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87-673: The Qizilbash ("Red-Heads"') of the 16th century – a religious and political movement in Iranian Azerbaijan that helped to establish the Safavid dynasty  – have been described as "spiritual descendants of the Khurramites". The sect was founded in the 8th century AD by the Iranian cleric Sunpadh as a revitalisation of an earlier sect that had mixed Shia Islam and Zoroastrianism . However, its true claim to fame

174-460: A battle near Hamadan. According to al-Tabari and Ali ibn al-Athir , 60,000 Khurramites were killed. In 835, al-Mu'tasim sent Khaydhar ibn Kawus al-Afshin , a senior general and a son of the vassal prince of Osrushana , to defeat Babak. Al-Mu'tasim set a price and allowances for Afshin that were unusually high. According to Said Nafisi, Afshin managed to attract Babak's spies on his side by paying much more than Babak. When Afshin found out that Babak

261-587: 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

348-683: A failed attack on the Arabs that was recorded by al-Tabari as Babak's first defeat. The last battle between the Abbasid caliphate and the Khurramites occurred in Badd Fort on 837. The Khurramites were defeated, and Afshin reached Badd Fort. After capturing Badd Fort, Babak went to near the Araz River. His goal was to join the Byzantine emperor, gather new forces and continue the struggle. Thus, it

435-622: 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

522-470: A single spirit". Naubakhti states that they also believe in reincarnation ( metempsychosis ) as the only existing kind of afterlife and retribution and in the cancellation of all religious prescriptions and obligations. They highly revere Abu Muslim and their imams. In their rituals, which are rather simple, they "seek the greatest sacramental effect from wine and drinks". As a whole, they were estimated by Al-Maqdisi as "Mazdaeans... who cover themselves under

609-582: Is 1,850   meters above sea level . It is located approximately 360 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Tehran . The old city and its historic sites attract tourists during the summer. The major sights of this city are the Ganj Nameh inscription, the Avicenna monument and the Baba Taher monument. The main language in the city is Persian . According to Clifford Edmund Bosworth , "Hamedan

696-452: Is a very old city. It may conceivably, but improbably, be mentioned in cuneiform texts from ca. 1100   BC, the time of Assyrian King Tiglath-pilesar I , but is certainly mentioned by Herodotus who says that the king of Media Diokes built the city of Agbatana or Ekbatana in the 7th century   BC." Hamadan was established by the Medes . It then became one of several capital cities of

783-623: 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

870-575: Is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities. It was referred to in classical sources as Ecbatana ( Old Persian Hamgmatāna ). It is possible that it was occupied by the Assyrians in 1100   BCE; the Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus , states that it was the capital of the Medes , around 700   BCE. Hamadan is situated in a green mountainous area in the foothills of the 3,574-meter Alvand Mountain, in midwestern Iran. The city

957-431: Is common during winter and this can persist for periods of up to two months. During the short summer, the weather is hot, and mostly sunny. Lowest recorded temperature: −34.0 °C (−29 °F) on 7 January 1964 Highest recorded temperature: 40.6 °C (105 °F) on 14 July 1989 PAS Hamedan F.C. were founded on June 9, 2007 after the dissolution of PAS Tehran F.C. The team, along with Alvand Hamedan F.C. ,

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1044-715: Is in the Azadegan League . Some sport complexes in this city include: Qods Stadium , Shahid Mofatteh Stadium , Takhti Sport Complex and the National Stadium of Hamadan. Before the Persian Constitutional Revolution , education in Hamadan was limited to some Maktab Houses and theological schools. Fakhrie Mozafari School was the first modern school of Hamadan, which was built after that revolution. Alliance and Lazarist were also

1131-682: Is now Azerbaijan "southward to near Ardabīl and Marand, eastward to the Caspian Sea and the Šamāḵī district and Šervān, northward to the Mūqān (Moḡān) steppe and the Aras river bank, westward to the districts of Jolfā, Naḵjavān, and Marand". In 833, many men from Jebal, Hamadan and Isfahan joined the Khurrami movement and settled near Hamadan. The new caliph, al-Mu'tasim , sent troops under Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Mus'ab. The Khurramites were defeated in

1218-579: Is particularly appropriate here. Hamadan Hamadan ( / ˌ h æ m ə ˈ d æ n / HAM -ə- DAN ; Persian : همدان , pronounced [hæmeˈdɒːn] ) is a city in western Iran . It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a population of 554,406 people in 174,731 households. Hamadan

1305-692: 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

1392-682: The Achaemenid Dynasty . Hamadan is mentioned in the biblical book of Ezra ( Ezra 6:2 ) as the place where a scroll was found giving the Jews permission from King Darius to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Its ancient name of Ecbatana is used in the Ezra text. Because it was a mile above sea level, it was a good place to preserve leather documents. During the Parthian era, Ctesiphon was

1479-603: The Aras River . The leader of the other Khurramite movement was Abu Imran, who often clashed with Javidhan. During one of the clashes, probably in 816, Abu Imran was defeated and killed, and Javidhan was wounded and died three days later. Javidhan was succeeded by his heir, Babak Khorramdin , who married Javidhan's widow. Babak's participation in the Khorrami movement was summarised by Waqed: Two rich men named Javidhan b. Shahrak (or Shahrak) and Abu 'Emran were then living in

1566-603: 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 was eventually applied to some inhabitants of Iran. In the early 19th-century, Shia Muslims from Iran could be referred as "Qizilbash", thus highlighting

1653-579: 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

1740-528: 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

1827-466: 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

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1914-590: 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

2001-603: 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 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

2088-494: 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

2175-567: 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

2262-541: The British, before it was returned to the control of the Iranian government at the end of the war in 1918. A majority of the population speaks the Hamadani dialect of Persian and standard Persian, with a Turkic minority. At the time of the 2006 National Census, the city's population was 473,149 in 127,812 households. The following census in 2011 counted 525,794 people in 156,556 households. The 2016 census measured

2349-573: The Byzantine army under their Iranian leader, Theophobos . Al-Maqdisi mentions several facts. He observes that "the basis of their doctrine is belief in light and darkness "; more specifically, "the principle of the universe is Light, of which a part has been effaced and has turned into Darkness". They "avoid carefully the shedding of blood, except when they raise the banner of revolt". They are "extremely concerned with cleanliness and purification, and with approaching people with kindness and beneficence". Some of them "believed in free sex , provided that

2436-523: 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

2523-468: 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

2610-517: 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

2697-589: 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,

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2784-501: 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,

2871-543: 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

2958-438: 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

3045-469: 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

3132-605: 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,

3219-449: 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

3306-462: 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

3393-470: 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

3480-589: 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 the Qizilbash and other religious groups and secret societies , such as the Mazdaki movement in the Sasanian Empire , or its more radical offspring,

3567-634: 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

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3654-419: The bank's central branch in Hamadan experienced a tragic robbery. The event resulted in the loss of life of the bank manager Abdulrahman Nafisi , his family, and a security guard. The bank manager, Abdulrahman Nafisi , displayed extraordinary courage by prioritizing the safety of the bank's funds over his own life. Despite being under torture, he pleaded with the robbers to take his personal belongings instead of

3741-505: The caliph to subdue Babak's revolt, but Babak defeated them and captured Junayd. In 827–828, Muhammad ibn Humayd was sent to overcome Babak and had several victories, but the last battle at Hashtadsar in 829, his troops were defeated by Babak. When al-Ma'mun died in 833, he had failed against Babak, whose victories over Arab generals were associated with holding Badd Fort and the inaccessible mountain stronghold, according to Arab historians. They mentioned that his influence also extended to what

3828-686: The capital of the country, and Hamadan was the summer capital and residence of the Parthian rulers. After the Parthians , the Sassanids constructed their summer palaces in this city. In 642 the Battle of Nahavand took place and Hamadan fell into the hands of the Muslim Arabs. During the rule of the Buyid dynasty , the city suffered much damage. However, the city regained its former glory under

3915-416: The city enjoyed strong commerce and trade as a result of its location on the main road network in the western region of Iran. In the late 19th century, American missionaries, including James W. Hawkes and Belle Sherwood Hawke, established schools in Hamadan. During World War I , the city was the scene of heavy fighting between Russian and Turko-German forces. It was occupied by both armies, and finally by

4002-589: 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

4089-617: 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

4176-522: 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

4263-597: 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

4350-465: 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,

4437-446: 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

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4524-458: The first modern schools founded by foreign institutions in Hamadan. Some of the popular universities in Hamadan include: Hamadan celebrities are divided into 3 categories: pre-Islamic, post-Islamic and contemporary people. Among the pre-Islamic celebrities in Hamadan is Mandana, the mother of Cyrus the Great and the daughter of the last king of Media, Ishtovigo. Famous people of Hamadan after Islam are great people such as: In February 1990,

4611-416: 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

4698-451: The guise of Islam". According to Turkish scholar Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı the Qizilbash ("Red-Heads") of the 16th century – a religious and political movement in Azerbaijan that helped to establish the Safavid dynasty  – were "spiritual descendants of the Khurramites". Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Azerbaijan , Anatolia ,

4785-415: 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

4872-610: The highland around the mountain of Badd and contending for the leadership of the highland's Khorrami inhabitants. Javidhan, when stuck in the snow on his way back from Zanjān to Badd, had to seek shelter at Balalabad and happened to go into the house of Babak's mother. Being poor, she could only light a fire for him, while Babak looked after the guest's servants and horses and brought water for them. Javidhan then sent Babak to buy food, wine, and fodder. When Babak came back and spoke to Javidhan, he impressed Javidhan with his shrewdness despite his lack of fluency of speech. Javidhan therefore asked

4959-527: 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 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

5046-410: 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

5133-495: 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

5220-452: The name first appeared in 736 when the missionary Kedas, a Hasemite , adopted " Din al-Khorramiya ". After the Hasemite Revolution, the Khurramites fought as rebels under Sunpadh, Muqanna, Babak and other leaders in various cities and regions. The Khurramites in Azerbaijan were associated with Javidhan , a landlord who led one of the two Khurramite movements in Azerbaijan (from 807–808 to 816–817), with his headquarters being Badd Fort , near

5307-402: 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

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5394-648: 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

5481-401: 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

5568-504: 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

5655-405: 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

5742-403: The population of the city as 554,406 people in 174,731 households. Hamadan has a hot-summer, Mediterranean-influenced continental climate ( Köppen : Dsa , Trewartha : Dc ), in transition with a cold semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSk ). The city experiences hot, dry summers, and cold, snowy winters. The temperature may drop below −30 °C (−22 °F) on the coldest days. Heavy snowfall

5829-492: 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

5916-512: 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

6003-426: 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

6090-428: 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 –

6177-472: 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

6264-542: The rule of the Buyid ruler Fanna Khusraw . The Seljuks launched campaigns to take the city in the 1040s, ultimately taking the final Kakuyid fortress in 1047. The Seljuks later shifted their capital from Baghdad to Hamadan. In 1220, Hamadan was destroyed by the Mongols during the Mongol invasions of Georgia before the Battle of Khunan . The city of Hamadan, its fortunes following the rise and fall of regional powers,

6351-469: 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

6438-510: 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

6525-552: 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

6612-488: The uprising because of the difficulty in intervening from far-away Khorasan, the appointment of his successor and the actions of al-Fadl ibn Sahl . Those circumstances paved the way for Babak and his supporters. The caliph sent General Yahya ibn Mu'adh to fight Babak in 819–820, but Babak was undefeated several times. Two years later, Babak overcome the forces of Isa ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Khalid. In 824–825, Generals Ahmad ibn al-Junayd and Zurayq ibn Ali ibn Sadaqa were sent by

6699-527: 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

6786-709: The woman for permission to take her son away to manage his farms and properties, and offered to send her fifty dirhams a month from Babak's salary. The woman accepted and let Babak go. Under Babak's leadership, the Khurramites proclaimed the division and the redistribution of the great estates and the end to the despotic foreign rule. Taking advantage of the turmoil created by the Abbasid Civil War , they began making attacks on Muslim forces in 816 in Iran and Iraq. Al-Tabari recorded that Babak started his revolt in 816–817. At first, Caliph al-Ma'mun paid little attention to

6873-413: The women agreed to it, and also in the freedom of enjoying all pleasures and of satisfying one's inclinations so long as this does not entail any harm to others". (their name is most frequently derived from the Persian word khurram "happy, cheerful"). Regarding the variety of faiths, the Khurramites believe that "the prophets, despite the difference of their laws and their religions, do not constitute but

6960-464: 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

7047-480: Was announced that al-Mu'tasim would give a reward of two million dirhams to whoever handed Babak over alive. Babak's former ally, Sahl ibn Sumbat , handed Babak over to the Abbasids, and on March 14, 838, Babak was executed in the city of Samira. The Abbasid suppression of the rebellion led to the flight of many thousands of Khurramites to Byzantium , where they were welcomed by Emperor Theophilos , and they joined

7134-441: Was aware that Bugha al-Kabir had been sent a large amount of money by Afshin and was preparing to attack Bugha, he used that information to pressure Babak into full co-operation, managed to have Babak's comrades killed and let Babak flee to Badd. Before Afshin's departure, the caliph had sent a group under Abu Sa'id Muhammad to rebuild the forts demolished by Babak between Zanjan and Ardabil . The Khurramites, led by Mu'awiya, made

7221-566: Was completely destroyed during the Timurid invasions , but later thrived during the Safavid era. Thereafter, in the 18th century, Hamadan was surrendered to the Ottomans , but due to the work of Nader Shah , Hamadan was cleared of invaders and, as a result of a peace treaty between Iran and the Ottomans, it was returned to Iran. Hamadan stands on the Silk Road , and even in recent centuries

7308-620: Was its adoption by Babak Khorramdin as a basis to rebel against the Abbasid Caliphate . The sect grew out of a response to the execution of Abu Muslim by the Abbasids and the claim that he had died but would return as the Messiah . This message was further bolstered by the appearance of al-Muqanna , "The Veiled" prophet, who claimed that the spirit of God had existed in Muhammad , Ali and Abu Muslim. According to al-Tabari ,

7395-602: 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 ,

7482-651: 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

7569-413: 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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