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82-676: The city had a population of 150,714 in 2022, an increase from 86,779 in 2007. Acilisene , the ancient region that is now Erzincan, was the site of the Peace of Acilisene by which in AD 387 Armenia was divided into two vassal states, a smaller one dependent on the Byzantine Empire and a larger one dependent on Persia . This is the name (Ἀκιλισηνή in Greek ) by which it is called by Strabo in his Geography , 11.4.14. The etymological origin of

164-587: A common lifestyle, language, faith, and animosity towards the Ottomans. In the 15th century, Ardabil was the center of an organization designed to keep the Safavi 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 Safavi propaganda

246-725: A diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Azerbaijan , Anatolia , the Armenian highlands , the Caucasus , and Kurdistan from the late 15th century onwards, and contributed to the foundation of the Safavid dynasty in early modern Iran . By the 18th-century, anyone involved with the Safavid state—militarily, diplomatically, or administratively—came to be broadly referred to as "Qizilbash". It

328-567: A force of 30,000 Aq Qoyunlu under Alwand Mirzā and conquered Tabriz . This was the beginning of the Safavid state. By 1510, Ismail and his Qizilbash had conquered the whole of Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan , southern Dagestan (with its important city of Derbent ), Mesopotamia , Armenia , Khorasan , Eastern Anatolia , and had made the Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti his vassals. Many of these areas were priorly under

410-613: A little further to the north. In the 13th century, Marco Polo noted that the city's population was Armenian . In 1830, the Armenian population reached 15,000. In 1880, Erzincan had 6,000 houses: 4,000 Muslim and 1,800 Armenian. In the 1890s, Vital Cuinet reported that Erzincan had 23,000 inhabitants: 15,000 Muslims, 7,500 Armenians, and the rest Greeks and others. According to data from the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople , Erzincan harboured 24,000 inhabitants on

492-623: Is addressing them. According to the 1992 census, there were 85,773 Shiites in Bulgaria. Between the late seventeenth century and 1822, the term "Qizilbash" was also used in Ottoman administrative documents to identify Twelver (Imami) Shiites in what is today Lebanon. The Ottomans were aware they had no link to the Anatolian or Iranian Qizilbash, employing the term only as a means to delegitimize them or justify punitive campaigns against them. In

574-689: 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 Imams and to Shaykh Haydar , the spiritual leader ( sheikh ) of the Safavid order in accordance with the Imamate in Twelver doctrine . The name was originally a pejorative label given to them by their Sunni Ottoman foes, but soon it

656-586: Is known is of the mid-5th century: Ioannes, who in 459 signed the decree of Patriarch Gennadius I of Constantinople against the simoniacs . Georgius or Gregorius (both forms are found) was one of the Fathers of the Second Council of Constantinople (553), appearing as "bishop of Justinianopolis". Theodorus was at the Third Council of Constantinople in 681, signing as "bishop of Justinianopolis or

738-692: Is the land of Qizilbash nowadays. This strip includes a part of eastern Bulgaria. Most of the Qizilbash settled in Dobruja in large numbers, either voluntarily or by being deported there from Anatolia by the Ottoman authorities between the 15th and 17th centuries. Qizilbash communities are also present in Ludogorie (Deliorman). The Qizilbash conceal their real identity, outwardly professing to be orthodox Sunnis to their Turkish or Bulgarian neighbours, or alternatively claim to be Bektashis , depending who

820-1310: Is the wettest season whilst summer is the driest. The lowest temperature recorded was −31.2 °C (−24.2 °F) on 15 January 1950. The highest temperature recorded was 40.6 °C (105.1 °F) on 30 July 2000. The highest snow thickness recorded was 74 cm (29.1 inches) in February 1950. Erzincan is divided into the neighborhoods of Akşemsettin, Aktoprak, Akyazı, Aslancak, Arslanlı, Atatürk, Aziz Baba, Bahçelievler, Barbaros, Barış, Başbağlar, Başpınar, Bayrak, Bozyazı, Buğdaylı, Bulutlu, Büyük Çakırman, Cemal Gürsel, Cumhuriyet, Çarşı, Çukurkuyu, Davarlı, Demetevler, Demirkent, Dereyurt, Ergenekon, Ersevenler, Ertuğrul Gazi, Esentepe, Fatih, Gazi, Gölcük, Gülalibey, Güllüce, H.Ahmet Yesevi, Halitpaşa, Hamidiye, Hancı, Hocabey, Hürrempalangası, Işıkpınar, İnönu, İzzetpaşa, Karaağaç, Kavakyolu, Kazımkarabekir, Keklikkayası, Kızılay, Kurutilek, Menderes, Mengüceli, Mimarsinan, Munzur, Mustafa Kemal Paşa, Osman Gazi, Osmanlı, Özgürlük, Paşa, Sancak, Sarıgöl, Selçuklu, Şehit Cengiz Topel, Şehit Serhat, Şehit Serhat Yurtbaşı, Taksim, Terzibaba, Ulalar, Üçkonak, Yalnızbağ, Yavuzselim, Yeni, Yenidoğan and Yunusemre. Mulberry tree plantations were found in Erzincan in

902-402: The 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake . The first stage of the earthquake killed about 8,000 people. The next day, it was reported that the death toll had risen to 20,000. An emergency relief operation began. By the end of the year, 32,962 had died due to more earthquakes and several floods. So extensive was the damage to Erzincan city that its old site was entirely abandoned, and a new town was founded

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984-579: The Battle of Ghazdewan . This defeat put an end to Safavid expansion and influence in Transoxania and left the northeastern frontiers of the kingdom vulnerable to nomad invasions, until some decades later. Meanwhile, the Safavid dawah continued in Ottoman areas – with great success. Even more alarming for the Ottomans was the successful conversion of Turcoman tribes in Eastern Anatolia, and

1066-739: The Caucasus Campaign of the First World War. In 1916 Erzincan was the headquarters for the Turkish Third Army commanded by Abdul Kerim Pasha . The Russian General Nikolai Yudenich led the Russian Caucasus Army who captured Mama Hatun on 12 July 1916. They then gained the heights of Naglika and took a Turkish position on the banks of the Durum Durasi river, with their cavalry breaking through

1148-528: The Janissaries . Tahmasp's successors, and most importantly Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629), would significantly expand this policy when during the reign of Abbas I alone some 200,000 Georgians, 300,000 Armenians and many tens of thousands of Circassians were relocated to Iran's heartlands. By this creation of a so-called "third layer" or "third force" in Iranian society composed of ethnic Caucasians, and

1230-590: The Seljuk Sulëiman Kutalmish . Marco Polo , who wrote about his visit to Erzincan, said that the "people of the country are Armenians" and that Erzincan was the "noblest of cities" which contained the see of an archbishop. In 1243 it was destroyed in fighting between the Seljuks under Kaykhusraw II and the Mongols . However, by 1254 its population had recovered enough that William of Rubruck

1312-590: The Tanzimat period, as well as later, after the Young Turk Revolution . There are some doubts, though, whether this term is appropriate, due to the scarcity of sources and the diversity of the various Qizilbash-groups. 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

1394-494: The 1690s, when ethnic Georgians formed the mainstay of the Safavid military, the Qizilbash still played a significant role in the army. The Afshār and Qājār rulers of Persia who succeeded the Safavids, stemmed from a Qizilbash background. Many other Qizilbash – Turcoman and Non-Turcoman – were settled in far eastern cities such as Kabul and Kandahar during the conquests of Nader Shah , and remained there as consultants to

1476-567: The Afshār, Dulghadir, or Bayāt, as mentioned by the medieval Karakhanid historian Mahmud al-Kashgari . The non-Turkic Iranian tribes among the Qizilbash were called Tājīks by the Turcomans and included: The rise of the Ottomans put a great strain on the Turkmen tribes living in the area, which eventually led them to join the Safavids, who transformed them into a militant organisation, called

1558-502: The Armenians in the centre of Erzincan were more than double the census data. Of the pre-World War I population of 37,000 Armenians in Erzincan and suburbs, most were killed in the Armenian genocide . During this period, at least 150,000 Armenian men, women and children from Erzincan and surrounding areas were transported by Turkish forces between 1915 and 1916 through Erzincan proper, where a series of transit camps were set up to control

1640-602: The Boz-Tapa-Meretkli line. They then advanced on Erzincan arriving by 25 July and taking the city in two days. The city was relatively untouched by battle and Yudenich seized large quantities of supplies. Despite the strategic advantages gained from this victory, Yudenich made no more significant advances and his forces were reduced due to Russian reverses further north. A short-lived soviet council had been at Erzincan between 1916 and 1918. Mainly today's Erzincan and Tunceli provinces were under Russian occupation. After

1722-523: The Caucasus, and would systematically replace the Qizilbash from their functions with converted Circassians and Georgians. The new army and civil administration would be fully loyal to the king personally and not to the 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

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1804-577: The First Caucasian Army Corps Kâzım Karabekir regained control over Erzincan on the 13 February 1918. This event is celebrated annually by its inhabitants. The capture was carried out by Kâzım Karabekir . The city witnessed a state of "indescribable panic" as Armenian soldiers evacuated Erzincan towards Erzurum. Both civilian and military troops were attacked by Kurdish tribes, all during brutal snowstorms. Meanwhile, Armenian fedayeen fought "ferociously" in rearguard actions, while

1886-468: 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 counterbalancing influence of traditional Ithnāʻashari Shia Sayeds , made him determined to end the dominance of

1968-517: The Iranians, they were however, defeated by Tahmasp I , the son of Ismail who got rid of the Turcomans. For almost ten years after the Battle of Chaldiran, rival Qizilbash 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 Qizilbash amir Ali Beg Rūmlū (titled " Div Soltān " ) who

2050-589: The Kazilbash of Central Asia. The Bektaşi in Turkey are often referred to as Kızılbaşi . The Qizilbash, or "Red Heads," were Turkic warriors-turned-Persian who had arrived in Afghanistan in numbers after Nadir Shah's and other Persian debacles. Some of Nadir's Qizilbash soldiers settled in Afghanistan where their descendants had successful careers in the army (until the end of Dost Muhammad's rule), government,

2132-753: The Latin Anaetica , itself from Anaïtis , the name of the goddess in Latin and Greek classical sources). Under the Arsacid dynasty, it was one of the properties of the house of Gregory the Illuminator (the Gregorids ) and was sometimes called Gavar Lusavorchi ('district of the Illuminator'). This Armenia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash were

2214-501: The Qizilbash (meaning "red heads" in Turkish ), initially a pejorative label given to them by the Ottomans, but later adopted as a mark of pride. The religion of the Qizilbash resembled much more the heterodox beliefs of northwestern Iran and eastern Anatolia, rather than the traditional Twelver Shia Islam . The beliefs of the Qizilbash consisted of non-Islamic aspects, varying from crypto- Zoroastrian beliefs to shamanistic practises,

2296-797: The Qizilbash and other religious groups and secret societies , such as the Mazdaki movement in the Sasanian Empire , or its more radical offspring, the Khurramites , and Turkic shamanism , have been suggested. Of these, the Khurramites were, like the Qizilbash, an early ghulat group and dressed in red, for which they were termed "the red ones" (Persian: سرخ‌ جامگان , romanized:  sarkh jāmegān , Arabic: محمرة , romanized:  muḥammirah ) by medieval sources. In this context, Turkish scholar Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı sees

2378-543: The Qizilbash are also Twelvers, their practices do not adhere to Ja'fari jurisprudence. Among the Qizilbash, Turcoman tribes from Eastern Anatolia and Iranian Azerbaijan who had helped Ismail I defeat the Aq Qoyunlu tribe were by far the most important in both number and influence and the name Qizilbash is usually applied exclusively to them. Some of these greater Turcoman tribes were subdivided into as many as eight or nine clans, including: Other tribes – such as

2460-438: The Qizilbash as "spiritual descendants of the Khurramites". The Qizilbash were a coalition of many different tribes of predominantly (but not exclusively) Turkic -speaking background united in their adherence to the Safavid order . Apart from Turkomans , the Qizilbash also included Kurds , Lurs , Persians , and Talysh after Shah Abbas's military reform in the beginning of the 17th century. As murids (sworn students) of

2542-469: The Qizilbash as Muslims, though the Qizilbash did not always accept these efforts, such that they would openly decline them at times. Despite such adversarial interactions, a clear picture of how these groups perceived their relations with the Ottoman government or the Western missionaries has not yet been established. Hans-Lukas Kieser talks about an "Alevi renaissance" which, according to him, took place in

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2624-660: The Qizilbash of Afghanistan also as "Persians, of Persian descent, or descendant of the Persians, wearing a red cap" . The influence of the Qizilbash in the government created resentment among the ruling Pashtun clans, especially after the Qizilbash openly allied themselves with the British during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842). During Abdur Rahman Khan 's massacre of the Shi'i minorities in Afghanistan,

2706-449: The Qizilbash 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" . Lady Florentia Sale (wife of Sir Robert Henry Sale ) and Vincent Eyre – both companions of Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone – described

2788-462: The Qizilbash were declared " enemies of the state " and were persecuted and hunted by the government and by the Sunni majority. The former national anthem (2006-2021) of Afghanistan mentioned Qizilbash as an ethnic group in the third line of third stanza. Following Shah Abbas's gradual replacement of the Qizilbash in the Safavid military and administrative ranks, and the persecution they faced at

2870-470: The Safavi pirs , the Qizilbash 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 padishah (great king). The kingdom's establishment thus changed the purely religious pir–murid relationship into a political one. As a consequence, any act of disobedience of the Qizilbash Sufis against

2952-634: The Turkman, Bahārlu , Qaramānlu, Warsāk, and Bayāt – were occasionally listed among these "seven great uymaqs". Today, the remnants of the Qizilbash confederacy are found among the Afshar , the Qashqai , Turkmen , Shahsevan , and others. Some of these names consist of a place-name with the addition of the Turkish suffix -lu , such as Shāmlu or Bahārlu. Other names are those of old Oghuz tribes such as

3034-604: The ancient necropolis of the Arsacid kings of Armenia. The Erznka valley, crossed by the Upper Euphrates, was the location of the most important pre-Christian shrine in Armenia, dedicated to the Armenian goddess Anahit . The temple, whose site has not yet been identified, was in a settlement called Erez. Because of its association with the goddess, the region was also called Anahtakan ('of Anahit', corresponding to

3116-529: The central kaza . In the other kazas of Erzincan there were 67,271 Muslims, 11,135 Armenian Gregorians and 144 Protestants in Kemah . According to the 1914 Ottoman census , which undercounted religious minority groups such as Armenians, there were 16,144 Armenian Gregorians and 147 Protestants in the central kaza . In the other kazas of Erzincan there were 11,135 Armenian Gregorians and 144 Protestants in Kemah . However, Miller and Kévorkian's research state that

3198-409: The centre of Erzincan of which 15,000 were Muslims and 7,500 were Armenian. In the same research he states that the entire sanjak had 171,472 Muslims, 34,588 Armenians (incl. Catholic & Protestan) and 2,710 Greeks . According to the 1914 Ottoman census , which undercounted religious minority groups such as Armenians , there were 53,898 Muslims and 16,144 Armenian Gregorians and 147 Protestants in

3280-589: The complete systematic disorganisation of the Qizilbash by his personal orders, Abbas I eventually fully succeeded in replacing the power of the Qizilbash, with that of the Caucasian ghulams. These new Caucasian elements (the so-called ghilman / غِلْمَان / "servants" ), almost always after conversion to Shi'ism depending on given function would be, unlike the Qizilbash, fully loyal only to the Shah. This system of mass usage of Caucasian subjects continued to exist until

3362-562: The control of the Ak Koyunlu . The rivalry between the Turkic clans and the 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 Qizilbash tribes. The Turcomans considered this an insult and brought about

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3444-522: The country during the Durrani rule , Zaman Shah Durrani had a cavalry of over 100.000 men, consisting mostly of Qizilbash Afghanistan's Qizilbash 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 30,000 to 200,000. Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone described

3526-597: 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. In 1510 Shah Ismail sent a large force of the Qizilbash to Transoxiania to fight the Uzbeks . The Qizilbash defeated the Uzbeks and secured Samarkand at the Battle of Marv . However, in 1512, an entire Qizilbash army was annihilated by the Uzbeks after Turcoman Qizilbash had mutinied against their Persian wakil and commander Najm-e Thani at

3608-706: The decisive defeat of the Byzantines by the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. After the 13th century, there is no mention of diocesan bishops of Acilisene and the see no longer appears in Notitiae Episcopatuum . No longer a residential bishopric, Acilisene is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see . In 1071 Erzincan was absorbed into the Mengüçoğlu under

3690-703: The early 20th century, which were used in sericulture . Acilisene Acilisene ( Ancient Greek : Ἀκιλισηνή , romanized :  Akilisene῾ ), known as Ekegheats or Yekeghyats ( Old Armenian : Եկեղեաց , romanized:  Ekełeac῾ ) in Armenian, was a region of the Upper Armenia province of historical Armenia . It was a strip of land along the Upper Euphrates or Arsanias roughly corresponding to today's Erzincan Province of Turkey. Its main cities were Erznka (today's Erzincan , Turkey) and Ani-Kamakh (today's Kemah , Turkey) near

3772-409: The early eighteenth century, a part of northern Lebanon is even described as the "Kızılbaş mukataa" tax district. In Turkey, there is a community of so-called Alevis , which were formed out of Qizilbash groups in Anatolia in the 16 th century. Historically, however, it wouldn't be appropriate to use the term Alevi to describe these groups, seeing as it was originally used for descendants of Ali,

3854-439: The eve of World War I ; 13,109 (2021 families) of whom were Armenians . Armenians were deported and massacred by the Special Organization during the Armenian genocide . Greeks were deported from Erzincan to Germir in 1919 as part of the Greek genocide . Erzincan has a continental climate ( Köppen climate classification : Dsa or Trewartha climate classification : Dca ) with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers. Spring

3936-446: The fall of the Qajar dynasty . The 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 in the west, whereas the Uzbeks attacked the east. In 1588, Shah Abbas I came to power. He appointed

4018-456: The flow of victims to the concentration camp and killing site at the nearby Kemah gorge. J.M. Winter's work state that between 1915 and 1917, the Central Hospital of Erzincan was the primary site of medical experiments conducted by Turkish army physicians on Armenian civilians involving typhus and other lethal infectious agents. As of 2019, few traces of Armenian presence or civilization remain in Erzincan. The Battle of Erzincan took place during

4100-416: The fourth Rashidun Caliph. In the 19 th century, the term was also used in Turkey to refer to the Qizilbash, who were seen as heretics by the Sunni majority. Alevism in Turkey is present among the Turkish, Kurdish, as well as the Zaza population. Yet, despite speaking Kurdish and Zaza natively, many of the Alevi tribes still use Turkish as a liturgical language. The Kurdish Alevis are known locally by

4182-415: The hands of his and Shah Safi 's policies, the Qizilbash started to turn and rebel against the Safavids. This then led to the empire adopting more classical Twelver beliefs and cooperating with Shi'i scholars in combatting Qizilbash doctrines, eventually causing their decline in favour of a more orthodox interpretation of Twelver Shi'ism. A strip of land from Babadag in Romania until Dimetoka in Greece

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4264-428: The invitation of Ismail I , who would aid in him establishing his dynasty. After entering the Ottoman administration, Erzincan developed physically and in terms of population. According to the census made in 1516–1518 right after the conquest, there were twenty neighbourhoods in the city, seven of which belonged to Muslims and 13 to Christians. The number of neighbourhoods did not change in the 1530 and 1591 censuses but

4346-410: The latter which had been practised by their Central Asian ancestors. However, a common aspect that all these heterodox beliefs shared was a form of messianism , devoid of the restrictions of the Islam practiced in urban areas . Concepts of divine inspiration and reincarnation were common, with the Qizilbash viewing their Safavid leader (whom they called morshed-e kamel , "the Perfect Guide") as

4428-495: The local Turcoman tribes of Asia Minor (Anatolia), Syria , and the Caucasus – collectively called "Qizilbash" by their enemies – rallied to his support in Erzincan . 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 and incorporating his kingdom, he moved south into Azarbaijan, where his 7,000 Qizilbash warriors defeated

4510-402: The new Afghan crown after the Shah's death. Others joined the Mughal emperors of India and became one of the most influential groups of the Mughal court until the British conquest of India . Qizilbash in Afghanistan primarily live in urban areas, such as Kabul , Kandahar or Herat . Some of them are descendants of the troops left behind by Nadir Shah . Others however were brought to

4592-648: The new ruler, decided to invade with a force of 200,000 Ottomans. In addition, he ordered the persecution of Alevis and massacred its adherents in the Ottoman Empire. On 20 August 1514 (1st Rajab 920 A.H.), the two armies met at Chaldiran in northwestern Iran. The Ottomans, who were equipped with both firearms and cannon, were reported to outnumber the Qizilbash as much as three to one. The Qizilbash were badly defeated; casualties included many high-ranking Qizilbash amirs as well as three influential ulamā . This defeat destroyed Shah Ismail's belief in his own invincibility and divine status. It also fundamentally altered

4674-401: The office of a Sipahsālār ( Persian : سپهسالار , lit.   'master of the army'), commander-in-chief of all armed forces – Turcoman and Non-Turcoman – and usually held by a Persian ( Tādjik ) noble. The Turcoman Qizilbash nevertheless remained an important part of the Safavid executive apparatus, even though ethnic Caucasians came to largely replace them. For example, even in

4756-504: The order of the spiritual grandmaster (Persian: nāsufigari "conduct unbecoming of a Sufi") became "an act of treason against the king and a crime against the state", as was the case in 1614 when Abbas the Great put some followers to death. The Qizilbash adhered to heterodox Shi’i doctrines encouraged by the early Safavi sheikhs Haydar and his son Ismail I . They regarded their rulers as divine figures, and so were classified as ghulat "extremists" by orthodox Twelvers . When Tabriz

4838-405: The origins and political orientations of the Qizilbash sparked, resulting in them becoming the target of Western missionaries, who believed that they held Christian views about Jesus. The Qizilbash weren't hostile towards these missionaries and, according to missionary reports, some were willing to listen to their message. In turn, the Ottoman authorities responded by making more efforts to classify

4920-590: The population increased. Evliya Çelebi , who came to Erzincan in 1647, wrote that the castle was built on a flat field, and that there were 200 houses inside this place while 1800 houses were located outside the castle. It had 48 neighbourhoods, seven mosques, seven lodges, and 11 hamams . According to the General Census of 1881/82, the sanjak of Erzincan within the Erzurum vilayet had a total population of 107,090, consisting of 85,943 Muslims and 19,026 Armenians, 1,887 Greeks and 234 Protestants. Vital Cuinet 's research dating to 1893 show that there were 23,000 people in

5002-492: The recruitment of these well-experienced and feared fighters into the growing Safavid army. To stop Safavid propaganda, Sultan Bayezid II deported large numbers of the Shi'i population of Asia Minor to Morea . However, in 1507, Shah Ismail and the Qizilbash overran large areas of Kurdistan , defeating regional Ottoman forces. Two years later, the Qizilbash defeated the Uzbeks at Merv in Central Asia, killing their leader Muhammad Shaybani and destroying his dynasty. His head

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5084-419: The region of Ecclenzine". Georgius was at the Photian Council of Constantinople (879) . Until the 10th century, the diocese itself appears in none of the Notitiae Episcopatuum . At the end of that century, they present it as an autocephalous archdiocese, and those of the 11th century present it as a metropolitan see with 21 suffragans . This was the time of greatest splendour of Acilisene, which ended with

5166-512: The reincarnation of Ali and a manifestation of the divine in human form. There were a total of seven major Qizilbash "tribes", each named after an area they identified themselves with; the Rumlu presumably came from Rum (Anatolia); the Shamlu from Sham ( Syria ); the Takkalu from the Takkeh in southeastern Anatolia; the Ostajlu from Ostaj in the southern Caucasus . It is uncertain if the Afshar and Qajar were named after an area in Azerbaijan, or after their ancestors. All these tribes shared

5248-426: The relationship between the murshid-e kāmil and his murids (followers). Ismail I tried to reduce the power of the Turcomans by appointing Iranians to the vakil office. However, the Turcomans did not like having an Iranian to the most powerful office of the Safavid Empire and kept murdering many Iranians who were appointed to that office. After the death of Ismail, the Turkomans managed to seize power from

5330-400: The revolution, Bolshevik soldiers took control of the officer corps. Arshak Djamalian who was a Bolshevik soldier, called Kurdish, Turkish, and Armenian representatives to take charge of the administration of Erzincan Soviet. Ottoman victory [REDACTED]   Ottoman Empire [REDACTED] Armenian volunteer units Following the withdrawal of the Russian Army, the commander of

5412-428: The royal harems, royal guards, and several other specific posts of the Empire, Tahmasp believed he could eventually reduce the power of the Qizilbash, by creating and fully integrating a new layer in Iranian society with these Caucasian elements and who would question the power and hegemony of the tribal Qizilbash. This included the formation of a military slave system, similar to that of the neighboring Ottoman Empire –

5494-472: The royal household, and by the end of Shah Abbas' reign, one-fifth of the high-ranking amirs were ghulams. By 1598 already an ethnic Georgian from Safavid-ruled Georgia, well known by his adopted Muslim name after conversion, Allahverdi Khan , had risen to the position of commander-in-chief of all Safavid armed forces. and by that became one of the most powerful men in the empire. The offices of wakil and amir al-umarā fell in disuse and were replaced by

5576-414: The settlement of Erez, at a yet unidentified site, there was a pre-Christian shrine dedicated to the Armenian goddess Anahit . A text of Agathangelos reports that during the first year of his reign, King Trdat of Armenia went to Erez and visited Anahit's temple to offer sacrifice. He ordered Gregory the Illuminator , who was secretly a Christian, to make an offering at its altar. When Gregory refused, he

5658-413: The term Kızılbaş , associating them with the Qizilbash in the Safavid dynasty, although their exact origins are unclear and subject to debate. Among Bektashis, Kızılbaş is used to refer to groups that are not initiated into the Bektashi order but have similar beliefs. These groups are looked down upon by initiated members of the tariqa. In the second half of the 19 th century, a Western interest in

5740-400: The trades, and crafts. In 1996, approximately 40 percent of Afghans were Pashtun, 11.4 of whom are of the Durrani tribal group and 13.8 percent of the Ghilzai group. Tajiks make up the second-largest ethnic group with 25.3 percent of the population, followed by Hazaras, 18 percent; Uzbeks, 6.3 percent; Turkmen, 2.5 percent; Qizilbash, 1.0; 6.9 percent other. The usual caveat regarding statistics

5822-433: The under-equipped and famished Ottoman army found sustenance and weaponry in abandoned Russian arsenals and reserves. The events at Erzincan repeated on a larger scale in Erzurum and Kars. The city was completely destroyed by a major earthquake on December 27, 1939. The sequence of seven violent shocks, the biggest measuring 7.8 on the moment magnitude scale, was the joint most-powerful earthquake recorded in Turkey, tied with

5904-552: The untrustworthy Turcoman chiefs in Persia which Tahmasp had already started decades before him. In order to weaken the Turcomans – the important militant elite of the Safavid kingdom – Shah Abbas further raised a standing army, personal guard, Queen-Mothers, Harems and full civil administration from the ranks of these ghilman who were usually ethnic Circassians , Georgians , and Armenians , both men and women, whom he and his predecessors had taken captive en masse during their wars in

5986-476: The west. With the Peace of Amasya (1555), peace between Safavids and Ottomans remained for the rest of Tahmasp's reign. During Tahmasp' reign, he carried out multiple invasions in the Caucasus which had been incorporated in the Safavid empire since Shah Ismail I and for many centuries afterward, and started with the trend of deporting and moving hundreds of thousands of Circassians , Georgians , and Armenians to Iran's heartlands. Initially only solely put in

6068-415: The word is disputed, but it is agreed that the city was once called Erez. For a while it was called Justinianopolis in honour of Emperor Justinian . In more recent Greek it has been called as Κελτζηνή ( Keltzene ) and Κελεζηνή ( Kelezene ). In the Armenian language , the 5th-century Life of Mashtots called it Yekeghiats . In the more recent past, it was known in Armenian as Երզնկա ( Yerznka ). In

6150-476: Was able to say an earthquake had killed more than 10,000 people. During this period, the city reached a level of semi-independence under the rule of Armenian princes. Erzincan was one of the most pivotal towns in Safavid history. It was there, in the summer of 1500, that about 7,000 Qizilbash forces, consisting of the Ustaclu, Shamlu , Rumlu, Tekelu, Zhulkadir, Afshar , Qajar and Varsak tribes, responded to

6232-464: Was active. The khalīfa , in turn, had subordinates termed pira . The Safavi presence in eastern Anatolia posed a serious threat to the Ottoman Empire because they encouraged the Shi'i population of Asia Minor to revolt against the sultan. In 1499, Ismail, the young leader of the Safavi order, left Lahijan for Ardabil to make a bid for power. By the summer of 1500, about 7,000 supporters from

6314-500: Was adopted as a mark of pride. The origin of the Qizilbash can be dated from the 15th century onward, when the spiritual grandmaster of the movement, Shaykh Haydar (the head of the Safaviyya Sufi order), organized his followers into militant troops. The Qizilbash were originally composed of seven Turkic, all Azerbaijani -speaking tribes: Rumlu, Shamlu , Ustajlu, Afshar , Qajar , Tekelu, and Zulkadar. Connections between

6396-469: Was eventually applied to some inhabitants of Iran. In the early 19th-century, Shia Muslims from Iran could be referred as "Qizilbash", thus highlighting the influence of the distinctive traits of the Safavids, despite the Iranian shah (king) Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( r.  1797–1834 ) simultaneously creating a Qajar dynastic identity grounded in the pre-Islamic past. The word Qizilbash derives from Turkish Kızılbaş , meaning "red head". The expression

6478-602: Was sent to the Ottoman sultan as a warning. In 1511, a pro-Safavid revolt known as the Şahkulu rebellion broke out in Teke . An imperial army that was sent to suppress it was defeated. Ismail sought to turn the chaos within the Ottoman Empire to his advantage and moved the border westwards in Asia Minor. The Qizilbash defeated a large Ottoman army under Koca Sinan Pasha . Shocked by this heavy defeat, Sultan Selim I ,

6560-472: Was taken captive and tortured, starting the events that would end with Trdat's conversion to Christianity some 14 years later. After that conversion, during the Christianisation of Armenia, the temple at Erez was destroyed and its property and lands were given to Gregory. It later became known for its extensive monasteries. It is hard to tell when Acilisene became a bishopric . The first whose name

6642-651: Was taken, there was not a single book on Twelverism among the Qizilbash leaders. The book of the well known Iraqi scholar al-Hilli (1250–1325) was procured in the town library to provide religious guidance to the state. The imported Shi'i ulama did not participate in the formation of Safavid religious policies during the early formation of the state. However, ghulat doctrines were later forsaken and Arab Twelver ulama from Lebanon , Iraq , and Bahrain were imported in increasing numbers to bolster orthodox Twelver practice and belief. In Turkey, orthodox Twelvers following Ja'fari jurisprudence are called Ja'faris. Although

6724-468: Was the de facto ruler of the Safavid kingdom. However, Tahmasp managed to reassert his authority over the state and over the Qizilbash. During the reign of Shah Tahmasp, the Qizilbash 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 arch-rivals of the Safavids – the Ottomans – in

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