Qizilbash or
Kizilbash (
Nastaliq:
قزلباش - ''Qızılbāš'';
Ottoman Turkish for "Crimson/Red Heads"; sometimes also ''Qezelbash'' or ''Qazilbash'') is the label given to a wide variety of
Shī‘ī Islamic militant groups (''
ghulāt'') that flourished in
Anatolia,
Persia and
Kurdistan from the late 13th century onwards, some of which contributed to the foundation of the
Safavid dynasty of
Iran. The expression "Red Heads" is derived from their distinctive twelve gored crimson headwear (''tāj'' or ''tark'' in
Persian; sometimes specifically titled "Haydar's Crown" /
تاج حیدر / ''Tāj-e Ḥaydar''), indicating their adherence to the twelve
Ithnā‘asharī Imāms and to
Shaykh Haydar, the spiritual leader (''
sheikh'') of the
Ṣafaviyya movement.
Origins
The origin of the Kizilbash - as they were called by their
Sunni Ottoman foes, and who later adopted that name as a mark of pride - can be dated from the 15th century onward, when the
spiritual grandmaster of the movement, Haydar (the head of the Ṣafawiyyah Sufi order), organized his followers into militant troops.
Connections between the Kizilbash and other religious groups and secret societies, such as the Mazdaki movement in the Sassanid Empire, or its more radical offspring, the Persian Khurrami sect, have been suggested. Like the Kizilbash, the latter were an early Shī‘ī ''ghulat'' group and dressed in red, for which they were termed "the red-haired ones" ( ''muḥammirah'') by medieval sources. In this context, Turkish scholar Abdülbaki Gölpinarli sees the Kizilbash as "spiritual descendants of the Khurramites".
It has also been speculated that the group had its origins among the mystical Ismaili Assassin sect; the assertion is generally disputed as no influence of Ismaili beliefs is apparent in Kizilbash practices.
Organization
The Kizilbash were a coalition of many different peoples of predominantly (but not exclusively)
Turkic-speaking
Azerbaijani background, united in their adherence to the Safavid doctrine of
Shiism.
As ''murid''s of the Safawiyyah ''sheikh''s (''pir''s), the Kizilbash owed implicit obedience to their leader in his capacity as their ''murshid-e kāmil'' ("supreme spiritual director") and, after the establishment of the kingdom, as their ''padshah'' ("king"), changing the purely religious ''pir - murid'' relationship into a political one. As a consequence, any act of disobedience of the Kizilbash Sufi against the order of the spiritual grandmaster became ''"an act of treason against the king and a crime against the state"'' (Persian: ''nā-sufīgarī'', "improper conduct of a Sufi") - as was the case in 1614 when Shah Abbas I put to death some Kizilbash.
Beliefs
The Kizilbash adhered to heterodox
Shi'a doctrines encouraged by the early
Safawiyyah sheikhs Haydar and his son
Isma'il. They regarded their rulers as divine figures, and so were classified as ''
ghulat'' extremist by orthodox
Ithnāʻashari Shias. Ismail I. presented himself to his Kizilbash followers not as a representative of the ''
Hidden Imam'', but as the ''Hidden Imam'' himself, claiming divinity. The Kizilbash would go into battle without armour as an expression of faith in divine protection, while proclaiming ''Ismā'il waliyyu'llāh'' to the Islamic ''
Shahada''.
Among the Kizilbash there appears to have been a substantial lack of knowledge of Twelver Shia doctrine. When Tabriz was taken, there was not a single book on Twelver Shiaism among the Kizilbash leaders; the book of the well known Allama Al-Hilli was procured in the town library to provide religious guidance to the state. Nor did Shia ulema participate in the formation of Safavid religious policies during the early formation of the state. However,later, the ''ghulat'' doctrines were forsaken, and Arab Twelver Shia ulema resident in Lebanon, Iraq, and Bahrain were brought in increasing numbers. Initially the Shia ulema did not voice dissent about the religious stance of the monarch, but during the following century they were able to impose a stricter version of Shia Islam on both the population and the state.
"Turk & Tājīk"
Among the Kizilbash, Turcoman tribes from Eastern Anatolia and
Azerbaijan who had helped
Shah Ismail I defeat the
Aq Qoyunlu tribe were by far the most important in both number and influence, and the name ''Kizilbash'' is usually applied exclusively to them. Some of these greater Turcoman tribes were subdivided into as many as eight or nine clans, and included:
Ustādjlu
Rumlu
Shāmlu (the most powerful clan during the reign of Shah Ismail I.)
Dulghadir (Arabic: Dhu 'l-Kadar)
Afshār
Qājār
Takkalu
Other tribes - such as the Turkman, Bahārlu, Qaramānlu, Warsāk, and Bayāt - were occasionally listed among these "seven great uymaqs".
Some of these names consist of a place-name with addition of the Turkish suffix ''-lu'', such as Shāmlu or Bahārlu. Other names are those of old Oghuz tribes such as the Afshār, Dulghadir, or Bayāt, as mentioned by the medieval Uyghur historian Mahmoud Al-Kāshgharī. The origin of the name Ustādjlu, however, is unknown, and possibly indicates a non-Turkic origin of the tribe.
The non-Turkic or non-Turkish-speaking Iranian tribes among the Kizilbash were called ''Tājiks'' by the Turcomans and included:
Tālish
Siāh-Kuh (Karādja-Dagh)
Lur tribes (for example the Zand)
certain Kurdish tribes
certain Persian families and clans
The rivalry between the Turkic clans and Persian nobles was a major problem in the Safavid kingdom. As V. Minorsky put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Turcomans ''"were no party to the national Persian tradition"''. Shah Ismail tried to solve the problem by appointing Persian ''wakil''s as commanders of Kizilbash tribes. The Turcomans considered this an insult and brought about the death of 3 of the 5 Persians appointed to this office - an act that later inspired the deprivation of the Turcomans by Shah Abbas I.
History
The Beginnings
In the 15th century,
Ardabil was the center of an organization designed to keep the
Safavid leadership in close touch with its ''
murids'' in
Azerbaijan,
Iraq, eastern Anatolia, and elsewhere. The organization was controlled through the office of ''khalīfāt al-khulafā'ī'' who appointed representatives (''khalīfa'') in regions where Safavid propaganda was active. The ''khalīfa'', in turn, had subordinates termed ''pira''. Their presence in eastern Anatolia posed a serious threat to the
Ottomans, because they encouraged the
Shi'ite population of Asia Minor to revolt against the sultan.
In 1499, Ismail, the young leader of the Safavid order, left Lahijan for Ardabil to make his bid for power. By the summer of 1500, ca. 7,000 supporters from the local Turcoman tribes of Anatolia, Syria, and Iraq - collectively called "Kizilbash" by their enemies - rallied to his support. Leading his troops on a punitive campaign against the Shīrvanshāh (ruler of Shirvan), he sought revenge for the death of his father and his grandfather in Shīrvan. After defeating the Shīrvanshāh Farrukh Yassar, he moved south into Azarbaijan where his 7,000 Kizilbash warriors defeated a force of 30,000 Ak Koyunlu under Alwand Mirzā, and conquered Tabriz. This was the beginning of the Safavid state.
In the first decade of the 16th century, the Kizilbash expanded Safavid rule over the rest of Persia, as well as Baghdad and Iraq, formerly under Ak Koyunlu control.
In 1510 Shah Ismail sent a large force of the Kizilbash to Transoxania to support the Timurid ruler Babur in his war against the Uzbeks. The Kizilbash defeated the Uzbeks and secured Samarqand for Babur. However, in 1512, an entire Kizilbash army was annihilated by the Uzbeks after Turcoman Kizilbash had mutinied against their Persian ''wakil'' and commander, Amir Nadjm. This defeat put an end to Safavid expansion and influence in Transoxania and left the northeastern frontiers of the kingdom vulnerable to nomad invasions.
The Battle of Chaldiran
Meanwhile, the Safavid ''da'wa'' (propaganda) continued in Ottoman areas - with great success. Even more alarming for the Ottomans was the successful conversion of Turcoman tribes in eastern Anatolia and Iraq, and the recruitment of these well experienced and feared fighters into the growing Safavid army. In order to stop the Safavid propaganda,
Sultan Bayezid II deported large numbers of the
Shi'ite population of
Asia Minor to
Morea. However, in 1507, Shah Ismail and the Kizilbash overran large areas of Kurdistan, defeating regional Ottoman forces. Only two years later in Central Asia, the Kizilbash defeated the
Uzbeks at
Merv, killing their leader
Muhammad Shaybani and destroying his dynasty. His head was sent to the Ottoman sultan as a warning.
In 1511, an Alevi revolt known as "Shahkulu Uprising" broke out in Teke and was brutally suppressed by the Ottomans: 40,000 were massacred on the order of the sultan. Shah Ismail sought to turn the chaos within the Ottoman Empire to his advantage and invaded Anatolia. The Kizilbash defeated a large Ottoman army under Sinan Pasha. Shocked by this heavy defeat, Sultan Selim I (the new ruler of the Empire) decided to invade Persia with a force of 200,000 Ottomans and face the Kizilbash on their own soil. In addition, he ordered the persecution of Shiism and the massacre of all its adherents in the Ottoman Empire.
On the 20 August of 1514 (1st Rajab 920 A.H.), the two armies met at Chaldiran in Azarbaijan. The Ottomans -equipped with both firearms and cannon- were reported to outnumber the Kizilbash as much as three to one. The Kizilbash were heavily defeated; casualties included many high-ranking Kizilbash ''amirs'' as well as three influential ''ulamā''.
The defeat destroyed Shah Ismail's belief in his own invincibility and divine status. It also fundamentally altered the relationship between the ''murshid-e kāmil'' and his ''murid''s.
The Qizilbash and the Mughals of South Asia
Qizilbash warriors accompanied the
Mughal emperor
Humayun from the
Safavid Empire in
Iran to
South Asia to reconquer his empire from the
Suri Dynasty. The Qizilbash tribes settled in large numbers in northern
Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and also in
India at
Delhi and
Agra, centers of Mughal administration in South Asia.
The deprivation of the Turcomans
For almost ten years after the Battle of Chaldiran, rival Kizilbash factions fought for control of the kingdom. In 1524, 10-year-old Shah
Tahmasp I, the governor of
Herat, succeeded his father Ismail. He was the
ward of the powerful Kizilbash ''amir'' Ali Beg Rūmlū (titled ''"Div Soltān"'') who was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Safavid kingdom. However, Tahmasp managed to reassert his authority over the state and over the Kizilbash.
During the reign of Shah Tahmasp, the Kizilbash fought a series of wars on two fronts and - with the poor resources available to them - successfully defended their kingdom against the Uzbeks in the east, and against the Ottomans in the west. With the Treaty of Amasya, peace between Safavids and Ottomans remained for the rest of Tahmasp's reign.
Inter-tribal rivalry of the Turcomans, the attempt of Persian nobles to end the Turcoman dominance, and constant succession conflicts went on for another 10 years after Tahmasp's death. This heavily weakened the Safavid state and made the kingdom vulnerable to external enemies: the Ottomans attacked and conquered Azerbaijan, the Uzbeks conquered Khurasan, including Balkh and Herat.
In 1588, Shah Abbas I came to power. He appointed the Governor of Herat and his former guardian and tutor, Alī Quli Khān Shāmlū (also known as ''Hājī Alī Qizilbāsh Mazandarānī'') the chief of all the armed forces. Later on, events of the past, including the role of the Turcomans in the succession struggles after the death of his father, and the counter balancing influence of traditional Ithnāʻashari Shia Sayeds, made him determined to end the dominance of the untrustworthy Turcoman chiefs in Persia. In order to weaken the Turcomans - the important militant elite of the Safavid kingdom - Shah Abbas raised a standing army from the ranks of the ''ghilman'' who were usually ethnic Armenians and Georgians. The new army would be loyal to the king personally and not to clan-chiefs anymore.
The reorganisation of the army also ended the independent rule of Turcoman chiefs in the Safavid provinces, and instead centralized the administration of those provinces.
''Ghulams'' were appointed to high positions within the royal household, and by the end of Shah Abbas' reign, one-fifth of the high-ranking amirs were ghulams. By 1598 an ethnic Armenian from Georgia had risen to the position of commander-in-chief of all Safawid armed forces. The offices of ''wakil'' and ''amir al-umarā'' fell in disuse and were replaced by the office of a ''Sipahsālār'' (, ''master of the army''), commander-in-chief of all armed forces - Turcoman and Non-Turcoman - and usually held by a Persian (''Tādjik'') noble.
Nadir Shah and the fall of the Safavids
Legacy
Afghanistan
Kizilbash in
Afghanistan live in urban areas, such as
Kabul,
Herat or
Mazari Sharif, as well as in certain villages in
Hazarajat. They are descendants of the troops left behind by
Nadir Shah during his "Indian campaign" in 1738. Afghanistan's Kizilbash held important posts in government offices in the past, and today engage in trade or are craftsmen. Since the creation of
Afghanistan, they constitute an important and politically influential element of society. Estimates of their population vary from 60,000 to 200,000. They are
Persian-speaking
Shi'ite Muslims and are usually linked to the
Fārsīwāns and
Tājīks of the country.
Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone described the Kizilbash of Kabul in the beginning of the 19th century as ''"a colony of Turks,"'' who spoke ''"Persian, and among themselves Turkish."'' Described as learned, affluent, and influential, they appear to have abandoned their native Turkish language in favour of Persian, and became ''"in fact Persianized Turks"''. However, Lady Florentia Sale (wife of Sir Robert Henry Sale) and Vincent Eyre - both companions of Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone - described the Kizilbash of Afghanistan also as ''"Persians, of Persian descent"''.
The influence of the Kizilbash in the government created resentment among the ruling Pashtun clans, especially after the Kizilbash openly allied themselves with the British during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842). During Abdur Rahman Khan's massacre of the Shi'ite minorities in Afghanistan, the Kizilbash were declared ''"enemies of the state"'' and were persecuted and hunted by the government and by the Sunni majority. Many Qizilbash migrated to Punjab region of modern Pakistan. (See also: Reign of Amir Abdur Rahman Khan)
Azerbaijan
Qizilbash tribes played an important role in history of
Azerbaijan. During Safavid rule, most of the territory of modern Azerbaijan and
Iranian Azerbaijan became Shiite.
Iran
The Kizilbash were still vital players in the success of the Safavid Empire - providing soldiers and assisting greatly in the flourishing economy, as well as in arts and literature. In addition, many Kizilbash became
Ayatollahs or
Mujtahids (important Shia scholars), teaching Iran's masses religious practices and belief. Qizilbash clans form a large population in Iran and this can be indicated from a surname, such as
Shamlu,
Afshar,
bayat
Pakistan
In Pakistan, the Qizilbash are predominantly Twelver Shia Muslims with a significant Sunni Hanafi Muslim minority. The Qizilbash are an influential group found in almost all segments of Pakistani society particularly in the fertile provinces of Panjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh. There are sizable populations in the city of Karachi, Multan, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Sialkot, Hyderabad and Rawalpindi.
The Qizilbash soldiers and officials settled in modern Pakistan during Mughal Emperor Humayun's return from exile in Safavid Persia and restoration of Mughal Empire. Emperor Humayun lost his South Asian territories to the Pashtun noble, Sher Shah Suri, and, with Persian aid, regained them 15 years later in 1555 AD. Humayun's return from Persia, accompanied by a large retinue of Persian noblemen and soldiers, signaled an important change in Mughal court culture, as the Central Asian origins of the dynasty were largely overshadowed by the influences of Persian art, architecture, language and literature.
Estimates vary from 3 to 5 million people may be descendants of the Qizilbash as they established several settlements principally in Pakistan in medieval times as well as in the urban centres of Afghanistan. Entire villages and sometimes districts were settled by the Qizilbash where many of their descendants can still be found to this day. Their numbers were further increased with the arrival of tens of thousands of Qizilbash refugees from neighboring Afghanistan when they were termed ''enemies of the state'' by the then Emir of Afghanistan for allegedly siding with the British Raj in the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839 to 1842). The British colonial government treated Qizilbash refugees as allies and settled them in modern Pakistan and granted them landholdings and official positions. The Qizilbash assimilated and married with the local Muslims. Qizilbash generation hierarchies are preserved in books published by the British during their Raj.
In Pakistan, the Qizilbash wield considerable influence both at a local social level within the respective community and tribe they live in as well as in the government as many prominent Qizilbash have attained positions in the Senate of Pakistan and one as President of Pakistan. The Qizilbash are known for their intellect, higher education and are well renowned as scholars all throughout Pakistan. They have produced many politicians, religious scholars, soldiers, doctors, lawyers and engineers within the country. Qizilbash are also found in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa principally in the city of Peshawar as well as in Balochistan. Pakistan's former President Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan was a Qizilbash. Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash served as Finance Minister of Pakistan.
Syria
Turkey
''see:
Alevis''
Some contemporary Alevi and Bektashi leaning religious or ethnic minorities in Anatolia are referred to, pejoratively, as Kizilbash.
Notable people with the surname Qizilbash
Asad Qizilbash, a Pakistani Sarod player
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, Pakistan's former President
Mahjabeen Qizilbash is a Pashto singer of Pakistan.
Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash served as Finance Minister of Pakistan.
Shahtaj Qizilbash is a women's right advocate and founder member of Women's Action Forum in Pakistan.
See also
Sufism
Safavids
Shi'a Islam
Secret societies
Bektashi
Alevism
Javanshir Qizilbash
Mirza Kalich Beg
References
Category:History of Iran
Category:Shi'a communities
Category:Punjabi tribes
Category:Sindhi tribes
Category:Surnames
Category:Mughal clans of Pakistan
Category:Ethnic groups in Afghanistan
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