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

Nonetheless, the connection between the two movements must not be
underestimated. Allouche and Fisher actually proved this connection relying on Italian
accounts. But the content and the nature of this relation between Ismail and Karaman
uprising still needs further investigation. However the first point to emphasize is that the
same tribal groups, such as the Varsak and Turgud, were close associates of both the
Karamanoğlu dynasty and the Safavid order. 1079
5.5. THE DULKADIR CAMPAIGN, 1507
Ottoman sources are considerably silent on qizilbash issues until Ismail’s campaign on
the Dulkadir in 1507. The reason must be that during this period Shah Ismail was
engaged in extensive conquests in Fars and Iraq; thus he was far away from the Ottoman
borders. The seemingly friendly but suspicious relation between two states is reflected in
the Ottoman chronicles as silence. A short passage in the history of Kemalpaşazāde
sheds light on Ottoman attitudes towards Ismail and his state and on the Ottoman eastern
policy as well. Kemalpaşazāde states that Bayezid II was well aware of the dangerous
storm arising in the east in 911/1505; Ismail’s power was growing day by day. It appears
from his explanation that the Ottoman administration regarded Ismail as a serious
enemy. But this was not just because of his fifth column activities in the Ottoman realm
but because he was threatening the Ottoman borders with his growing army as well.
Ottoman administrators took seriously the possibility of the Shah’s attack on Ottoman
territories into account. Because of that, as Kemalpaşazāde states, the Ottoman army in
1079 Both Allouche and Fisher draw attention to this point but do not dwell on the important role of these
tribes on the contemporary affairs. See FSH, p. 92; Allouche, p. 83.
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