The Turkmen Identity Crisis in the Fifteenth-Century Middle East
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The Turkmen Identity Crisis in the fifteenth-century Middle East The Turkmen-Turkish Struggle for Supremacy TAEF EL-AZHARI "The harm which was caused by the Turkmen Swar to the locals and the re- gion was much worse than what Timur- lane had inflicted on the area."1 Ibn Aja These were the lines of the chief justice (qadi) of the Mamluk army d. 881/1476, who witnessed the Mamluk campaign against the Dulkadirid Turkmen to restore Anatolia to their suzerainty. The study of the Turkmen history is a key element in the Middle East today which still requires extensive research to understand these diverse elements scattered from the Black Sea and Caspian Sea in the north to Iraq, Syria, and the Levant in the south, as well as from Turkey in the west to Eastern Iran in the east. The Turkmen were always the forgotten minority in the area despite their large population. In the absence of official records, their num- bers cannot be calculated, but it is widely accepted that they exceed three millions in Iraq, and one million in Syria and other countries. The Turkmen identity still causes a serious problem today, and since the inva- sion of Iraq in 2003 the Republic of Turkey (founded by Turkmen) has closely monitored its relatives in Iraq who are threatened by the Kurds and is ready to launch a war if the Iraqi Turkmen were harmed. From my frequent travels in the Levant, I witnessed Turkmen villages in Northern Syria, and in remote areas such as around the foothill of Krak des Chevaliers: an unexpected place to be inhab- ited mainly by Christians and a clear testament to their deep penetration of the Middle East. 1 Ibn Aja, al-cIrak bayn al-Mamalik wa al-Uthmanyyun al-Atrak. ed. M. Dahman, Damascus 1986,145. 97 TAEF EL-AZHARI The appearance of the Turkmen in the Middle East could be divided into two stages: the first in the eleventh century, when the Saljuq Oghuz tribe led a mas- sive Turkmen federation to immigrate from Central Asia westwards into Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Anatolia. The battle of Manzikert in 1071 opened the gate to waves of Turkmen immigration which started the Turkification process of Ana- tolia.2 The second stage took place under many Turkmen princes (beys) fleeing before the Mongol terror and entering Anatolia, Iraq, Northern Iran in large numbers in the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries.3 The principal Turkmen elements were the Ottoman Oghuz in central and eastern Anatolia, the Qaramanids in central Anatolia, the Qara Qoyunlu in Iraq, Eastern Anatolia, and Azerbaijan, the Aq Qoyunlu in Iraq, Eastern Anatolia, and Azerbaijan, and finally the Dul- kadirids. It is worth pointing out that such vast immigration pushed forward and displaced diverse Kurdish tribes as far north as the Armenian region.4 That added to the identity and settlement problem in the Middle East, still unresolved today. Since the first four Turkmen powers have received attention by scholars such as V. Minorsky, J. Woods, and H. Inalcik among others, this article focuses on the Dulkadirid Turkmen and attempts to examine aspects of their history. It should be pointed out that the early stages of the Dulkadirids remains obscure, and the Mamluk documentation on the fifteenth century remains the prime source of this information, prior to the Ottoman source materials from the end of the fifteenth century. The Turkmen administration did not develop enough to produce many documents, or suffered heavy losses and a great part is not extant. The Dulkadirids 740-921/1339-1515, were Turkmen5 tribes from central Asia, arriving to Eastern Anatolia in the fourteenth century when escaping from the Mongols. Their settlements were between two other Turkish powers, the Otto- mans to the west, and the Mamluks to the north, east and south. They developed politically into the fifteenth century to rule the Principality of Albistan and Macrash to the west of the Euphrates.6 This new Turkish element would be a cause of un- certainty between the Ottomans and the Mamluks later on. From the few mentioned stories on their early relations with the Mamluks, it seems that they paid homage to the Mamluk sultanate7 which was governing a large part of Eastern Anatolia. Such homage was necessary in order to survive, 2 B. Spuler, "The disintegration of the Caliphate in the East," in The Cambridge history of Islam, vol. IA, 149-150. 3 O. Turan, "Anatolia in the period of the Seljuks," in The Cambridge history of Islam, vol. IA, 251. D. Morgan, Medieval Persia. London 1988, 102. 4 C. Cahen, Pre-Ottoman Turkey. London 1968, 316. Reading the journey of Ibn Battuta d. 1377, who traveled through Anatolia will help understand The turkification of the re- gion. Tuhfat al-Nuzzar, 1992,299-334. 5 Turkmen is the Persian form for the Turkish tribes of Central Asia. 6 V. Minorsky, The Turks, Iran and the Caucasus in the Middle Ages. London 1978,28. 7 al-Sakhawi had mentioned that Mamluk sultans encouraged political marriage in the early fifteenth century with this principality which was considered a honour bestowed upon Dulkadirid rulers. al-Tibr al-Masbuk, Beirut 1984,308. Morgan, Medieval Persia, 94. 98 THE TURKMEN IDENTITY CRISIS IN THE FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MIDDLE EAST especially with other Turkmen elements hovering over the area looking for pas- ture and political power. They needed the Mamluk support at a time when they were breaking from the Timurid subjugation of Anatolia during the rule of Timurlane (+1405) and his son Shah Rukh (+ 1447). As for their relations with the Ottomans, the latter were expanding on the Western side most of the fourteenth century, and in the first half of the fifteenth century, thus the Ottomans did not get involved in the affairs of the Dulkadirids until the 1460s. It is difficult to catalogue the Dulkadirid appearance in the sources before their manifestation as a clear political power with a significant role in the area. The Egyptian historian Ibn Taghri (+1471) furnishes us with details of amica- ble relations between the Ottomans and the Mamluks until the capture of Con- stantinople in 1453,8 reflected in their respect towards the Turkmen principalities under the Mamluks. This changed in 1465, when the Dulkadirid lord Arslán (Turkmen for "lion") 858-870/1454-1465 was assassinated in Cairo, probably upon the order of Khushqadam the Mamluk sultan (+ 1467), who wanted to re- place him with a more capable and loyal prince. That incident led to strife within the Dulkadirid house, when some commanders refused the newly appointed Mamluk lord, Budáq (Turkmen for "mountain") and - led by Swár (Turkmen for "Knight") - were seeking Ottoman support. Sultan Muhammad II (+ 1481) seized this opportunity to expand Eastward and appointed his own candidate, Swár as lord of the Dulkadirids with a sultanate diploma.9 Thus the Dulkadirid princi- pality was to split into two parts: one in Marcash governed by Dudáq, and another in Albistan governed by Swár pulling out of the Mamluk orbit. Here it seems that the rebellion of Swár was not bold enough to declare independence, but the Turkmen identity was attached to a much stronger Turkish one, after a century in Anatolia. Not long before that the Ottoman candidate took over most of the territories of the Dulkadirids, which resulted in Budáq's flight to Cairo in 871/1466-1467. The Mamluk sultanate dispatched an army lead by Bard Bek, the vice-sultan of Syria in the same year, but it was defeated by Swár. One of the most interesting reasons for such a defeat was the defection of the vice-sultan to Swar's camp.10 Some believe that such a defection with many Turkish soldiers in the campaign was not only a result of political ambition, but also due to the similarity of the Turkish elements in the Middle East which facilitated such a move based on the common tribal behaviour of Central Asia. Swár the Dulkadirid managed to widen his sphere of influence in 1467-1468 by attacking the Mamluk cities of Eastern Anatolia while taking advantage of the power vacuum in Egypt with three successive sultans coming to power following the death of Khushqadam in 1467. In Rajab 872/February 1468, the new and long-reigning Burji sultan Qaitbay (+ 1496), commissioned a very large army, headed by atabeg Qalaqsiz (Turkmen s Ibn Taghri Birdi, al-Nujüm al-Zdhira. Beirut 1988, Vol. XVI, 49-50. 9 al- Sakháwl, al-Daw' Allám'i. Beirut 1977, Vol. Ill, 273. !o al- Sakháwí, al- Daw' AllamPi. Beirut 1977, Vol. Ill, 274. 99 TAEF EL-AZHARI for "not distressed"), the second in command in the realm to confront the rebel- lious Dulkadirid Swar.11 From implicit evidence in the sources other Turkmen elements can be seen in Syria and Eastern Anatolia joining the Egyptian army against Swar. Not only those, but another Turkmen principality, Banu Ramadan in Adana in South Taurus remained loyal to the Mamluks and helped them by attacking some territories belonging to Swar.12 These Turkmen elements did not join the pact with Swar. It is not the aim of this survey to provide a chronological narrative of the co- pious military activity recorded by contemporary chronicles. However, it can be stated that the Mamluk-Turkmen army managed to recapture cAyntab from Swar in April 1468 and deterred him from threatening Aleppo, the heart of Mamluk Northern Syria. Two months later, Swar inflicted a heavy defeat on the Mamluks, capturing their leader Qalaqsiz. Aleppo now faced a great threat.13 This swift change of fortune could be attributed partly to Ottoman help, but also to Swar mustering a large number of Turkmen mercenaries in eastern Anatolia, who participated in his campaign as 'shareholder soldiers' under his banner as the habit of the Turkmen.