his Osmanlı Döneminde Konar-Göçerler, Đstanbul: Eren, 2006, pp. 131-133; “XVI. Yüzyılda Halep ve
Yeniil Türkmenleri”, in his Osmanlı Döneminde Konar-Göçerler, Đstanbul: Eren, 2006, pp. 156-8.
900
See Aziz b. Erdeşir-i Esterâbadî, Bezm u Rezm, translated into Turkish by Mürsel Öztürk, Ankara,
1990, p. 303. Bezm u Rezm is a Persian history of Kadı Burhaneddin, who ruled Sivas and the region
around in the period between the years 1381 and 1398, and written in 1398. The author was the court
historian of Kadı Burhaneddin and reported most of the events on his eye witness, which enhances the
value of his history.
901
See Faruk Sümer, Kara Koyunlular, I, Ankara, TTK, 1992, pp.26-7; Safevî Devletinin Kuruluşu, pp.
12, 54, 106-7.
902
It should be noted that Faruk Sümer did not use this source.
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