Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

The Development of the Safaviyya and Its Relations with the Kzlbash
Communities of Anatolia: An Overview
Introduction

The Safaviyya, which was founded by Shaykh Safi in the early 14th century in Ardabil, Iran,

is one of the most prominent Sufi tarikats in the history of Islam. It spread into a vast area

covering Azerbaijan, Iran and Anatolia. The proliferation of the followers of the Safaviyya

attracted the ruling elites of Iran and Anatolia, and the early heads of the order established

both political and kinship relations with such dynasties as the Ilkhanids, Akkoyunlus and

Ottomans. Considering the importance of the Safaviyya, in this paper I will attempt to

demonstrate how this order flourished in the above mentioned areas and how it interacted

with the various Sufis and the Kzlbash communities of Anatolia.

1.Safvets Safa

Safvets Safa or with its full name el-Mevhibs-seniyye f menkbis-Safaviyya is a widely

known hagiography of Shaykh Safiyddin Ardabili written in Persian by Dervi Tevekkli b.

smail b. Hac Muhammad el-Ardabili or Ibn Bezzaz in 1358. It may be classified in the

menakbname1genre, since it narrates the life of Shaykh Safi, who is the founder of the

Safaviyya order in the early 14th century in Ardabil, Iran. Ibn Bezzaz was one of the followers

(mrids) of Shaykh Sadruddin Ardabili, the son of Shaykh Safi. His father was a cloth

merchant from Ardabil. Katib elebi presents Ibn Bezzaz as the author of the anecdotes of

Shaykh Safiyddin Erdebili, his ancestors and descendants in Kefuz Znun. He writes his

name as Mtevekkil b. smail el-Bezzaz.

1 It derives from the Arabic word nekabe, which means to inform and to mention. The singular form is
and the plural is menakb. However, the word menkbe has usually been used in Ottoman and Modern
Turkish. Menakb means treat of character and anectodes and it was first used in the 9 th century to
describe the admired characteristics of the companions of Prophet Muhammad, see for instance,
Menakbu mer b. el-Hattab and Menakbu Ali b. Ebu Talib, cited in Ahmet Yaar Ocak,
Menakbnameler (Ankara: Trk Tarih Kurumu Basmevi, 1996), 27.

1
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

Safvets Safa is Ibn Bezzazs only known work, although it is argued that he might

have written another work named as Menakb- eyh Safi, before Safvets Safa.2The former is

the name frequently given to the Ottoman Turkish translations of the 4 th chapter of Safvets

Safa existing in Anatolia. Furthermore, the word tezkire was also used for the preambles

written for these translations.3

As for the content of the work, Safvets Safa consists of an introduction (mukaddime),

twelve chapters (bab) and one epilogue (hatime).4 The first chapter narrates the genealogy,

birth, childhood and discipleship of Shaykh Safi, his meeting with Shaykh Zahid and it

includes eleven sub-chapters (fasl). The second chapter is regarding the miracles of Shaykh

Safi, who saved people from natural disasters and illnesses. The third chapter narrates the

miracles of Shaykh Safi which stem from his grace and anger. The fourth chapter includes

Shaykhs interpretations of ayets, hadis-i erifs, statements and verses of meayh(plural of

shaykh) including famous sufis, Attar and Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi. It also presents the

mystic statements of Shaykh Safi.5The fifth chapter is about the miracles of Shaykh Safi in

which he saves animals and other living creatures. The sixth chapter recounts the

sema(whirling dance) and vecd(being in a state of rapture and ecstasy) of Shaykh Safi. The

seventh chapter gives an account of the various miracles of Shaykh Safi. The eighth chapter is

regarding the mezhep(sect), mcahede(fighting), riyazet(ascetism and mortification of flesh)

2 Nizamettin Parlak and Snmez Kutlu, Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu (stanbul: Horasan Yaynlar,
2008), 34.

3 Ibid.

4 Serap ah, Safvets Safada Safiyddin Ardabilinin Hayat, Tasavvufi Grleri ve Menkbeleri
(PhD diss., Marmara niversitesi, 2008). 3.

5 This chapter is the source of many buyruks and menakbs of Shaykh Safi written in Ottoman
Anatolia and Safavid Iran in the 15, 16 and 17th centuries. A brief analysis of it will be given later in
the paper. It is also the part that was examined and published by Nizamettin Parlak and Snmez Kutlu
in the name of Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu

2
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

and feraset(intuition and sagacity) of Shaykh Safi. The ninth chapter narrates the illness and

death of Shaykh Safi. The tenth chapter tells the miracles that appeared after the death of

Shaykh. The eleventh chapter recounts the fame, superiority and the halifes(representatives)

of Shaykh Safi in the world. The final chapter is on the miracles of the mrids(followers) of

Shaykh Safi. At the end of Savfets Safa, there is an epilogue mentioning the significance of

the book. In this regard, Menuehr Murtazavi asserts that Savfets Safa comes after

Menakbul Arifin and Esrart Tevhid in terms of its importance and it is a unique work.6

On which works Ibn Bezzaz drew when writing Savfets Safa is vague. Kutlu and

Parlak argue that Ibn Bezzaz may have used the alleged works of Shaykh Safi both in Turkish

and Persian.7 Though some claim that Kara Mecmua and Genc Name might be the works of

Shaykh Safi, these books have not reached today.

With regard to the existing copies of Savfets Safa, one of the most reliable works is

that of Gulam Rza Tabatabai written in Persian8. He edited and copied the whole book by

comparing nine copies. He argues that the copy preserved in the Ayasofya Library with the

number of 2139 dating back to 914/1508-1509 contains several falsifications, contrary to the

common belief that falsifications begun in the reign of Shah Tahmasb by Mir Ebul Feth

Hseyni,. He classifies these nine copies into two groups: the first six written before

900/1494-1495 and the remaining three that were used by Mir Ebul Feth Hseyni. Drawing

on the comparison between these two groups, Tabatabai concludes that the introduction

(mukaddime) and epilogue (hatime) were added later by Ebul Feth Hseyni. He attributes

6 ah, Safvets Safada Safiyddin Ardabilinin Hayat, Tasavvufi Grleri ve Menkbeleri, 4.

7 Parlak and Kutlu, Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu, 40.

8 This copy of Tabatabai was translated from Persian to modern Turkish by Serap ah in her PhD
dissertation and I use her translation in the paper.

3
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

these alterations to the Shii institutionalization of the Safavid state and the dynastys strong

claim to be seyyid, meaning the descendant of Prophet Muhammad.

As regards the Turkish translations of Savfets Safa, Kutlu and Parlak argue that most

of these translations contain merely the fourth chapter of the work including the statements of

Shaykh Safi and other sufis.9 By investigating the various copies of this fourth chapter written

with the titles of Menakb- eyh Safi, Makalat- eyh Safi, Kaifl Kulub, they claim that

Savfets Safa was translated to Ottoman, Azeri and Chagatai Turkish by more than one

translator in different places and times.10 Serap ah maintains that none of the Turkish

translations in the libraries of Turkey contain the whole work. 11The following is the list of

copies that are translations of Savfets Safa and involve mostly the fourth chapter12:

1. Hac Selim Aa Ktp., Kemnke bl., nr. 412; Copyist: Osman b. Mustaf, date of copy:

Receb 1048/1638, 140 varak, 17 satr

2. Hac Selim Aa Ktp., Kemnke bl., nr. 247;Copyist: indefinite, date of copy: 966/1559,

137 varak, 13 satr

3. zmir Milli Ktp., nr. 1483/3, vr. 43b-133a; Copyist: indefinite, date of copy: indefinite, 90

varak, 21 satr

4. Manisa l Halk Ktp., nr. 1383/1; Copyist: indefinite, date of copy: 868/1463, 135 varak, 15

satr

9 Parlak and Kutlu, Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu, 40-54.

10 Ibid.

11 Serap ah, Safvets Safada Safiyddin Ardabilinin Hayat, Tasavvufi Grleri ve

Menkbeleri, 13.

12 I combined the lists of both Serap ah and Parlak&Kutlu.

4
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

5. Sadberk Hanm Mzesi, Yazmalar bl., nr. 171; Copyist: indefinite, date of copy:1241/1825-

26,122 varak, 15 satr

6. Sleymaniye Ktp., Hac Mahmud Ef. bl., nr. 2716, vr. 34b-68b; Copyist: indefinite, date of

copy: indefinite

7. Sleymaniye Ktp., Hac Mahmud Ef. bl., nr. 2642, vr. 154; Copyist: indefinite, date of

copy: 1083/1673

8. Sleymaniye Ktp., Hac Mahmud bl., nr. 6491, vr. 121; Copyist: Mustafa Efendi, date of

copy:1254/1839

9. Sleymaniye Ktp., zmir bl., nr. 465, vr. 108; Copyist: indefinite, date of copy: 968/1560

10. British Museum Turkish Manuscripts Or: 7576/1, date of copy: 861/1457& Or: 5772,

Copyist: indefinite, date of copy: indefinite

11. Konya Blge Yazma Eserler 3344, Copyist: indefinite, date of copy: 861/1457

12. Saint Petersburg Saltkov-edrin Xankov 91, Copyist: Niati, Photocopy: AMEA 13, M.

Fuzuli el yazmalar C-568

13.Kitabhane-i Asitan-i Kuds-i Rzavi 95, date of copy: 930-984/1524-1576

14. Kastamonu MEB Kitapl 1458, date of copy: 1041/1632

The eleventh work preserved in the library of Konya Blge Yazma Eserler may be the

most reliable one as it was written in 1457 and might not have been exposed to the distortions

made by Ebul Feth Hseyni in the reign of Shah Tahmasb. 14 The title of the work was written

as Kitab- Menakb- eyh Safiyddin. However, it was also given as Kaifl Kulub at the end

of the copy. Thus, both names have been used to define the book. It is the Ottoman Turkish

translation of the fourth chapter of Safvets Safa.

13 Azarbeycan Milli limler Akademisi

14 Parlak and Kutlu, Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu, 42.

5
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

The work of Kutlu and Parlak entitled Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu is mainly the transcription

of this Kaifl Kulub made through the comparison of the above 13 copies and it is their

book that I draw on in the paper along with the Turkish translation of Savfets Safa by Serap

ah.

2.Shaykh Safi

Shaykh Safi is one of the most eminent sufis of Iran in the Ilkhanid period, who founded the

Safaviyya order. His full name was Shaykh Safiyddin Erdebili shak b. Cebrail and born in

Kelhoran nearby Ardabil, Iran. He was in close contact with the sufis of Ardabil, some of

whom were followers of the orders of ehabddin Shreverdi and Cneyd-i Badadi. In his

twenties, Safi traveled across western and central Iran in the pursuit of a sufi master. In iraz

he met with Emir Abdullah, Rkneddin Beyzavi and Sadi irazi. Emir Abdullah advised him

to see Shaykh Zahid. Therefore, Safi went to Gilan, where Shaykh Zahid invited him to his

lodge (khangah). He stayed in Zahids lodge for 22 years and married the daughter of Zahid,

Bibi Fatma. Before his death, Zahid designated Safi as his successor and the new owner of

the hrka (mantle). When Safi expressed his insufficiency, Zahid said:

Safi, God has shown you to the people and His command is that you obey. His callI have broken
the polo-stick of all your adversaries and cast the ball before you. Strike it where you will; the field is
yours. I have been able to live the life of a recluse, but you cannot. Wherever you are bidden, you must
go, to make converts and give instruction. It is God who has given this task. 15
Another passage that presents Zahids advice to Safi to continue his order is given in

Habib al-siyar, written by Khwandamir:

No matter how high the bird of my heart has flown, it has found no place better than Ardabil for you
to reside. Now, Safi, you must dwell in this land in order that your threshold be a nest for birds from
the world above. You must lead the people on the highway of the right religion and the path of the
rightly guarded nation because God has entrusted you to the people and the people to you. 16

15 Roger Savory, Iran Under the Safavids (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 8.

16 Kishwar Rizvi, The Safavid Dynastic Shrine Architecture, Religion and Power in Early Modern
Iran (London&New York: I.B.Tauris, 2011), 60.

6
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

One may infer a sense of proselytism from these statements and whether they were uttered by

Zahid himself is not clear as they might have been used with hindsight. 17Further in this regard,

Abdlbaki Glpnarl states that Shaykh Safi, as the groom of maml Halvetiyye brahim

Zahid Gilani, established the Safaviyya or Erdebiliyye18 order by combining Halvetiyye and

Kalenderiyye.19With regard to this Halveti aspect of Zahid, Johh Curry stresses Lami elebis

translation of Nefahat'l-ns min hadarati'l kuds, written by Abdl rahman Cami.20 The work

is a ninth/fifteenth century hagiographical compilation. Lami, by adding a concluding remark

to the end of the work, drives attention to the diverse and complicated structure of the Halveti

order. In this remark, he says:

According to what I heard from the great ones who lived in Herat, these aforementioned

Halveti shaykhs[like Zahirddin] are not the Halveti shaykhs which in our time are well

known in the area of irvan and Anatolia. The exalted silsile of these aforementioned shaykhs

derives from Shaykh Rkneddin Aladdevle Simnani. As for the silsiles of those which are

famed among us, they go back to brahim Zahid Gilani.21

Drawing on Lamis statements, Curry argues that the Halveti may have consisted of both a

western Ottoman branch and an eastern Timurid one that developed and operated in separate

spheres from one another.22Another significant point is that Ibrahim Zahid is the mrid

(spiritual teacher) of both Shaykh Safi and Muhammad el-Halveti. DeWeese suggests that the

17 Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 8.

18 Glpnarl may be the only source that uses Ardabiliyye, which is not used in most of the modern
scholarly works.

19 Abdlbaki Glpnarl, Tarih Boyunca slam Mezhepleri ve iilik (stanbul: Der Yaynlar, 1987),
172.

20 John J. Curry, The Transformation of Muslim Mystical Thought in the Ottoman Empire, The Rise
of the Halveti Order 1350-1650, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010), 29.

21 Ibid.

7
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

specifically western (Ottoman) Halveti silsiles inclusion of Ibrahim Zahid Gilani might be

interpreted as the competition of the later Halveti silsile builders with the emerging Safavid

order devotees.23Related to these arguments, the propagation of the Safaviyya order about

being seyyid may be related to this competition. Though both Safevi and Halveti silsiles go

back to Imam Musa-y Kazm, the successors of Shaykh Safi might have attempted to

consolidate their influence by distinguishing themselves from other orders including the

Halvetis in terms of their neseb. However, the interconnections among Shreverdiyye,

Halvetiyye and Safaviyya have yet to be studied thoroughly in the modern scholarship.

With regard to the nesebname of the Safaviyya order, in Savfets Safa and the various copies

of its fourth chapter named as Menakb- eyh Safi and eyh Safi Buyruu the pedigree of

Shaykh Safi and his successors spring from ehl-i beyt. Most of the copies tie Safis genealogy

to Imam Musa-y Kazm. However, the translators of the two books that I use as primary

sources, Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu (hereafter, Kutlu-Parlak) and the Turkish translation of

Savfets Safa by Serap ah (hereafter, Serap ah) underline the differences between various

copies that they draw on. In both Kutlu-Parlak and Serap ah, the parts between Shaykh Safi

and Ivaz/Avaz are similar and follow as: Shaykh Safiyyddn Ebul-Feth shak b. e-Shaykh

Eminddin Cebrl b. es-Salih b. Kutbddin Ebu Bekr b. Salahddin Reid b. Muhammad el-

Hafz li kelamullah b. Avaz.

While in Kutlu-Parlak Seyyid Firuz Shah comes after Avaz, Piruz el-Krdi es-

Sencani/Piruz Shah Zerrin Klah follows Avaz in Serap ah. Moreover, in eyh Safi Tezkiresi,

a short translation of Savfets Safa to Azeri Turkish made by Niati, the words Krdi and

Sencani do not exist.24The last part of nesebname in Serap ah is as follows: Muhammad

22 Ibid., 30.

23 Ibid., 31.

24 Kutlu-Parlak, 424.

8
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

eref ah b. Muhammad b. Hasan b. Muhammad b. brahim b. Cafer b. Muhammad smail

b.Muhammad b. Ahmed Arab b. Eb Muhammad el-Ksm b.Ebul-Kasm Hazma b. el-

mam el-Hmam Musa el-Kazm b. mam Cafer es-Sadk b. mam Muhammad el-Bakr b.

mam Zeynel-Abidin Ali b. mam Seyyidl-Sheda b. Abdullah el-Hseyin b. Emirul-

mminin ve maml-muttakin Ali b. Ebu Talib (salavatullahi aleyhim ve ecmain). However,

the part between the Muhammad eref ah and Ahmed Arabi is different in Kutlu-Parlak and

eyh Safi Tezkiresi.

Since in some copies of Savfets Safa Firuz Shah appeared as el-Krdi es-Sencani, Zeki

Velidi Togan argues that Shaykh Safi had Kurdish descendants and the nesebname of the

Safaviyya was Turkified in the reign of Shah smail. 25He claims Firuz was Kurdish from the

Sencan region of Kurdistan. In line with Togan, Ahmed Kesrevi asserts that the ancestors of

Shaykh Safi came from Kurdistan and in one of the reliable copies of Savfets Safa, Firuz

Shah was written as el-Krdi es-Sbhani Piruz Shah Zerrin Klah. 26However, Kesrevi does

not state which copy of Savfets Safa he uses and the number and library of the copy.

Contrary to these arguments, Mirza Abbasl contends that the word es-Sencani may have been

added to the full name of Firuz Shah in order to establish a connection between Shaykh Safi

and his shaykh brahim Zahid27 as the latters nesebname in the Savfets Safa contain this

word: Shaykh Tacddin brahim b. Ruen Emir b. Babil b. Seyh Bendar el-Krd es-Sencani.

Furthermore, Abbasl indicates that the famous Arab geographer Yakut b. Abdullah El-

Hamevi demonstrated three cities called Sencan in his Kitabul Buldan, one nearby Merv, one

25 Zeki Velidi Togan, Sur Lorigine des Safavides in Mlanges Louis Massignon v.III, ed. Louis
Massignon (Damas : Institut Franais de Damas, 1957), 356.

26 Ahmed Kesrevi, eyh Safi ve Tebare (Tahran: 1976), 48 cited in Serap ah, Safvets Safada
Safiyddin Ardabilinin Hayat, Tasavvufi Grleri ve Menkbeleri, 29-30.

27 Mirza Abbasl, Safevilerin Kkenine Dair, Belleten, vol. 40, no. 158 (April 1976): 328.

9
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

nearby Niapur and the other in Babul Ebvab in Azerbaijan. 28 Thus, it is unclear from which

Sencan Firuz Shah was.

Another counter argument to Shaykh Safis being of Kurdish origin may be that he is called

Trk Piri/Pir-i Trk in various narratives in Safvets Safa. For instance, he was called as such

in iraz:

... Emir Abdullah (r.a.), uzun bir sre sessiz kald, ban edi. Sonra ban kaldrd ve dedi:
Ey Trk piri! Bizim himmet kuumuz bu yere (mertebeye) kadar umamtr... Emir Abdullah
onun bu hlini grnce: Ey Trk Piri! ark aleminden garb alemine kadar, senin bu ryan ve
halini anlayacak kii Seyh Zahid-i Gilani(k.r.)den bakas deildir...29
... Bir gn eyh (k.s.), oturmutu ki mihrabn duvar atlad. Biri oradan kp eyhi: Ey Pir-
i Trk! diye ard. eyh (k.s.)e Pir-i Trk de denirdi. Bu yzden onun yz gayet gzel ve
mkemmel bir ekilde grnyordu... eyh adam dinlemeye balad zaman eyhe syle
dedi: Pir-i Trk! Hazr ol ki gnden sonra, asla namaz klamayacaksn...30
Sohrweide states that the word Trk in these narratives refers to the adjective beautiful. 31

In addition, Nikitine argues that although Savfets Safa contains such anecdotes, at the time

of Shaykh Safi Ardabil was not a turcophone region. 32 However, Abbasl contends that

Shaykh Safi must have known Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Mongol and Gilanca, which may be

inferred from Savfets Safa.33 Drawing on these arguments, one may say that the origins of

28 Yakut b. Abdullah el-Hamevi, Kitabul Buldan cited in Abbasl, Safevilerin Kkenine Dair, 328-
329.

29 Serap ah, Safvets Safada Safiyddin Ardabilinin Hayat, Tasavvufi Grleri ve

Menkbeleri, 32.

30 Ibid.

31 Cited in Rza Yldrm, Turkomans between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in
Anatolia(1447-1514)( PhD diss., Bilkent University, 2008), 157.

32 Basil Nikitine, Essai danalyse du Safvat-us-Safa in Journal Asiatique 245 (1957): 393.

33 Mirza Abbasl, Safevilerin Kkenine Dair, 325. However, Abbasl does not indicate which copy
of Savfets Safa he used.

10
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

Shaykh Safi and his ancestors including Firuz Shah are not certain. The significant point

which most of the scholars overlook is that the late medieval identities are different from

todays modern ethnicities. Thus, what people meant by Turkish in the late medieval period

might not same as todays usage.

The mezhep of Shaykh Safi is another point of uncertainty and controversy. In the modern

scholarship he is depicted as afi or a pious Sunni. For example, Nikitine says leur

orthodoxie est indiscutable, by referring to both Safi and his disciples. 34 Michel Mazzaoui

also argues that Safi was an orthodox sunni. He gives a passage from Savfets Safa as an

example, he[Safi] believed in the madhab of the imams[the four schools of Abu Hanifa,

SafiI, Malik and Ibn Hanbal] whom he loved, and that from among the [four] medahib he

chose those hadits that had the strongest chain of authority[asnad] and are the best[awad],

and applied them.35Moreover, in the eighth chapter of Savfets Safa, when the mezhep of

Safi is asked, he says: Bizim mezhebimiz, sahabe mezhebidir. Her drdn severiz ve her

drdne de dua ederiz.36Hamdullah Kazvini, a Persian geographer and historian, states in his

book, Nzhetl Kulub, that the majority of the population of Ardabil was afi and most of

them were the followers of Shaykh Safi. In line with the orthodoxy paradigm, Rza Yldrm

contends that Shaykh Safi was a well educated man and the majority of his followers must

have been from the cultivated echelons. Thus, Safi and his mrid Zahid represent High

Sufism adhering to eriat.37 Contrary to Yldrm, Roemer claims that Shaykh Safi was a

34 Basil Nikitine, Essai danalyse du Safvat-us-Safa, 390.

35 Cited in Rza Yldrm, Turkomans between Two Empires: The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in
Anatolia(1447-1514), 152.

36Serap ah, Safvets Safada Safiyddin Ardabilinin Hayat, Tasavvufi Grleri ve

Menkbeleri, 38.

37 Cited in Rza Yldrm, Turkomans between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in
Anatolia(1447-1514), 155.

11
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

typical religious leader, a representative of Folk Islam far removed from the official

theology.38 However, the dichotomy of high and low Sufism and the paradigm of orthodoxy

is highly problematic, for to what extent they explain the structure of the socio-religious

organizations is open to question.

Abbasl and Bashir offer more plausible accounts on the mezhep of Shaykh Safi. Abbasl

argues that if Safi had been attached to merely one school of thought or tarikat, he could not

have united both Sunni and Shii groups around Darl-irad, i.e., his order. He further claims

that although the majority of his followers were afi and Hanefi, those who were smaili and

sna-Aeri followed Safi.39 In this regard, Shahzad Bashir claims that the coalescing of Sufi

and Shii forms of authority was common in the post-Mongol and Timurid periods. 40 For

instance, while the Ilkhanid ruler Olcaytu was Shii, his son Abu Said was Sunni and both of

them revered Shaykh Safi. Therefore, it may be said that the time of Safi witnessed

confessional ambiguities as the mezheps were not clear cut entities and cross-sectarian

interactions existed among various orders and people.

3. The Development and Transformation of the Safaviyya from the Safavid and Ottoman

Sources

In the modern scholarship the history of Safaviyya is generally divided into 3 periods. The

first starts with the foundation of the order and the Ardabil lodge by Shaykh Safi(d.1334) and

lasts until the time of Shaykh Cneyd. The second is the period between Cneyd(d.1460) and

Shah smail(d.1524). The final one covers the period between Shah Tahmasb and Shah Abbas

38 H. R. Roemer, The Safavid Period in The Cambridge History of Iran, v.6, ed.Peter Jackson and
Laurence Lockhart, (Cambridge: Cambridge Universiy Press, 1986), 191.

39 Mirza Abbasl , Safevilerin Kkenine Dair, 290.

40 Shahzad Bashir, Messianic Hopes and Mystical Visions: The Nurbakhshiya between medieval and
modern Islam (Columbia: University of Carolina Press, 2003).

12
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

III(d.1740) At the time of Abbas, the Safavid state collapsed. The first and second periods will

be analyzed in this part of the paper.

In the first period, the Safaviyya may be defined as a contemplative Sufi order located in

Ardabil, Iran41. Since its foundation, the Safaviyyas influence in Iran, Azerbaijan and Anatolia

grew gradually and the number of its mrids increased year by year. One might argue that it

became a qutb-centered interpretive community that disseminated a Sufi understanding of

Islam.42 In this context, Rizvi argues that Savfets Safa as a hagiography of Safi helped the

legitimization of the authority of the mystic and the instruction of the novices on rituals. 43

Thus, the order had supportive relations with the ruling elites such as Ilkhanids. For example,

the Ilkhanid ruler Gazan Han, his son Olcaytu and their viziers Reidddin venerated Shaykh

Safi and Mongol Emir oban was a disciple of the order.44 Rizvi contends that he was

regarded as an intermediary between the rulers and their subjects for his integrity and

religious authority45, similar to the qutb characteristic of Shaykh Safi mediating between the

seen and unseen world. As a result of such relations with the rulers, Safi benefited from tax

exemptions and was granted vaqf revenues.46

41 For the geographical importance of Ardabil see Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 1-2.

42 Though Krstic refers to Shah smail as qutb, we may also refer his predecessors as qutb as they
had great influence in Iran and Anatolia, see Tijana Krsti, Muslims through narratives in Contested
Conversions to Islam: Narratives of Religious Change in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011), 41.

43 Kishwar Rizvi, The Safavid Dynastic Shrine, 25.

44 Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 10.

45 Kishwar Rizvi, The Safavid Dynastic Shrine, 67.

46 Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 9.

13
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

After the death of Safi in 1334, Sadreddin became the head of the order. In Tarih-i

Alam-ara-y Amini, Fazlullah Hunci writes about Sadreddin: [his glory] spread everywhere,

the number of adepts increased and these brought him masses of valuables, and soon, as his

fathers successor, he added to the dignity of Aaron [Harun] the magnificence of Korah

[Qarun]. His cellars became full of supplies and the place of pilgrimage brimful with

merchandise.47The time of Sadreddin is significant, for the shrine of Shaykh Safi was

established. He ordered the construction of darl hffaz and ilehane(meditation hall) in the

shrine, which implies a certain rise in the revenues of the order as stated in the above quote.

The hffaz are said to have gathered in ilehane and performed a loud zikr from night to day.48

In 1391 Shaykh Sadreddin died and was buried in the Ardabil shrine. He designated his son

Hoca Ali as his successor before his death. Ali was the head of the order from 1391 until his

death in 1427. Both Savory and Browne assert that the Shiitization of the order begun at the

time of Hoca Ali. Browne presents the following quote from Nesebname-i Silsile es-Safaviyya

to support his view: chastise, as they deserve, the Yazdi Kurds, the friends of Muawiya,

because of whom we wear the black garb of mourning for the Immaculate Imams. 49Another

significant point about Hoca Ali is his meetings with Timur. It is alleged in some Safavid

sources that Hoca Ali met with Timur three times. The last meeting is said to have taken place

in 1404 when Timur was on the way to Central Asia after his victory over Yldrm Bayezid in

in the Battle of Ankara in1402.50According to Alam ara-y Shah Ismail, impressed by the

miracles of Hoca Ali, Timur handed over prisoners of the Battle of Ankara to the Ardabil
47 Fazlullah b. Ruzbihan Hunci, Tarih-i Alam-ara-y Amini cited in Rza Yldrm, Turkomans
between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in Anatolia(1447-1514), 159-160.

48 Kishwar Rizvi, The Safavid Dynastic Shrine, 41.

49 Edward G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia, vol. IV Modern Times (1500-1924) (Maryland: Iranbooks,
1997), 46.

50 Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 13.

14
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

lodge and they became the disciples of Hoca Ali. They were called Sufiyan- Rum and sent

back to Anatolia with halifes of Hoca Ali. It is also said that they became the ancestors of the

Turkomans who helped the establishment of the Safavid state. 51However, Roemer argues that

this story is a myth as the group brought by Timur was Karatatars who were settled in

Transoxiana.

With regard to the relations between the Ardabil lodge and Anatolian sufis, it is said

that Somucu Baba/Shaykh Hamid-i Veli was a disciple of Hoca Ali. However, when Hoca Ali

became the head of the Safaviyya, Somuncu Baba was 60 years old. Therefore, Shaykh

Sadreddin might have been the teacher of Somuncu Baba. He received his first education

from his father Shaykh emseddin Musa and moved to Damascus 52. In Mecdis translation of

akayk- Numaniye, written by Takprlzade in 1556, Somuncu Baba is described as:

Hamid b. Musa Hoca Ali Erdebil hazretlerinden ahz- tarikat etmidir. Lakin daha sonralar

batnda asl tarikatn arif-i billh Bayezid-i Bistaminin tarikatnda bulmudur. Hamid b.

Musa, Yldrm Bayezid dnemi ulemasndan olup, ayrca Hac Bayram- Velinin eyhi

olmudur. However, in Lami elebis translation of Nefahatl-ns, he is said to have served

a eyh in the lodge of the Bayezidiyye and learnt the spiritual principles of Bayezid Bistami.

Not being satisfied in this lodge, he moved to Tabriz and became attached to Hoca Ali. 53He

participated in the meclis-i zikr in the lodge of the Safaviyya.

Having completed his seyr-i sluk in Ardabil, he settled in Bursa. According to Semeratl

Fuad, written by Sar Abdullah Efendi, when Somuncu left Ardabil to settle in Anatolia, Hoca

Ali granted him a hilafet and said: Diyar- Acem'de emanet olarak bulunan esrar- ilahiyye

51 H. R. Roemer, The Safavid Period, 205-206.

52 slam Ansiklopedisi, Haim ahin (stanbul: Trkiye Diyanet Vakf, 2009), Somuncu Baba, 377.

53 Haim ahin also points to the uncertainty about whether Sadreddin or Hoca Ali was the teacher of
Somuncu Baba, as stated in the above page.

15
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

onunla birlikte diyar- Rum'a intikal etti.54In Bursa, it is said that Yldrm Bayezid and Molla

Fenari revered him.55After Bursa, Somuncu Baba moved to Adana, where Hac Bayram Veli,

the founder of the Bayramiyye, became his mrid and they traveled to Mecca.56The former is

said to have settled in Aksaray and the latter moved to Ankara. A significant point regarding

Hac Bayram is that although his silsile goes back to the Safaviyya through Somuncu Baba,

his order Bayramiyye were tax-exempts in the reign of Murad II. 57 This may show that at that

time of Murad II, the Safaviyya and its related disciples in Ottoman Anatolia were by

respected by the Ottoman state to a certain extent. The reason behind this might also be that

the political claims of the Safaviyya against the Ottomans became more apparent after Hoca

Ali.

Hoca Ali died in 1429 when he was en route back to Ardabil from Mecca. He was buried in

Jerusalem by his son Shaykh brahim, who became the new head of the Safaviyya. Ibrahims

period is the one on which most of the contemporary sources are silent. Thus, lack of

information also exists in the modern scholarship. A few sources present some details about

him. For example, in Habib al-siyar, Khwandamir writes: After the death of his father,

Shaykh Khwaja Ali, Shaykh Ibrahim traveled in great sorrow until he reached Ardabil, where

he took up the prayer carpet of his fathers and forefathers in guiding dervishes and devotees

54 Sar Abdullah Efendi, Semeratl Fuad, (stanbul: 1288/1871-72), 230 cited in slam
Ansiklopedisi, Somuncu Baba, 377.

55 Lami elebi, Nefahat Tercmesi, 683; Sar Abdullah Efendi, Semeratl Fuad, 232 both cited in
slam Ansiklopedisi, Somuncu Baba, 377.

56 smail E. Ernsal, XV-XVI. Asr Bayrami Melamilii'nin Kaynaklarndan Abdurrahman el-

Askeri'nin Mir at l-ak' ( Ankara: Atatrk Kltr Dil ve Tarih Yksek Kurumu Trk Tarih Kurumu,
2003), 203-204.

57 slam Ansiklopedisi, 445.

16
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

of his house.58skender Beg Munshi emphasizes the spread of the followers of brahim in

Anatolia and the great increase in the number of them59. Minorsky contends that neither high

nor folk or ghulat level of Shiism was dominant in the order at the time of brahim 60. Using

this high and folk/low dichotomy, Rza Yldrm argues that the nomadic Turkomans of

Anatolia did not have a special interest in the Safaviyya at the time of Ibrahim and the

followers of the order consisted mostly of educated and urban people.61

However, Savory states that: What is clear is that Ibrahim maintained and

strengthened the network of adherents who were actively engaged in spreading the Safavid

propaganda in Anatolia and elsewhere. At the head of this organization was an officer called

the khalifat al-khulafa.62In this regard, a remarkable document which may shed light on the

period of Shaykh Ibrahim and his propaganda in Anatolia was published by Ayfer Karakaya.

The document is a hilafetname, granting someone the title of halife. It demonstrates that the

contacts between the Safavids and the Anatolian Kzlbash were sustained through the halifes

directed by the halifetl-hlefa.63These halifes were depicted in the Ottoman mhimme

58 Cited in Rza Yldrm, Turkomans between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in
Anatolia(1447-1514), 165.

59 Iskender Beg Munshi, History of Shah Abbas The Great/Tarikh-i Alamara-y Abbasi, trans. R.
Savory (Colorado: Westviewpress, 1978), 29.

60 Tadhkirat al Muluk, trans. Vladimir Minorsky, E.J.W.Gibb Memorial Series, New Series (London:
1943), 189 cited in Rza Yldrm, Turkomans between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash
Identity in Anatolia(1447-1514), 167.

61 Ibid.

62 Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 16.

63 R. Savory, The Office of Khalifat al-Khulafa under the Safawids in Journal of American
Oriental Society 85 (1965): 497-502.

17
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

registers as people collecting alms for the Safavids, conveying hilafetnames and other types

of letters and heretical books from Iran.64

The hilafetname presented by Karakaya mentions the significant concepts of the Sufi path

including the four levels of experience, i.e., drt kap: eriat, tarikat, marifet and hakikat. It

also stresses the seyyid character of the Safavid family and the genealogy of Shah Ismail from

Imam Ali.65The document was granted to Seyyid Sleyman, who visited the Ardabil shrine. It

states that Sleyman is a descendant of Sultan Shah brahim: es-Seyyid Sleyman ki hazret-i

sultanl evliya ve burhanul-asfiya, el-ak es-Safi es-selim Sultan Shah brahim nesebinde

mensubdur.66Thus, Sleyman was a halife and the member of the ocak of Shah/Shaykh

brahim, which is probably the only ocak in Anatolia that has kinship ties with the Safavid

family.67Although the date of the document is 1826, Karakaya argues that it may have been

copied from an earlier hilafetname as the language and some references carry signs of the 16 th

century.68

Drawing on this document and information, one might assert that the Safaviyya began

diffusing to Anatolia through halife-halifetl hlefa system long before Shaykh Cneyd, who

is known to be the precursor of the Safavid propaganda in Anatolia. The number of the

followers of the order presumably increased through these propaganda activities,

corroborating the argument of Savory. As a result of this increase, contrary to Rza Yldrm,

64 Saim Sava, XVI Asrda Alevilik (Ankara: Vadi Yaynlar, 2002), 39-42.

65 Ayfer Karakaya Stump, Subjects of the Sultan, Disciples of the Shah: The Formation and
Transformation of the Kzlbash/Alevi Communities in Anatolia (PhD diss, Harvard University, 2008),
189-190.

66 Family Document of the Sivas branch of the ocak of ah brahim Veli cited in Ayfer Karakaya,
Subjects of the Sultan, Disciples of the Shah, 190, footnote 33.

67 Ayfer Karakaya Stump, Subjects of the Sultan, Disciples of the Shah, 193.

68For more details about the date of the document, see ibid., 192-193.

18
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

the order probably did not appeal only to urban circles since the ocaks were organized among

the various echelons of the communities in Anatolia. Thus, the ocaks were not grounded on a

rural and urban separation. For instance, Seyyid Sleyman, owner of the above hilafetname,

was from the village of Doanl in Yldzeli, Sivas 69 and he was probably not from urban

circles. Another point is that although Savory contends that Shaykh Cneyd was the first to

use the title Sultan70, it appears from the above hilafetname that brahim was also described as

Sultan.

When brahim died in 1447, Shaykh Cneyd became the head of the Safaviyya. In the modern

scholarly studies, the period of Cneyd is regarded as the turning point of the order. It is

argued that the Safaviyya became a religio-political movement and its religious framework

changed from orthodoxy to shiite militancy or ghulat Shiism. For instance, Minorsky writes:

The early shaykhs were strictly pious and their religious authority could not be called in

question and opposed. The turning point came in the years of 1449-1456[period of Cuneyd]

71 Mazzaoui claims that Cneyd transformed the Safavid Sufi order into the Safavid

movement. According to Alam-ara-yi Shah Ismail, whose author is unknown, Cneyd altered

the secret teaching of the order. 72Nonetheless, Roemer offers a slight different argument

about this transformation. He contends that since it is difficult to distinguish Sunnism and

Shiism in the 15th century, the elements of Shiism at the folk level had long been existent in

the Safaviyya, which is controversial as the order had interactions with the ocaks organized at

69 Ayfer Karakaya Stump, Vefailik, Bektailik, Kzlbalk, Alevi Kaynaklarn, Tarihini ve

TarihYazmn Yeniden Dnmek (stanbul: stanbul Bilgi niversitesi Yaynlar, 2015), 88.

70 Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 16.

71 V. Minorsky, Shaykh Bali Efendi on the Safavids in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies 20(1957): 439.

72 Cited in Rza Yldrm, Turkomans between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in
Anatolia(1447-1514), 169.

19
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

the grassroots level. Thus, the Shiitization had begun before Cneyd and may have

intensified in his period.73

Similar to the line of Roemer, Savory accounts this transformation as an important

phase in the two centuries of patient preparation for the establishment of the Safavid

dynasty and states that Cneyd had apparent aims for temporal power and kingship. 74 One

may say that Savory sees the change as a predetermined phenomenon and assumes that the

early shaykhs had somehow political aims. However, it is difficult to make such a claim as the

time of the early shaykhs including Cneyd was very turbulent and the religious and political

structures were fluid. For instance, the doctrines of these early shaykhs contained the elements

of Sunnism, Shisim and Sufism as a result of confessional ambiguities.

Babayan and Rizvi diverge from the above interpretations in some respects and adhere

to a longue dure approach75. Firstly, the former argues that the concept of ghuluww has been

mistranslated and used as extremism; however, it is more appropriate to use the word

exaggeration since it means to exceed the proper boundary 76She uses this term to draw a

framework for the beliefs challenging the dominant forms of Islam. She defines the period of

Cneyd as the starting point of the revolutionary phase covering the time between 1447 and

1501. In this phase, various tribes in Anatolia and Syria were converted to Qzlbash Islam by

Cneyd. She sees this revolutionary period as the making of the Safavid Islam, which may

have been a mixture of many different currents and tendencies in Islamdom, but ghuluww,

73 H. R. Roemer, The Safavid Period, 193-96.

74 Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 16.

75 Rizvi states that she uses the longue dure method to reveal what the past was perceived in the
Safavid period, see Kishwar Rizvi, The Safavid Dynastic Shrine, 5.

76 Kathryn Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002), xlvi.

20
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

Alid loyalty and Sufism are its predominant features.77 She also traces the origins of

ghuluww to the pre-Islamic Persian religious traditions such as Zoroastrianism and

Manichaeism.78 It may be said that Babayan attempts to analyze the transformation started by

Cneyd from a syncretic point of view, which might be similar to the Kprl-Ocak paradigm

since they interpret the Kzlbash/Alevi belief as a synthesis of old Shamanistic rituals and

Islam. However, in terms of showing the larger Mesopotamian and Iranian religious context

and the various interactions between several religiosities, Babayans work is noteworthy.

Similar to Babayan, Rizvi takes a longue dure approach when analyzing the

transformation of the Ardabil shrine. She attributes the beginning of the political history of the

order to Shaykh Cneyd, who fought against the Karakoyunlu rulers of Azebaijan 79. She

argues that the order transformed into a political force through the supply of political

authority to the charismatic leadership of pir. Slightly different from Babayan, she focuses

more on the fluidity between Sunnism, Shiism and Sufism reflecting itself in the Safavid

ancestral shrine in Ardabil rather than the pre-Islamic traditions.80

In addition to the limited Safavid sources on Cneyd and the alleged transformation of

the order, some of the Ottoman chronicles and works present information about him. One of

these Ottoman sources is Akpaazades Tevarih-i Ali Osman. He writes about Cneyds

move to Anatolia in the chapter titled An Beyn der kim Sultnl-mchidn Sultn

Byezd Han Zamnnda Erdebl Sflerini Rumiline Neden Srdler. Akpaazade says

that Cneyd sent tesbih, mushaf and seccade as gifts to Sultan Murad II and requested him to

settle in a place called Kurtbeli. However, Murad II and andarl Halil Pasha refused
77 Ibid., xxiv

78 For more details see Kathryn Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, chapters 2,3,4

79 Kishwar Rizvi, The Safavid Dynastic Shrine, 27.

80 Ibid., 4

21
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

Cneyds request as they saw him as a threat81. Akpaazade is also said to have pointed to

the transformation led by Cneyd and taken a pejorative attitude towards Cneyd and his son

Haydar.82 Moreover, dris-i Bitlisi, who produced works first at the court of the Akkoyunlus

and later moved to the Ottoman court, writes that Cneyd and Haydar claimed being seyyid to

consolidate their legitimacy, even though the early shaykhs of the Safaviyya did not allege

such a claim.83However, in Savfets Safa, several passages mentions Shaykh Safis being

seyyid. For example: ki alemin sultanul-meayihi olan eyh Sadreddin (edamallah

bereketeh), eyh (k.s.)in yle buyurduunu syledi: Bizim nesebimizde seyyidlik

vardr...84 Nonetheless, since the various copies of Savfets Safa contain differences and this

story does not exist in all copies85, it is vague whether the early Safavi shayks were seyyid,

though the order had a prevalent oral tradition regarding their pedigree going back to Prophet

Muhammad.

Other examples from Ottoman sources that include a pejorative language about Cneyd and

the transformation of the order are Celalzade and Shaykh Bali Efendis letter to Rstem

Pasha. They produced their works in the 16th century; therefore, they narrated the events from

a more strict Sunni perspective. The former writes in Selim-name: Serr-i saltanata culs

idicek, srr- seytin-i blis-i menhsla mens olmu, baz etrk-i b-idrk ile uns u ictim
81 Mehmet Nuri narc, Sz Meydannda ki Hkmdar: Kanuni Sultan Sleyman ve ah
Tahmasbn Maaresi in Journal of History School XXIII (2015): 189-190

82 Rza Yldrm, Turkomans between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in
Anatolia(1447-1514), 171-72.

83 dris-i Bitlisi, Selim ahname, ed. Hicabi Krlang (Ankara: Kltr Bakanl Yaynlar, 2001),
121 cited in Rza Yldrm, Turkomans between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in
Anatolia(1447-1514), 173.

84 Serap ah, Safvets Safada Safiyddin-i Erdebilinin Hayat, Tasavvufi Grleri ve Menkbeleri,
224.

85 Ibid, vol. 2, 572.

22
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

idub tark- dallete sulk eyledi. Sanyi- rafz u ilhd ki pe-i erbb- dall u fesddur ol

tarka itikdla zulm u dall iklimlerini mamur u bd eyledi. Cevmi-i hidyet-savmii

hr- devvb klub ashb- gzn-i Rasle sebb u lan ile bir btl mezheb ihtir idub ia

dimekle mehur sebl-i sena y virdiler. 86In this passage, by etrak- bi idrak Celalzade

probably refers to the Turkoman tribes which supported Cneyd and his successors.

Moreover, he emphasizes the Safaviyyas transformation started by Cneyd and denigrates the

Shiitization by using batl mezhep ihtira idub ia dimekle

In his letter to Rstem Pasha containing several historical errors, Shaykh Bali Efendi narrates

the Cneyds ghaza against the Georgians:

Muhammad Shah fevt old. Ol Cuneyd yerine gecdi. Muhammad Sahn muhibbi olanlar Cuneydin
basna kdler. Cuneyd dahi gaz hevsyla birkac defa esdi yurtd. Gazas rast gelmekle eyu ve yatlu
katna kesretle cem old. Bir defa dahi cem oldlar, Acemden geup Grciye gaza itmee destur
dilediler. Padisah destur verdi vzerdan birisi raz olmad. Padisahm bu tyifenin cemiyyeti eyu adla
sylenmez. Ben kulun varub greyin ne tayifedr. Padishah emrile vard grd ol tayife temam dallet
zere. Geldi padishaha haber virdi. Bu nice shaykhdur ilerinde ehl-i ilim yok ve suleh yok cumlesi
ehl-i hev ve ehl-i fesaddur. Bu cemiyyeti datmak vacibdur. Anszn hucum idecek olursa def idince
cok ziyan olur. didi. Eyle olsa Padishah emr eyledi icazet yokdur varsunlar yerlerine gitsunler didi.
nad eylediler padishahn buyrun dutmadlar. Nice olursa olsun biz bu gazadan rucu itmezz didiler.
Padishah cnibinden bir blk halk gnderildi. Azm ktal old. Shaykh Cuneydin ban kesdiler. Halk
krld. Cemaatleri dald.87
In the first sentence, he writes Muhammad eref Shah as Cneyd father; however,

Cneyds father was Shaykh brahim. Furthermore, the padishah that Bali Efendi mentions is

Murad II as Cneyd requested Murad to settle in Anatolia. In line with Celalzade, Bali Efendi

disparages Cneyd and the followers of the order as ehl-i heva ve ehl-i fesad. Thus, both

Celalzade and Shaykh Bali Efendi may reflect the derogatory picture of the Safaviyya after

Cneyd in the 16th century Ottoman historiography. The reason behind this attitude might be

86 Celalzade, Selim-name, ed. Ahmet Uur-Mustafa uhadar (stanbul: Milli Eitim Bakanl Yaynlar,
1997), 208-209.

87 V. Minorsky, Shaykh Bali Efendi on the Safavids, 446-47.

23
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

the transformation of the order into a religio-political power which eventually turned into a

messianic movement challenging the Ottomans and their Sunnism. This change in the nature

of the order was also emphasized by Shaykh Bali Efendi: Shaykh Saf bu tyifenin

dedesidur. meyih silsilesindendur. Ve biz grdumz silsilelerde seyyiddr deyu kayd

olunmams. Baz mridler seyyiddur deyu kayd itmisler. B-seyyid evliya olmya, itibar-

din-i slamdr. Beher- hal meshur budur ki Shaykh Saf mrid-i kmildr ve

ehlullahdandur.88Drawing on this passage, it may be said that Bali respects Shaykh Safi

because at the time of Safi, the Safaviyya carried the elements of both Sunnism and Shiism

and it did not undertake political aims against the Ottomans. Therefore, while Bali Efendi

describes Safi as being from ehlullah, he denigrates Cneyd as a member of ehl-i fesad and

ehl-i heva.

When Cneyd died in 1460 in a ghaza against the Georgians, Haydar became the new head of

the Safaviyya. The transformation of the order underwent during the latters lifetime as well.

The most remarkable point in the period of Haydar is the emergence of the term kzlbash or

tac- haydari, which was eventually used to define the devotees of Shah Ismail who consisted

mainly of Turkoman tribes of Anatolia. Babayan traces the origins of this term in the pre-

Islamic Iranian traditions and sees the evolution of it as a longue dure religious

development89. She locates the term in a religious framework of Iran shaped by the ghulat

movements. Different from Babayan, Shahzad Bashir argues that the term has a social and

extrinsic meaning rather than a religious and intrinsic one. 90 He investigates the usage of

88 Ibid., 444-45

89 Kathryn Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, xxviii-xxxviii.

90 Shahzad Bashir, The Origins and Rhetorical Evolution of the Term Qizilbash in Persianate
Literature in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 57( 2014): 368

24
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

kzlbash in Persian historical sources and claims that the term was used not only for religious

connotation but for social and political purposes as well.

The traditional account attributes the emergence of the term kzlbash to Haydars dream,

which was widely used in most of the historical sources. Alam-ara-yi Shah Ismail, whose

author is unknown, narrates this dream: [Ali] said, My child, soon a child from your loins

will be born who will go forth and overturn the entirety of unbelief from the world. But you

must make a twelve-gore crown for the Sufis who are your disciples. Then, he instructed him

how to make the crown. When he awakened, he called the Sufis and ordered that they all

make the crowns and out them on their heads. That crown was named the Taj-i Haydari and

they were given the sobriquet Qizilbash91Focusing on the vicissitudes in the usage of

kzlbash in various sources such as Khunji, Munshi and the memoirs of Babur, Bashir

contends that at the time of Cneyd and Haydar, the term was used to consolidate a subset

within the Turkomans around the Safavid house when the political power gradually shifted to

the Safavids from the Akkoyunlus.92

One may say that the alleged transformation of the Safaviyya started by Cneyd culminated in

the reign of Shah smail. He became the head of the order after the death of his father Haydar

in 1488. The Safaviyya turned into a state in 1501 by the proclamation of Ismail in Tabriz.

Ardabil was relegated to Tabriz, which served as the capital of the Safavid state until 1554.

Babayan accounts the period of Ismail as the state building era of the Safavids. 93In addition,

Rizvi argues that the religio-political ideology of the state consisted of three elements: ancient

91 Ibid., 384.

92 Ibid., 385.

93 Kathryn Babayan, The Safavid Synthesis: From Qizilbash Islam to Imamite Shiism in Iranian
Studies 27( 1994): 136.

25
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

Iranian symbols of kingship, charismatic authority of Sufism and Shiism. 94Ismail was seen as

a messianic figure by most of the Kzlbash, who became his devotees. Bashir claims that the

period of Ismail is the 2 nd phase when the term kzlbash gained a greater political

significance.95 For example, various Turkomans tribes of Anatolia such Tekel, Ustacalu and

amlu96 expressed their loyalty to Ismail and triggered the Kzlbash movement in Anatolia,

leading to several uprisings against the Ottoman state such as Shah Kulu in 1511. Hence, the

tension between the Safavids and Ottomans peaked in the first quarter of the 16 th century,

reflecting itself in the contemporary Ottoman historiography.

For instance, Akpaazade recounts about the Kzlbash of Anatolia and the rise of Ismail:
Sonra Haydarun bir ol dah zhir old, smail adlu. Muridleri ana tbi oldlar.
ol kadar oldlar kim cemi memleketde olan muridleri birine buluscak selmun alekkm deyecek
yerde Sh derler idi. Hastalarn gormee varcak dua yerine Sh derler idi. Ve bu vilyet-i Rmda
olan muridlerine ehl-i sunnet eyidurler idi: Bunca zahmet cakub Ardabile varacana Mekketullaha
varsanuz, Hazret-i Resl sallallhu aleyhi ve sellemi ziyaret itsenuz yerekdurderler idi. Bunlar
cevab virurler idi ki Biz diriye varuruz oluye varmazuz derler. Ve dah biri birinin azna lafzyile
soub yuruler idi. Latfeleri isbu vechileydi. Namaz dah klmazlar idi. Ve oruc dah dutmazlar idi. Ve
dah rafza muteallik kelimt cok iderler idi. Velhsl rafz kre eder oldlar. Memleket-i Rmda
olan sofularn hulefsn ve Ardabile varan sofular Sultan Bayezid tahkr idub Rum Eline surdu.
smail dah asker cekub Tebrize yurudu. Tebrizin bei kacd. Tebrizi yama etdiler. Ehl-i sunnete
hayli hakaretler eyledi. Mslmanlarun rzkn, maln ellerinden alub, biri birinin avradna tasarruf
edub helldur derler idi.97

94 Kishwar Rizvi The Safavid Dynastic Shrine, 4.

95 Shahzad Bashir, The Origins and Rhetorical Evolution of the Term Qizilbash in Persianate
Literature, 385.

96 For details, see Faruk Smer, Safevi Devletinin Kuruluu ve Gelimesinde Anadolu Trklerinin
Rol (Ankara: Trk Tarih Kurumu Basmevi, 1999), 43-56.

97 Askpaa-zade, Tevarih-i Al-i Osman in Osmanl Tarihleri, ed. Nihal Atsz (stanbul: Trkiye Yaynevi,
1949), 251.

26
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

From this passage, one may infer that Akpaazade reflects the common derogatory attitudes

of the Sunni Ottomans towards the Safavids and the confessional difference which began to

appear in Anatolia in the late 14th century.

4.eyh Safi Buyruks and the Kzlbash Communities in Ottoman Anatolia

As stated in the previous part of the paper, the Turkoman tribes of Anatolia became organized

under the leadership of Ismail and acquired a religio-political identity called Kzlbash.

However, these tribes which were religiously organized as ocaks had rooted relations with the

Safaviyya long before Ismail. From the time of Hoca Ali and Ibrahim to Abbas I, a religious

network based on various spiritual beliefs presumably existed between the order and the

Anatolian people including various tribes and sufis such as Somuncu Baba98.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this network is buyruks. Karakaya defines these

books as an authoritative account of the basic Alevi beliefs99. The word buyruk means

command in English. The possible reason why the word buyruk was preferred for the title of

such books is that the Turkish verb buyurmak(to command) was oftentimes used within the

texts.100In general, buyruks consist of two kinds depending on whose teachings they are based

on: mam Cafer or Shaykh Safi. These books have long been preserved by Kzlbash/Alevi

dede families. In this context, dedes are the spiritual leaders of the Kzlbash/Alevi

communities in Anatolia and they perform various religious rituals including cem. Buyruks

contain information about how these rituals should be practiced, how the relations between

98 The relations within this network are briefly demonstrated in the previous pages of this paper, see
p.13-16.

99 Ayfer Karakaya Stump, Documents and Buyruk Manuscripts in the Private Archives of Alevi-
Dede Families: An Overview in British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 37:3 (2010): 278

100 Ibid. footnote 17

27
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

dedes and their talibs should be organized and some basic moral principles. 101Moreover, the

various dates of the copies of buyruks demonstrate that they were written by different copyists

at different times according to the needs of the Kzlbash communities. Another assumption

might be that a clear separation between authors and copyists did not exist. Karakaya asserts

that the reason may be that buyruks were not exposed to a process of canonization.102

Another significant point regarding the two types of buyruks is that while Shaykh Safi

buyruks date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, the dates of the existing mam Cafer buyruks

go back to the 19th century.103This might show that even after Shah Ismail, the religious

network between the Kzlbash communities of Anatolia and the Safavid state persisted. For

example, a buyruk manuscript from Erzincan in Anatolia involves specific elements that may

be the signs of this ongoing network. Karakaya argues that although its date of copy is 1825,

the manuscript mentions Shah Tahmasb and Abbas.104 Thus, it may have written in the late

16th or early 17th centuries. Within this buyruk, abbreviated as Buyruk-Erzincan, Shah

Tahmasb resolves a dispute in cem:

stad- nefes iman- tarikat erkan- meayih Shah Dehman- Hseyni [Tahmasb] buyurur ki kim
taliblere ve muhiblere malum olsun kim Shah- Alem-penah eginde gaziler halka-i sohbet kurup
tevhid iderlerdi.Shah- Alem-penah hazretine ol mkili agah itdiler. Hazret-i Shah buyurdu kim bir
sohbetde krk kii cem olsa ve ol sohbete krk dane elma gelse vacib oldur ki cmlesine bir virp
ksmet ideler
Drawing on the passage, the prolonged loyalty of Kzlbash communites to the Safaviyya in

the reign of Tahmasb may raise questions about the established view that Tahmasb and his

successors severely curbed the power of the Kzlbash. Another example is a letter from 1624.
101 Ibid.

102 Ayfer Karakaya Stump, Vefailik, Bektailik, Kzlbalk, 69.

103 Ibid.,70, footnotes 14,15,16; Ayfer Karakaya Stump, Documents and Buyruk Manuscripts in
the Private Archives of Alevi-Dede Families: An Overview, 280.

104 Ayfer Karakaya Stump, Vefailik, Bektailik, Kzlbalk, 72.

28
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

In the letter, Seyyid Abdlbaki informs Seyyid Yusuf, who is a dede from Dede Kargn Oca

in Malatya, about the conquest of Baghdad by Shah Abbas. Karakaya argues that it was

probably written in a Bektashi lodge nearby Baghdad.105 The letter writes:

ve hala mah- rebil-evvelin yigirmi ikinci gni yevml-ahad Bagdad kalasn feth idp nam-
mbarekine sikke[darb] ve hutbe ohunup Shah- alem-penahn tasarrufuna gemidir ve inaallahu
teala tevecchi Rum tarafna dogrdr. Dergah- hakkdan rica ve temennamz budur ki an-karib
hayrla myesser ola bi-hrmet-i Seyyidl-mrselin.106
The remarkable point in the passage is the writer wish about the continuation of the conquest

towards Anatolia. Thus, some of the Kzlbash communities of Anatolia might have still kept

their relations with the Safavids alive even in the 17 th century. Moreover, the intermediacy of

Bektashi tekkes of Iraq107 between the Safavids and the Kzlbash communities of Anatolia

and the latters ever-growing appeal to these tekkes for icazetnames might lead us to question

to what extent the relations between the Safavids and the Kzlbash communities survived. It

is difficult to make certain judgments about these relations as the existing literature does not

provide comprehensive information.

Conclusion

The development of the Safaviyya and its transition into the Safavid state have long been of

great interest both in the Safavid and Ottoman historiographies as the order had a large impact

on Iran and Anatolia. Since its foundation in the early 14 th century by Shaykh Safi, the

Safaviyya had established rooted connections with both the ruling elites and the Sufis of the

above geographies particularly until the post-Abbas I period. Although the conventional

historiography depicts the development of this order as a change from a peaceful tarikat to a

state having messianic claims, the relations of the order particularly with Anatolian sufis and

105 Ibid., 23.

106 Ibid., 28.

107 For further detail, see Ibid., 35-64.

29
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

tribes at the time of the early shaykhs point to a more complicated picture regarding the

transformation of the Safaviyya. In this paper, drawing on the two main primary sources

namely, Safvets Safa and Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu, I have attempted to show briefly this

transformation and the interactions of the order with the sufis and Kzlbash communities of

Anatolia as well as the foundation the order. These interactions need further research in order

to reach more concrete conclusions.

Bibliography

Primary:

Parlak, Nizamettin and Snmez Kutlu. Makalat eyh Safi Buyruu. stanbul:Horasan
Yaynlar, 2008.

Tevekkl b.smail b.Bezzaz Ardabili. Safvets Safa. ed. Gulam Rza Tabatabai Mecid.
Tehran: ntiarat- Zeryab. Trans. Serap ah. Safvets Safada Safiyddin-i Erdebilinin
Hayat, Tasavvufi Grleri ve Menkbeleri. PhD diss,, Marmara niversitesi, 2008.
Secondary:

-Abbasl, Mirza. Safevilerin Kkenine Dair. In Belleten XL, n.158, 1976.

-Amoretti, B. S. The Timurid and Safavid Periods. In Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 6. ed.

Peter Jackson and Laurence Lockhart.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

-Akpaazade. Tevarih-i Al-i Osman. In Osmanl Tarihleri. ed. Nihal Atsz. stanbul: Trkiye
Yaynevi, 1949.

-Babayan, Kathryn. The Safavid Synthesis: From Qizilbash Islam to Imamite Shi'ism. In
Iranian Studies 27/ 1, 4: Religion and Society in Islamic Iran during the Pre-Modern

Era. 1994, 135-161.

_____. Mystics, Monarch, and Messiahs, Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002.

-Bashir, Shahzad. The Origins and Rhetorical Evolution of the Term Qizilbash in Persianate
Literature. In Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 57, 2014.

30
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

_____. Shah Ismail and the Qizilbash: Cannibalism in the Religious History of Early
Safavid Iran. In History of Religions 45/3,2006, 234-56.

-Dalkran, Sayn. ran Safevi Devletinin Kuruluuna ii nanlarnn Etkisi ve Osmanl'nn

ran'a Bak. In Atatrk Universitesi lahiyat Fakltesi Dergisi 18, 2002, 55-102.

-Celalzade. Selim-name. ed. Ahmet Uur-Mustafa uhadar, stanbul: Milli Eitim Bakanl
Yaynlar, 1997.

-Curry, John J. The Transformation of Muslim Mystical Thought in the Ottoman Empire, The
Rise of the Halveti Order 1350-1650. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010.
-narc, Mehmet Nuri. Sz Meydannda ki Hkmdar: Kanuni Sultan Sleyman ve ah
Tahmasbn Maaresi. In Journal of History School XXIII, 2015, 189-190.
-Ernsal, smail E. XV-XVI. Asr Bayrami Melamiliinin Kaynaklarndan Abdurrahman el-
Askerinin Miratl-k. Ankara: Trk Tarih Kurumu Basmevi, 2003.
-Glpnarl, Abdlbaki. Tarih Boyunca slam Mezhepleri ve iilik, stanbul: Der Yaynlar,
1987.
-slam Ansiklopedisi. stanbul: Trkiye Diyanet Vakf Yaynlar, 2009.
-Karakaya Stump, Ayfer. The Vefaiyye, The Bektashiyye and Genealogies of Heterodox
Islam in Anatolia: Rethinking The Kprl Paradigm. In Turcica 44, 2012-2013.

_____. Documents and Buyruk Manuscripts in the Private Archives of Alevi Dede Families:
An Overview. In British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 37:3, 2010.

_____.Vefailik, Bektailik, Kzlbalk. stanbul: stanbul Bilgi niversitesi Yaynlar, 2015.

_____. Subjects of the Sultan, Disciples of the Shah: The Formation and Transformation of
the Kzlbash/Alevi Communities in Anatolia. PhD diss., Harvard University, 2008.

-Krstic, Tijana. Contested Conversions to Islam: Narratives of Religious Change in the Early
Modern Ottoman Empire. Stanford:Stanford University Press, 2011.

-Minorsky, Vladimir. Shaykh Bali Efendi on the Safavids. In Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1957.

-Nikitine, Basil. Essai danalyse du Safvat-us-Safa. In Journal Asiatique 245, 1957.

-Ocak, Ahmet Yaar. Menakbnameler. Ankara: Trk Tarih Kurumu Basmevi, 1996.

-Roemer, H.R. The Safavid Period. In Cambridge History of Iran. vol. 6. ed. Peter Jackson

31
Gunyol Ufuk Erol Writing Sample 2

and Laurence Lockhart. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

-Safavid Persia. ed. Charles Melville. London&New York: I.B. Tauris, 1996.

Sava, Saim. XVI. Asrda Anadoluda Alevilik. Ankara: Vadi Yaynlar, 2002.

-Savory, Roger. Iran Under the Safavids. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

_____.The Office of Khalifat al-Khulafa under the Safawids. In Journal of American

Oriental Society 85, 1965.

-Smer, Faruk. Safevi Devletinin Kuruluu ve Gelimesinde Anadolu Trklerinin Rol.

Ankara: Trk Tarih Kurumu Yaynlar, 1999.

-ah, Serap. Kitap Tantm ve Deerlendirme-bn-i Bezzaz, Safvets-safa, mukaddime ve

tashih:Gulam-Rza Tabatabai, Mecd, Danigah-i Azad slami 1994. In lmi ve Akademik
Aratrma Dergisi 8, 2007.

-Rizvi, Kishwar. The Safavid Dynastic Shrine, Architecture, Religion and Power in Early
Modern Iran. London&New York: I.B.Tauris, 2011.

-Togan, Zeki Velidi. Sur Lorigine des Safavides. In Mlanges Massignon. vol.III, 1957.

-Yldrm, Rza. Turkomans between Two Empires:The Origins of the Kzlbash Identity in
Anatolia(1447-1514). PhD diss., Bilkent University, 2008.

32