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

that there were a great number of Safavid disciples, who liked to amuse their nefs (or to
fulfill even the immoral desires of their soul) and were inclined to attack defenseless
(miskin) people in several regions of Anatolia. Idrīs indicates a very interesting point
here that because of the qizilbash groups in Anatolia, serious discords (fitne) appeared
within the imperial army. 1702 Unfortunately he gives no further detail about this discord.
However, his account makes the point clear that there were certain qizilbash
sympathizers in the Ottoman army, most probably among the sipāhis. 1703
Furthermore, the plunder and banditry of the qizilbashes also created a serious
discontent especially among the Sunni subjects of the empire. Thus, the Sunni
population in Anatolia was in great expectation from Sultan Selim when he returned to
Istanbul as the ninth Ottoman sultan. I have already discussed how he won the public
opinion of the Sunni population by his successfully applied policy since his movement
from Trabzon. When he returned to Topkapı Palace, there was a public expectation from
him to resolve two principal problems: the corruption within the askerī classes, which
increased the burden on the shoulders of re’āya, and the qizilbash trouble. Indeed, the
second problem was not easy to settle in a short time if one would desire a permanent
solution. However, Sultan Selim believed in a short-cut ‘solution’, which was indeed by
no means a solution for the benefit of the society but would leave an inheritance of
irreversible socio-religious cleavage within Anatolian population. He preferred to use
the sword to deal with this complicated knot instead of untying it; namely he attempted
to extirpate the society who caused ‘problem’ with cruel and harsh methods. Indeed,
what he did to his Muslim subjects was questionable for a Muslim ruler. It must be the
1702 IDRS, p. 122.
1703 The leading role of the provincial timar-holding sipāhis in Şahkulu Revolt is already delineated.
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