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

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

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used until the temporal power of Ismail became a threat for the Ottoman rule but also<br />

included, at least as much as its mystical content, political and military connotations in<br />

the Ottoman context. Furthermore, the Ottoman historians and bureaucrats used to attach<br />

adjectives to the word: the most frequently used formulas are kızılbaş-ı evbaş, vagrant<br />

qizibash, kızılbaş-ı bed-ma’aş, qizilbash living a bad way, kızılbaş-ı bī-din, qizilbash<br />

without a religion, kızılbaş-ı melā’in, damned qizilbash, qizilbash in bid’at u dalāl,<br />

kızılbaş revāfiz-i bī-iman, qizilbash who went astray and without faith. One would<br />

immediately realize the two prevailing themes in these adjectives: one is socio-political<br />

and the other is religious. First of all they are described as disobedient-vagrants, not<br />

recognizing the ‘legitimate’ authority of the Ottoman state and the damned people living<br />

in a bad way of life. A close analysis of the works of Ottoman ulemā such as<br />

Kemalpaşazāde and Celalzāde Mustafa shows that these descriptions actually reflect the<br />

attitude of the Ottoman elites towards the nomadic subjects of the empire. Secondly,<br />

there are still some other adjectives depicting the qizilbashes as heretics deviated from<br />

the true path of Islam, qizilbashes who went astray, and in some occasions as people<br />

without faith. Indeed, it was the combination of these two themes that constituted the<br />

‘Qizilbash Heresy’ in the Ottoman context: the excellent marriage of the politico-<br />

militarism and the ghulat-shi’ite mysticism; in other words, the metamorphosis of the<br />

Safavid gnosis (irfan) in the Turkish tribal milieu.<br />

Turning back to Sultan Selim’s campaign, he arrived in Istanbul in ten days and<br />

pitched his tent on Filçayırı near the famous quarter of Eyüp. 1755 Here Selim again<br />

summoned an assembly of especially the high ranking ulemā this time. He demanded<br />

1755 IDRS, p. 145. Lütfi Paşa says that Sultan Selim stayed in this place for twenty two days. See Lütfi<br />

Paşa, Tevārih-i Âl-i Osman, p. 208.<br />

523

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