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

traditional structure, who were not incorporated into the Ottoman system, resisted
against Ottoman ‘imperialism’ and sought another powerful axis to save themselves
from being swallowed by the Ottoman regime. The new synthesis of the Turkoman way
of life and Islamic mysticism rising in the east, the Safavid movement, became exactly
the fulcrum of these tribes against the increasing Ottoman power in Anatolia. In addition
to the case of Bayram Beg Karamanlu, we see the same situation in the Turgut, Varsak,
and other tribes of Tas-ili region as well.
Fadlullah b. Ruzbihāni says most of the adherents of Junayd and Haidar were
coming from Rūm. 909 No doubt Ruzbihāni means Anatolia by the word “Rum”. In the
more specific connotation, however, the Ottoman Province of Rum was a major
qizilbash zone as well. As a matter of fact, one of the greatest tribal groups in the
Safavid ranks were the Rumlu, which was composed of sufis from the Province of
Rum 910 - i.e Sivas, Şebinkarahisar, Tokat, Amasya, Canik, Çorum. 911 Sohrweide has
doubts on whether or not the people bearing this name all came from the Ottoman
Province of Rum, even though considerable portion of them plausibly were. 912
Nonetheless, Tarīh-i Kızılbaşān clearly writes that this oymaq was composed of
qizilbashes from Tokat, Sivas, Amasya, Karahisar, and Tercan. 913
909 TA, p. 61.
910 For the borders of the Province of Rum within the administrative system of the Ottoman Empire see
Tayyip Gökbilgin, “15 ve 16. Asırlarda Eyâlet-i Rûm”, Vakıflar Dergisi, VI, 1965, 51-61.
911 Sümer, Safevî Devletinin Kuruluşu, p. 43.
912 Sohrweide, p. 137. Sohrweide underlines three peculiarities of this province: 1) it had been the center
of gâzi milieu tracing down from Danişmend Turkomans, 2) it was the frontier province between Ottoman
and Safavid states, and 3) it was on the main trade roads connecting the East to Constantinople. See
Sohrweide, pp. 134-5.
913 Indeed, Tarīh-i Kızılbaşān mentions two oymaqs: Rumlu and Hınıslu oymaqs. According to Tarīh-i
Kızılbaşān the members of the former were from Tokat, Sivas, Amasya, and neighboring regions, which
correspnds to the Province of Rum in the Ottoman administrative division, while the latter was composed
of tribal people from Karahisar and Tercan. Nonetheless others must have regarded Hınıslu as a sub-clan
in Rumlu oymaq that they refer to the great amirs like Div Ali, Nur Ali Sultan, whom Tarīh-i Kızılbaşān
mention with affiliation to Hınıslu, as Rumlu. An interesting point in the account of Tarīh-i Kızılbaşān
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