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81-879: The Qizilbash were originally Turkoman tribesmen who supported the Safavid dynasty in Iran. Many Qizilbash were stationed in present-day Afghanistan during the reign of the Iranian shah (king) Nader Shah in 1738–1739, when garrisons were established in Kabul and Kandahar. After the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747, the Durrani king Ahmad Shah integrated the Qizilbash into his forces and administration. He granted them land, self-governance, and religious autonomy, enabling them to maintain their Shia faith while supporting his rule. The Qizilbash formed part of

162-478: A Qizilbash wife. In the early 1800s, the Qizilbash were almost fully independent, but their participation in the succession conflict intensified racial and religious xenophobia. They were never recognized as native to the nation by the Durrani council, who referred to them as "Persians". It was claimed by the enemies of Fateh Khan and the Qizilbash that, in the event of an attack by the shah of Iran on Herat and Kandahar,

243-572: 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

324-608: A dual religious identity, to avoid religious and political persecution. They seem to live mostly in cities and are typically lawyers, doctors, engineers, and teachers. They are thought to number around 30,000 and are primarily found in Herat, Kabul, and Kandahar. They are Persian-speakers and no longer speak their native Turkic language. Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Azerbaijan , Anatolia ,

405-607: 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

486-572: A person from the Qizilbash refused to convert, they had to pay a poll tax or wear a black turban with red marks on them. Later, Abdur Rahman Khan planned to deport the Qizilbash to Iran and India. This was never carried out, since Abdur Rahman Khan needed Qizilbash help to fight the Ghilzais, in 1886. Abdur Rahman Khan, however, dealt aggressively with the Hazaras and the Qizilbash after the Hazara rebelled. Blame for

567-505: A prominent position as provincial governors and administrators under the Safavids. During this time, some Qizilbash migrated to Herat and Kandahar since present-day western Afghanistan was a part of Safavid Iran. It is generally accepted that the garrisons established by the Iranian shah (king) Nader Shah ( r.  1736–1747 ) in Kandahar and Kabul during his 1738–1739 Indian invasion

648-608: 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

729-514: Is particularly appropriate here. Chindawol Chindawol or Chendavol ( Dari : چنداول ) is a neighborhood in the older section of Kabul , Afghanistan . It is located west of downtown Kabul, and south of Shahr-e-Now . Chindawol is also near the Asamai Mountains The majority of the people in this region are Afghan Qizilbash . Most of the people residing here are also members of Shia Islam , as there are many Shia Mosques in

810-625: 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

891-593: 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

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972-561: 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

1053-467: 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

1134-514: 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

1215-769: The Mughal Empire . The majority of Afghan historians disagree with the importance that Nader Shah had in establishing the Afghan Qizilbash, considering the Durrani kings to have played a bigger role. Aziz al-Din Fofalzai notes that in 1740, Nader Shah left only one army unit in Kabul and one in Kandahar after withdrawing the majority of his forces to western Afghanistan. He also questions whether any lasting settlements in Kabul were established by Nader Shah. He believes that in 1748 and 1755, Ahmad Shah imported large groups of "new and old Khorasanis" to Kabul and granted them property in

1296-569: 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

1377-587: 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

1458-438: 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

1539-557: 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

1620-518: 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

1701-463: 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

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1782-508: 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

1863-574: 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,

1944-494: The Qizilbash (as well as the Iranian Kurdish Rikas) were settled in Kabul. According to Husaini, a historian of Zaman Shah Durrani ( r.  1793–1801 ), the Qizilbash were imported from Iran by Ahmad Shah so that they could serve in his personal bodyguard regiment, known as the ghulam khana . Ahmad Shah did this to keep the power of the Durrani and Ghilzai confederacy leaders in check, as they primarily constituted

2025-496: 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,

2106-459: The Qizilbash and Farsiwan , while a few publications has been made about the Ismailis and Hazaras . The name " Qizilbash " (meaning "red head") was first used in the late 15th-century to describe the red cap worn by Turkoman tribesmen who backed Shaykh Haydar ( d.  1488 ), the father of Ismail I ( r.  1501–1524 ), the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran. The Qizilbash held

2187-537: 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

2268-438: 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

2349-464: 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

2430-402: The Qizilbash in the city were massacred. Like other adherents of Twelver Shia Islam , the Qizilbash in private followed their Shia faith while in public they presented themselves as Sunnis or Pashtuns in order to participate in government and society. Reliable census data is problematic to obtain since the Qizilbash still engage in taqiyya , the practice of hiding their true beliefs or having

2511-637: 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,

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2592-449: 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

2673-458: 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

2754-640: The Qizilbash were largely autonomous, only swearing directly allegiance to their individual leaders, who was subject to the Durrani king. According to the Iranologist Christine Noelle, "This statement is borne out by the fact that the command of the entire bodyguard rested with the Qizilbash leader Mahmud Khan Bayat during Timur Shah's time." The Khorasani contingents were organized by tribal allegiance prior to Zaman Shah's reign. The Qizilbash leaders Ja'far Khan Jawansher and Khan Shirin Khan were in charge of

2835-466: The Qizilbash would be support the invasion. Discrimination against Shias intensified throughout the rule of Abdur Rahman Khan ( r.  1880–1901 ) over Afghanistan. Because he thought the Twelvers were in league with Iran, Abdur Rahman Khan defended his actions against them. He used a variety of tactics to suppress the Twelvers. He first forced a large number of Twelvers to convert to Sunni Islam . If

2916-463: 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

2997-570: 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,

3078-615: 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

3159-457: The area. The Chindawol uprising was an insurrection that took place on June 23, 1979 in the Chindawol district in the old city of Kabul , Afghanistan. The rebellion was started by the arrests of scholars and influential fighters of the city's Shia community by the ruling Khalq - PDPA government. The protests escalated when residents attacked and held a police station that day, marching on

3240-476: The army and administration lost their jobs, and many, particularly those from western Afghanistan, departed for Iran. During the Third Anglo-Afghan War in the reign of Amanullah Khan , one of Amanullah's generals, 'Abd al-Quddus Khan, intended to advance into Balochistan . A religious revolt however, tied his forces down in Kandahar and after finally taming the revolt with the aid of Ali Ahmad Khan ,

3321-467: The bodyguard regiment ghulam khana , recruited to balance the power of Durrani and Ghilzai tribal leaders. The Qizilbash have historically presented themselves as Sunni or Pashtun to avoid religious discrimination and participate fully in Afghan government and society. Scholarship has traditionally overlooked the numerous Shia Muslim minority communities in Afghanistan. Minimal research has been done on

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3402-507: The city's environs based on their tribal affiliations. In Autumn 1747, Ahmad Shah began a campaign against the Mughals, seizing Ghazni , before advancing on Kabul. Mohammad Taqi Khan Shirazi , a former officer of Nader Shah, joined Ahmad Shah and gained the support of the Qizilbash garrison in the Bala Hissar . The Qizilbash opened the gates of Kabul to Ahmad Shah as a result when he arrived at

3483-557: The city. The two sides exchanged many terms, with Ahmad Shah granting the Qizilbash a share in loot gained from war, self-governance, and protection to practice their Shia faith. The Qizilbash were further given districts in Chindawol and Murad Khani to have under Afghan suzerainty. Since the majority of Durrani leaders were unable to read and write, the Qizilbash controlled the civil service nearly entirely. Under Ahmad Shah's successor Timur Shah Durrani ( r.  1772–1793 ), more of

3564-580: 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

3645-602: 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

3726-403: The core of his strength. The ghulam khana , made up primarily of Qizilbash but also included Tajiks , Hazaras, Firozkohis , Jamshidis , Taymanis , Kalmyks , and Habashis, was composed of cavalry and artillery. The exact proportion of Qizilbash in the ghulam khana is to some extend disputed. The Indian historian Ganda Singh claimed that during Ahmad Shah's reign, one-third of the regiment

3807-468: 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

3888-589: 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

3969-460: 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,

4050-407: The elite royal guard of kashikchis . However, Zaman Shah also gave non-Qizilbash figures like his Pashtun father-in-law Nur Muhammad Babar Amin al-Mulk and the treasurer Iltifat Khan command of several ghulam khana contingents. Possibly in response to an attempt by the Durrani rulers to challenge the independent structure of the Qizilbash cavalry, Ja'far Khan sent a petition to Zaman Shah just before

4131-544: 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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4212-558: 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

4293-514: 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

4374-527: 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

4455-514: 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

4536-632: The latters coronation, insisting on the need to preserve tribal distinctions within the army. Similar concerns about Zaman Shah's intended consolidation of government agencies may have led Ja'far Khan and Arsalan Khan to join Payinda Khan and Muhammad Azim Khan Alakozai's conspiracy to overthrow Zaman Shah in the winter of 1799/1800. This conspiracy was also supported by Nur Muhammad Khan Baburi and several Durrani and Ghilzai leaders. They planned to assassinate Zaman Shah and his vizier Wafadar Khan, and install Zaman Shah's younger full-brother Shuja al-Mulk on

4617-460: The leader of the Afghan Abdali tribe and formerly part of the Afghan cadre of Nader Shah's army, fled to the city of Naderabad in Kandahar. There he assumed the title of Durr-i Durran ("Pearl of Pearls") and thus changed the name of his Abdali tribe to "Durrani." Ahmad Khan (now titled Ahmad Shah) then went on to conquer what had originally served as the frontier region between Safavid Iran and

4698-718: 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

4779-402: 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

4860-483: The new Durrani ruler largely due to support by the Qizilbash, who now viewed themselves as kingmakers. Marriage links with the descendants of Hajji Jamal Khan Barakzai also contributed to the Qizilbash's increased dominance. Musa Khan Jawansher's daughter was also the wife of Payinda Khan, with whom she had Dost Muhammad Khan , who would later become the ruler of the Emirate of Afghanistan (1823–1926). Two of Payinda Khan's sons, as well as several of his grandsons, also had

4941-648: 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

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5022-401: 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

5103-504: 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

5184-405: 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

5265-492: 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

5346-512: 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

5427-426: 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

5508-428: 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 –

5589-472: 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

5670-407: The start of the Hazara rebellion fell on the clerics in the Iranian city of Mashhad and Qizilbash, who where accused of telling Shia Muslims to disregard the authority of Sunni rulers. Abdur Rahman Khan used the Hazara rebellion as a justification to persecute the Hazaras and Shia Muslims. A number of Shia Muslims received sentences of stoning, with some even burned alive. The majority of Qizilbash in

5751-413: 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

5832-508: The throne. Wafadar Khan eventually discovered the plans of the conspirators, who were beheaded and publicly displayed in Kandahar. Payinda Khan's sons (including his eldest, Fateh Khan Barakzai ) fled to Iran, where they swore allegiance to Zaman Shah's brother Mahmud Mirza . Due to the execution of Ja'far Khan and Arsalan Khan, the Qizilbash of Kabul and Kandahar also declared their allegiance to Mahmud Mirza. Mahmud Mirza (now known as Shah Mahmud) eventually emerged victorious in 1801, becoming

5913-450: 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

5994-548: 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

6075-523: 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

6156-457: 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

6237-464: Was composed of Qizilbash. The Qizilbash played a crucial role in Timur Shah's local expeditions as mercenaries and bureaucrats. To counterbalance the Durrani cavalry, the ghulam khana was increased to 12,000 troops under his reign. Husaini reported that out of Zaman Shah's cavalry of 100,000, 15,000 belonged to the ghulam khana . The Scottish explorer and military officer Alexander Burnes observed that

6318-585: 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 ,

6399-651: 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

6480-463: 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

6561-540: Was when the Qizilbash became a large community in Afghanistan. 12,000 families were reported to have made up the garrison in Kabul. Referred to as "Khorasani" or "Persian", the Qizilbash was the biggest group from Iran to live near Kabul, with the Javanshir tribe forming the biggest part of their group. Nader Shah was murdered by mutinous officers on 21 June 1747. His death led to a power vacuum, which resulted in his vast empire being divided by various sovereigns. Ahmad Khan ,

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