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

defeat of Çaldıran, the qizilbashes deeply believed in the infallibility of their Perfect
Guide, which was again ‘approved’ by the uninterrupted ascendance of Ismail. On the
other hand, the first two foundations were not really at work during the formation period
because until then the Turkoman qizilbashes had been familiar with neither the ancient
Persian theory of kingship nor the Twelver Shi’ism in its orthodox or written way.
The artillery and firearms of Selim I, however, seriously damaged the qizilbash
belief in the infallible and invincible nature of their Perfect Guide. Likewise, in the
following episodes of the Safavid history, the role and effectivity of the title “mürşid-i
kāmil” attributed to the Safavid shahs would decline, even if they stayed as the spiritual
guide of the qizilbash until they disappeared from the scene of history. The other two
fundamentals, on the other hand, gained eminence concomitantly to the decline of the
latter. Therefore, the battle of Çaldıran marked this major change in the philosophical
fundamentals of the Safavid polity. The following paragraphs will briefly indicate that
this crucial change was not limited to the political philosophy; rather, it extended to all
the aspects of life in the Safavid realm.
As can be recalled, the qizilbash Turkomans of Anatolia and Syria considered
Ismail as an omnipotent leader of both religious and political nature. First of all, he was
mürşid-i kāmil, the infallible spiritual guide, of all the qizilbash mürids. In addition, he
was also recognized as the head of the community in terms of temporal power. Until
Çaldıran, Ismail successfully merged these two natures in his personality in such a way
that his image appeared as a semi-divine being. Shortly before 1510, a Venetian
merchant depicts his image in the eyes of the qizilbashes as follows:
This Sophy is loved and reverenced by his people as a God, and especially by his
soldiers, many of whom enter into battle without armour, expecting their master
Ismael to watch over them in the fight. There are also others to go into battle
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