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

ādem cem’ idüb Sultan Musa üzerine hücum etmek kasdında iken yine avdet
edüb Nur Ali Halife zebundur deyub ardından ılgar idüb varub Koyulhisar’da
ardından yetüb ikindi vaktında beraber olunub hayli cenk olub sağ koldan hain
Karamanlu kaçub bu sebebden Sinan Paşa münhezim olub iki bin mikdarı piyāde
kılıçdan geçüb ardınca Sinan Paşa’nın yüz mikdar kızılbaş gönderüb Sivas’tan
yukaru Çithanı’na gelicek Sivas Begi’nin anda bir mikdar askeri hazır bulunub
yüz kızılbaşı araya alub kırmışlar. Nur Ali’ye bu haber varıcak Sivas’ı talan ve
gasbetmeğe kasdedüb bi’l-fiil Sivas üzerine gelmek üzeredür. ... ve dahī Sinan
Paşa’yı münhezim iden Yapoğlu Şah Beg’dir ki evel āhar hiyānetlik ile
meşhurdur. 1652
Whether or not Nur Ali attacked on Sivas is not clear from available sources. If
we rely on Hasan-ı Rumlu, after his victory over Sinan Pasha, Nur Ali Khalifa went to
Erzincan, which had been allotted to him, dispatching the heads of the Rūmīs, together
with large quantities of booty, to Ismail’s court. 1653 Two years later, Hasan-ı Rumlu
mentions him among the influential qizilbash leaders in the battlefield of Çaldıran. 1654
Three years later, however, he was certainly in Erzincan. In the letter written to Selim by
a certain Mehmed 1655 , it is reported that after the return of imperial army from Kemah,
Nur Ali Khalifa came from Harput, crossed Murad River, and was on his way towards
Ovacık. Mehmed, who was also the commander of Ottoman troops, adds that some
tribal Turkoman leaders such as Ulaş, Yaraş, Aygutlu, Yusuf Varsak, alongside with a
certain Saru Şeyh, also attended the army of Nur Ali. Furthermore, in this qizilbash
army, there was also a number of korucus 1656 , who came from Iran (Yukaru Cānib).
… ol menbā-ı fitne vü fesad mecma’-ı ehl-i tuğyan u ilhād ser defter-i
mütemerridin Nur Ali Halife-i bi-din bazı kendu emsali melāin ile Ulaş ve Yaraş
1652
TSA, document E 2667, partly published in ULCY2, p. 130.
1653
HR, p. 166.
1654
HR, p. 178.
1655
According to ULCY, this man was most probably Mirahur Bıyıklı Mehmed Aga. See ULCY2, p. 130.
HR affirms this idea. But it mentions him as Bıyıklı Çavuş Mustafa, Selim’s governor of Trabzon. See
HR, p. 190.
1656
The name of the special soldiers in the army of Shah Ismail. These troops were directly bound to the
Shah and their primary duty was to protect the Shah.
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