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The Kizilbash (Turkish: Kızılbaş, Azerbaijani: Qızılbaş, Persian: قزلباش Qezelbāsh) '"Red Heads" are religious group of diverse ethnic backgrounds who helped found the Safavid Dynasty of Iran. The name "Red Heads" is derived from their distinct headwear, known in Persian as the Tāj-e Heydar "Haydar's Crown", a reference to their Sufi grandmaster Haydar. (Tāj, meaning crown in Persian, is also a term for hats used to delineate one's affiliation to a particular Sufi order).

Origins

The origin of the Kizilbash (Qyzylbash) movement can be dated from mid 15th century, when Shaykh Haydar Safavi organized his followers into a body of troops known as Kizilbash (red heads - on the account of their wearing red hats with twelve points indicating their adherence to Imams)

Theories have been put foreward by scholars to connect the Kizilbash to certain religious groups of the past, like the the Mazdaki movement in the Sassanid Empire, or the radical Persian Khurramiyyah sect who were also known as "Muhammira" because their practise of wearing a red headgear and fighting for their religious beliefs. It has also been speculated that the group had its origins among the mystical Assassin sect. However, most historians dispute this as no influence of Ismaili beliefs is obvious in Kizilbash practices.

Most of the Kizilbash are believed to have originated amongst Iranian and Turkic tribes within Sunni states of the Ottoman Empire and the Ak Koyunlu kingdom in Iran and Iraq. These were influenced by or converted to heterodox Shiism by Safavid da'wa ("propoganda").

Organization

The Kizilbash - as they were called by their Sunni Ottoman foes and later adopted the name as a mark of pride - were a coalition of many different peoples and tribes, united in their belief in the Safavid doctrine of Shiism.

As murids of the Safavid sheikhs, the Kizilbash owed implicit obedience to their leader in his capacity as their murshid-e kāmil ("supreme spiritual director") and padshah ("king").

Among the Kizilbash, Turcoman tribes from Eastern Anatolia and Azerbaijan who had helped Shah Ismail I. defeat the Akkoyunlu were by far the most important - in number and influence. Therfore the name Kizilbash is sometimes only applied to them . Some of these greater Turcoman tribes were subdivided into as many as eight or nine clans and included the:

• 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 Turkman, Bahārlu, Warsāk, or 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 Afshār, Dulghadir, or Bayāt - as mentioned by the medival Uyghur historian Mahmoud Al-Kāshgharī. The origin of the name Ustādjlu, however, is unknown and probably indicates a non-Turkic origin of the tribe.

There were also non-Turkic or non-Turkish-speaking Iranian tribes among the Kizilbash, including :

• Tālish
• Karādja-Dagh/Siāh-Kuh
• Lur tribes (for example the Zand)
• certain Kurdish tribes
• certain Persian families and clans

The rivalry between the Turkic clans (strictly speaking: the classical Kizilbash) and Persian administrators (the so-called Tajiks or "Non-Turks") was a major problem in the Safavid kingdom and caused much trouble, most of all because the Turcomans were "no party to the national Persian tradition" (V. Minorsky). Shah Ismail tried to solve the problem by appointing Persian wakils as commanders of Kizilbash tribes. However, 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 lead to the removal of the Turcomans by Shah Abbas.

Beliefs

Kizilbash tribes adhered to heterodox Shi'a doctrines encouraged by early Safavid rulers, specifically Shaykh Haydar and Ismail I. They regarded their rulers as divine figures and would thus be classified as ghulat extremist by orthodox Twelver Shias. Among Kizilbash there appeared to be great ignorance of Twelver Shia doctrines. When Tabriz was taken for example, there was not a single book on Twelver Shiism among Kizilbash leaders, and the book of Allama Al-Hilli was procured in the town library to provide guidance on new religion of the state . Nor any Shia ulema participated in the formation of Safavid religious policies at early stages of the state.

Kizilbash during Safavids

On the territory of the Ottomans the Kizilbash tribes - then mostly Turkic or Turkish-speaking - were persecuted on the account to their beliefs and adherence to ascending Safavid order whose leader Shaykh Haydar they venerated. The order posed also a significant threat to the Ak Koyunlu state after the breakdown of their alliance with them and therefore the state sought to exterminate its leaders. Under the leadership of young Ismail I, Kizilbash forces - mostly of local Turkoman population - were unified and increased by conversion to Shiism.

Shah Ismail was able to capture Tabriz from the Ak Koyunlu ruler Alwand Mirzā. Once Tabriz was captured, the Safavid dynasty was established and the Kizilbash assumed highest position in the state hierarchy, serving in positions of wakils (in charge of provincial administration in the dynasty).

The Kizilbash were able to produce a well-equipped mobile army which was loyal to the dynasty. They fought many campaigns, mostly against the Sunni Ottomans, in which they were able to push the Ottomans from Safavid territory, however suffered significant losses at the hands of Ottomans at the Battle of Chaldyran in 1514.

Initially, the Safavids had only indirect control over the provinces, however throughout the sixteenth century the Kizilbash solidified their dominion over the provinces and vied with the Shah for power, which led to constant strife and civil disorder. The Turkomen Kizilbash tribes of Azarbaijan were essential to the military of Iran and during the reign of the weak Shahs. The greatest of the Safavid monarchs, Shah Abbas I (1587-1629), was able to break the dependence on the Kizilbash for military might and centralize control under Persian beuroacracy.

The beginning of the 17th century saw the power of the Kizilbash wane: the original Turcoman militia that had helped Shah Ismail capture Tabriz and over the century had become effiminate in the province administration was actively removed by the Shah. Power was shifting to a new class of merchants, many of them ethnic Armenians, Georgians, and Indians with no connection to the Kizilbash Sufis. However, the Kizilbash were still vital players in the success of the Safavid Empire - providing soldiers and assisting greatly in the flourishing economy. In addition, many Kizilbash became Ayatollahs or Mujtahids (important Shia scholars), teaching Iran's ordinary people religious practices and belief.

"... It has been reported that, among the Ottoman Turks, kızılbaş has become something of a derogatory term and can be applied to groups that aren't necessarily associated with the Kazilbash of Central Asia. The Bektaşi in Turkey are often referred to as 'Kızılbaşi ...",

However, this may contain some accuracy, as some of their towns and villages maintain legendary connections to Sultan Haydar of Persia, even naming their towns after him.

Many direct descendants of the Kizilbash live today in Central Iran, Eastern Turkey, Afghanistan, the U.A.E, Parts of Pakistan and India, Canada and the United States.

References

1. Moojan Momen "An Introduction to Shi'i Islam", Yale Univ. Press, 1985 ISBN-0-300-03499-7 pp. 101-107
2. Roger M. Savory (ref. Abdülbaki Göpenarli), Encyclopaedia of Islam, "Kizil-Bash", Online Edition 2005
3. Bussell, F.W. 1917. "Persistence of Primitive Beliefs in Theology" Folklore. 28 (3) pp. 279-294
4. V. Minorsky, "Tadhkirat al-muluk", London 1943, p. 188
5. V. Minorsky, "Tadhkirat al-muluk", London 1943, p. 16-17
6. Roger M. Savory, "The consolidation of Safawid power in Persia", in Isl., 1965
7. Roger M. Savory in Islamic Studies: Journal of the Central Institute of Islamic Research, "The significance of the political murder of Mirza Salman", Karachi, 1964
8. Moojan Momen "An Introduction to Shi'i Islam", Yale Univ. Press, 1985 ISBN-0-300-03499-7 p. 397
9. Crowfoot, J.W. 1900, "Survivals among the Kappadokian Kizilbash (Bektash)", Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 30. pp. 305-20

See also

• Ismail I
• Safavids
• Shi'a Islam

• History of Iran