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

Alvand Mirza barely managed to flee from the battlefield and took refuge in
Erzincan. A great deal of booty, “so many horses, camels, beasts of burden, valuable
goods, and gold and silver vessels” 973 , was left in the hands of victorious qizilbashes.
Although Alvand could escape from the battlefield, he started to gather another
army in Erzincan, and Murad was waiting undefeated in the south with a large army, the
victory of Sharur was decisive. This victory brought Azerbaijan under Ismail’s rule, and
opened the doors of the whole of Iran and the two Iraqs as well. In half a century, the
Safavid movement, which had started with Shaykh Junayd in the mid-fifteenth century,
eventually came to a successful end. By Ismail’s brilliant victory against Alvand Beg,
the dream of Junayd turned into an accomplished fact. 974
5.2.4. Ismail’s Ascendance to Power
Following his decisive victory against Alvand Mirza, Ismail set out for the Tabriz on the
next day, to occupy the vacant throne of Azerbaijan. 975 In the middle of 1501, he was
of the King Ussun Cassano”, in NIT, p. 115. For a similar account also see “The Travels of a Merchant in
Persia”, in NIT, pp. 206-207.
973 HS, p. 576. Also see HR, pp. 72-3; “The Travels of a Merchant in Persia”, in NIT, p. 190.
974 Savory, regarding the whole history of the order as oriented towards a political revolution, says,
“Safavid revolution, after two centuries of preparation, was an accomplished fact.” See Savory, Iran under
the Safavids, p. 26. The present thesis, however, follows a different line of argument. The first four
Safavid shaykhs, though having a relationship with temporal rulers, seemingly did not have political
ambition for the sake of their own temporal rule. If we should talk about a ‘Safavid revolution” it started
by the shaykhdom of Junayd and continued under his successors until his grandson Ismail, who
culminated the revolution.
975 HR, p. 73. The contemporary Venetian merchant talks about the slaughter that Ismail conducted in
Tabriz. “… [Ismail] then advanced on the city of Tauris [Tabriz], where they met with no resistance, but
massacred many of the inhabitants. All the kinsmen of Jakob [Yakub] Sultan were put to the edge of the
sword, and even pregnant women were slaughtered with their unborn offspring. The tomb of Jakob Sultan,
and those of many lords who had been present at the battle of Derbant where Ismael’s father was killed,
were opened, and their bones burnt. Three hundred public courtesans were then arranged in line, and their
bodies divided in two. Then eight hundred avaricious Blasi who had been brought up under Alumut
[Alvand] were beheaded. They even slaughtered all the dogs in Tauris, and committed many other
atrocities. … From the time of Nero to the present, I doubt whether so bloodthirsty a tyrant has ever
existed.” See “The Travels of a Merchant in Persia”, in NIT, pp. 190-91. Giovan Maria Angiolello repeats
298