DEPICTING THE OTHER: QIZILBASH IMAGE IN THE 16th CENTURY OTTOMAN HISTORIOGRAPHY A Master’s Thesis by YASİN ARSLANTAŞ The Department of History İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara July 2013 i I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. ………………………… Asst. Prof. Akif Kireççi Thesis Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. ………………………… Dr. Eugenia Kermeli Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History. ………………………… Assoc. Prof. Rıza Yıldırım Examining Committee Member Approval by the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences. ………………………… Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel Director ii ABSTRACT DEPICTING THE OTHER: QIZILBASH IMAGE IN THE 16TH CENTURY OTTOMAN HISTORIOGRAPHY Arslantaş, Yasin M.A., Department of History, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Akif Kireçci July 2013 This study examines the early roots of the Ottoman perception of Qizilbash, both the Safavids, rising as a new power in Iran at the turn of the 16th century, and their Turcoman collaborators in Anatolia. The previous literature showing the image of the Qizilbash in the eyes of Ottoman dynasty employed mostly archival sources, such as fatwa collections and mühimme registers. In contrast, by focusing on the historiographical narrations of the years of 1509–1514, the present study looks at the literary works of 16th century chroniclers, particularly Selimnâme literature, and their role in building the Ottoman religio-political discourse on the Qizilbash with an attempt at showing their propagandist (or Selimist) nature. The present study argues that this discourse helped the dynasty to justify the act of war against them. After giving a brief background of the early Ottoman history with an emphasis on the shifting position of nomadic-tribal Turcomans, the study probes how a chosen sample of Ottoman histories from the 16th century depicted the Qizilbash image and iii how they identified the “self” through depiction of the “other.” This thesis argues that religio-political discourses created in the 16th century led the Ottoman state to espouse a more Sunni-minded imperial ideology, and to identify the social and religious status of the Qizilbash. Keywords: Qizilbash, Safavid, Turcoman, Ottoman historiography, Chronicle, Selimnâme, Self, Other, Image, Identity Construction. iv ÖZET ÖTEKİNİ TASVİR ETMEK: 16. YÜZYIL OSMANLI TARİHYAZIMINDA KIZILBAŞ İMAJI Arslantaş, Yasin Master, Tarih Bölümü, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent Üniversitesi Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Akif Kireçci Temmuz 2013 Bu çalışma Osmanlı’nın 16. yüzyılın başında İran’da yeni bir güç olarak ortaya çıkan Safeviler ve onların Anadolu’daki Türkmen destekçileri hakkındaki algısının kökenlerini incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışmada hem Safevileri, hem de Anadolulu Türkmenleri Kızılbaş olarak adlandırmak tercih edilmiştir. Osmanlı hanedanının gözündeki Kızılbaş imajı hakkında daha önceden yapılmış çalışmalar, genellikle fetvalar ve mühimme defterleri gibi arşiv kaynaklarını kullanmaktaydı. Aksine bu çalışma, 16. yüzyıl Osmanlı tarihçilerinin eserlerine, özellikle Selimnâme literatürüne bakmakta ve onların Kızılbaşlar hakkında oluşturulan dini ve siyasi söylemdeki rollerini incelemektedir. Bunu yaparken 1509–1514 yılları arasındaki olayların tarihçiler tarafından anlatımları esas alınmakta ve bu anlatımlar onların propagandacı doğaları göz önünde tutularak tartışılmaktadır. İleri sürülen noktalardan birisi, bu söylemlerin Kızılbaşlara karşı yapılmış ve yapılacak olan savaşların meşrulaştırılmasına yardım ettiğidir. Bu çalışma, öncelikle Türkmen göçebe aşiretlerin erken Osmanlı tarihi boyunca değişen pozisyonlarını incelemekte, v daha sonraysa 16. yüzyıl Osmanlı tarihyazımından seçilen bir örneklemi kullanarak Osmanlı yazarlarının Kızılbaşları nasıl öteki olarak resmettiklerini ve bu ötekiliği nasıl kendi öz kimliklerini tanımlamada kullandıklarını göstermektedir. Yine bu çalışma, 16. yüzyılda yaratılan bu dini-politik söylemlerin Kızılbaşların dini ve sosyal statülerinin tanımlanmasına ve Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun daha Sünni-odaklı bir ideolojiyi benimsemesine sebep olduğunu öne sürmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kızılbaş, Safevi, Türkmen, Osmanlı Tarihyazımı, Kronik, Selimnâme, Benlik, Öteki, İmaj, Kimlik İnşası. vi To My Parents vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Assistant Professor M. Akif Kireçci without whom this thesis would only be an ordinary study. He taught me how to write an academic paper properly. I am also grateful to the members of the history department at Bilkent University. Particularly, I owe many thanks to Assistant Professor Oktay Özel, for teaching me a critical approach in historical studies; Professor Özer Ergenç for helping me to grasp the spirit of Ottoman archival documents; Dr. Eugenia Kermeli for always being there with her helpful comments on my research and serving in my thesis committee; and Assistant Professor Paul Latimer, who never hesitated to help me with his all insightfulness. Needless to say, this thesis owes a lot to Professor Halil İnalcık, the founder of the department of History at Bilkent that funded my graduate studies. Many thanks are due to Assistant Professor Rıza Yıldırım of TOBB University, who shared his knowledge of the Qizilbash and Safavid history, as well as one of his unpublished articles without hesitation. I am also grateful to him for participating into my thesis committee. I also thank the faculty members of the department of Economics at TOBB University, who introduced me to the immense nature of social sciences during my undergraduate study there. Among the institutions I must thank is viii also Anadolu University, where I have been working as a research assistant for the last two years. I must also thank a number of friends, Alp Eren Topal, Berna Kamay, Bilgin Bari, Fatih Kostakoğlu, Hüseyin Arslan, Neşe Şen and Sevilay Küçüksakarya who contributed a great deal to the writing process of this thesis through either their comments or friendship. This study is dedicated to my parents, who are always understanding about my unusual decisions despite their limited financial resources and about the fact that this thesis has been completed long after the graduation date originally expected. Many thanks also go to my sisters, Derya and Hülya, who were always supportive of my studies. Finally, I am indebted very much to my precious wife, Hilal, for her endless love and support during my graduate years. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................... iii ÖZET ........................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... x CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 1 1.1. Subject ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Primary Literature and Method ............................................................................. 7 1.3. Survey of Literature ............................................................................................ 17 CHAPTER II: TENSION BETWEEN THE OTTOMAN STATE AND TURCOMANS ......................................................................................................... 23 2.1. A Glimpse into the Ottoman Bureaucratic Transformation ................................ 23 2.2. The Nature of the Early Ottoman State ............................................................... 27 2.3. The Rise of Ottoman Imperial Institutions ......................................................... 34 2.4. Alienation of Turcomans .................................................................................... 39 2.5. Ottoman Official Ideology .................................................................................. 44 2.6. The Advent of the Safavids ................................................................................. 47 2.7. Concluding Remarks ........................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER III: THE POLITICAL USE OF QIZILBASH IMAGE AS DEPICTED BY THE 16TH CENTURY OTTOMAN HISTORIOGRAPHY ... 55 3.1. The Role of the Qizilbash Challenge in the Ottoman Domestic Politics (1509– 1513) .......................................................................................................................... 56 3.1.1. The Rise of Selim’s Fame as a Warrior: Anti-Qizilbash Activities in Trabzon ...................................................................................................................... 58 3.2. The Images of the Actors of the Dynastic Struggle (1509–1513) ...................... 62 3.2.1. Selim versus Bayezid .............................................................................. 63 x 3.2.2. Selim versus Ahmed ............................................................................... 71 3.2.3. Selim versus