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

crowned king of Azerbaijan, for the time being, to be known henceforth as Shah
Ismail. 976
During its early years, Ismail’s state equally bore the tribal characteristics of his
disciples. The most important and efficacious offices of the new state were bestowed to
the sufis of Lāhijan, who were in many aspects the main architect of this result. Husayn
Beg Lala became wākil, the lieutenant of the Shah, and emiru’l-ümera, the head of the
army; Abdal Ali Beg Dede became the head of the Special Forces (kurçi başı), Hadim
Beg Khulafa became khalifatu’l-hulefā, the head of the sufi organization of qizilbashes;
Bayram Beg Karamanlu became āmir-i divan; and Abdi Beg became tovacı-başı. 977 The
bureaucratic affairs of the state and clerical issues, however, were entrusted to the
Persian literati. Shamsu’d-Din Lāhijī, who was the tutor of young Ismail in Lāhijān, was
made the sadr 978 and the comptroller to take charge of all religious endowments.
more or less the same account adding, “… all the city wore his ensign, that is, the red caftan.” See Giovan
Maria Angiolello, “A Short Narrative of the Life and Acts of the King Ussun Cassano”, in NIT, p. 105.
For another very similar account see Caterino Zeno, “Travels in Persia”, in NIT, p. 52.
976 In explaining Ismail’s coronation, Khwandamir refers to a famous prophetic saying that “God sends at
the beginning of every century someone to renew the faith” and continues “the foundation of the Prophet’s
religion be reinforced by the Safavid shah’s efforts, never, since the sun of his rule had risen, had victory
turned its back on him – or would it ever. …he mounted the throne and placed the crown of the caliphate
and world conquest on his head.” HS, p. 576. Also see Sarwar, p. 38.
977 See HS, p. 576; Aubin, “Sufis of Lāhejān”, pp. 4-5; Haneda, Le Châh et les Qizilbâs, pp. 72-77; Roger
M. Savory, “The Principal Offices of the Safawid State during the Reign of Ismā’īl (907-30/1501-24)”,
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, XXIII, London, 1960, pp. 93-101.
978 The religious affairs in the Safavid state were organized as two separate systems: on one hand there
were sufis, the disciples of the Safavid order, spread in several provinces of the Ottoman Anatolia,
northern Syria, Azerbaijan and adjacent regions. This group constituted the man resource for the armies of
Junayd, Haydar, Sultan Ali, and finally of Ismail; thus it is not an exaggeration to say that the state was
founded on their enthusiasm, devotedness, zeal, and swords. These sufis were already organized
clandestinely by the hierarchical system of khalifa. Each khalifa educated and trained at the court of the
shaykh was dispatched to ‘qizilbash zones’ with the mission of organizing disciples there and conducting
the propaganda of the order. At the top of this system was the khalifatu’l-hulefā. (For the office of
khalifatu’l-hulefā see Roger M. Savory, “The Office of Khalīfat al-Khulafā under the Safawids”, Journal
of the American Oriental Society, vol. 85, no. 4, 1965, 497-502.) On the other hand, by the proclamation
of Twelver Shi’ism as official sect, the ordinary, one might called ‘orthodox’, Twelver shi’ites of Iran also
became a part of the system. At the beginning, in 1501, this group was very few in number and less
powerful in state affairs. As time went on, however, they became the most affective ideology-makers of
the Safavid state. (For this process see, for example, Devin J. Stewart, “Notes on the Migration of Amili
Scholars to Safavid Iran”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 55, no. 2, 1996, 81-103; “An Episode in
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