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

Kemalpaşazāde reports that some of rebels were killed and some others were
deported in order to re-establish tranquility. But he does not clarify where these
rebellious qizilbashes were exiled to. Later historians, however, specifies this point.
Hoca Saadeddin, for example, explains how the number of Ismail’s sympathizers in
Anatolia, especially in Teke and Hamid-ili, had increased when Ismail rose up, captured
Tabriz and consolidated his temporal power as well as his spiritual one. As already
mentioned in the previous pages, the majority of his fighters were recruited from several
region of Anatolia and the Ottoman Provinces of Teke and Hamid-ili were among the
foremost regions where qizilbash activities were intensified. 1037 Ottoman administration
tried to prevent qizilbash’s passing over the borders. 1038 Nevertheless, the danger was
not limited to some subjects’ abandoning their home lands, but, according to Ottoman
sources, the remaining qizilbashes were also disturbing the social order. 1039 The final
solution, then, came out as a quite severe one. The famous qizilbashes of the region were
exiled to the recently captured coastal cities of Morea, Modon, Coron, and Lepanto. 1040
Before Hoca Saadeddin, however, this deportation was reported by
Aşıkpaşazāde, who was already an old man then. As indicated earlier, the last section
(bāb) of his history is directly connected to the deportation of Safavid disciples from
Anatolia to Moton and Koron. The subtitle and introductory sentences of this section
1037 HSE3, p. 345.
1038 See, for example, ANMH, p. 45.
1039 KPZ8a, p. 233-4. Seventeenth century historians, such as Müneccimbaşı and Solakzāde, usually recite
Saadeddin’s account on this issue. Among them Müneccimbaşı explicitly states the risk of anarchy that the
remaining sufis could possibly create as a reason of the deportation. “Teke ve Hamid Đli’nde bulunan
Türkmenlerden çoğu Şah Đsmail’in ordusuna katıldıklarından kalanların bir fitne çıkarmasından korkuldu.
Bunlar Sultan’ın emriyle Modon ve Koron bölgesinde iskān edildiler. Serhad muhafızlarına da bunlardan
memleketlerine dönmek isteyenlere mani olmaları emr edildi.” See MNB, p. 417.
1040 HSE3, pp. 345-6. Solakzāde repeats Saadeddin’s account. See SLZ1, p. 429. Consider also TNSB, pp.
237-8 and HAM2, p. 369. The deportation of qizilbashes is recorded in contemporary Italian sources as
well. See FSH, p. 92.
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