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

power. 934 By pretending so, Ismail reduced the wrath of the Ottoman sultan. Ottoman
response and measures will be further delineated below.
Another important point to be noted here is that the Erzincan congregation
initiated a process within the Safavid movement that would have a deep impact on the
future of Ismail’s state. It was the emergence of tribal military aristocracy against the
selected elite of the order, namely sufis of Lāhijān. Masashi Haneda underlines the
remarkable difference between these two groups in the early years of Ismail. One was
composed of the personage who had served the Safavid dynasty during Junayd’s and
Haydar’s time and continued their service under Ismail especially during the
concealment in Lāhijan. As pointed out earlier, Safavid sources traditionally call this
group ‘sufis of Lāhijan’. 935 The second group, which principally joined the royal camp
in Erzincan in 1500, was constituted of tribal leaders and their fellow tribesmen coming
from Anatolia, Syria, and Azerbaijan. Of course both groups were disciples of the
Safavid shaykhs.
As Haneda indicates succinctly, there were remarkable contrasts between these
two factions. One of the prominent differences comes out in the dominance of tribal
character. Although the members of the first group also stemmed from certain tribes, the
934 “Andan asker leşker cem’ idüb Rūm’a teveccüh itdi. Öyle olsa Rūm padişahı dahi mütenebbih oldı.
Anadolı beğlerbeğisine ‘Engürü’ye var, asker cem’ eyle, otur didi.’ Ve dahī etrafını Acem beyleri ihāta
eyledi. Kendüsi dahı Erzincan’a geldi. Ahır her taraftan ihāta eylediler. Aciz kaldı. Rūm sultanına
tevāzu’lar ile, temelluklar ile, hediyeler ile bir halife göndürdi. ‘Ben kandan sizin vilāyetinizde asker
çekmek kandan? Bu Şark vilāyetine etdüğümüz ecdādımızın kanın taleb etmek içindür. Ve bizim
muradımız yine dervişlikdür.’ dedi. Bunlar dahī kelimatlarına göre cevap verdiler. Elçilerini yine
göndürdiler.” APZ, pp. 251-2. But APZ mistakenly narrates this event after the capture of Tebriz by
Ismail. Ismail marched twice towards Ottoman territories: one was in the very early phase of his rising
(hūrūc) and the other was to fight with Alauddevle. In the former he came to Erzincan in order to summon
Anatolian disciples in the summer of 1500. His later entrance in Ottoman territories occurred just before
his attack on Zulkadir in 1507. At the end of the chapter APZ states these events took place in Safer 908
(August-September 1502). So what he talks about must be obviously Ismail’s former visit to Erzincan,
which occurred before his capture of Tebriz.
935 For a detailed account of this group see Aubin, “Les soufis de Lâhejân”.
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