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

without armour, being willing to die for their monarch, rushing on with naked
breasts, crying “Shiac, Shiac”. The name of God is forgotten throughout Persia
and only that of Ismael remembered; if any one fall when riding or dismounted
he appeals to no other God but Shiac, using the name in two ways: first as God
Shiac, secondly as prophet; as the Mussulmans say “laylla, laylla Mahamet
resurala,” the Persians say “Laylla ylla Ismael veliala”; besides this everyone,
and particularly his soldiers, consider him immortal, but I have heard that Ismael
is not pleased with being called a god or a prophet. 1956
Another Venetian source reads: “He is adored as a prophet and the rug on which
he knelt for Easter was torn to pieces to be used by his followers as Christian relics. … It
is said that Ismail was sent by God to announce that his sect was the only true sect
whose members would be admitted to paradise…” 1957 Zuan Moresini, a contemporary
Venetian observer, further reports in 1507 that “[T]hese, in their way, adore the Sufi,
and he is called not king or prince but holy or prophet. … He is the holy of holies, full of
divinatory power, for he takes council from no one, nor did he as a child, and because of
this all believe that the Shi’ī in his every act is divinely inspired.” 1958 Yet in another
occasion, Moresini says that “since Xerxes and Darius there has never been a king of
Persia, neither so adored, nor so loved by his people, nor so bellicose, nor with such a
great army, nor so graced fortune.” 1959
1956 “The Travels of a Merchant in Persia”, in NIT, p. 206. It should be noted that the Venetian Merchant
writes these words in the context of a description of sports and feasts prepared for the arrival of Shah
Ismail in Tauris (sic) before 1520, most probably in 1518.
1957 Theodora Spandugino, La Vita di Sach Ismael et Tamas Re di Persia Chiamati Soffi, quoted in Palmira
Brummett, “The Myth of Shah Ismail Safavi: Political Rhetoric and ‘Divine’ Kinship”, p. 337. However,
one should read Venetian (in general western) accounts on Ismail very carefully for they exaggerated
Ismail’s divineness and holiness. For a critical evaluation of Venetian accounts on Shah Ismail, and an
analysis of psychological and political background of the Venetian reporters see Palmira Brummet’s
abovementioned article. Brummett successfully shows that contemporary Venetian observers either
consciously or unconsciously amplified extremist attributes to Ismail partly for they wished to see him
outside the Islamic sphere as much as possible, partly for they wished a powerful ruler, who was at the
same time non-Islamic and Christian-like or at least friends of Christians, against their formidable enemy,
Ottomans.
1958 Quoted in Brummett, p. 338, from Sanuto’s Diarii.
1959 Quoted in Brummett, p. 340.
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