Sheikh Zayid Gilani designates as hissuccessor Sheikh Safi

Esma'il Kills Sultan Hoseyn Barani

The Kizil Bash

August 23, 1514 at Tchaldiran in this part of Kurdistanfought over the Persian Empire and the Ottoman Empire,the riders red turban Shah Ismail, the king of Iran, loadsaber with a crazy bravery penetrated of the invincibility oftheir spiritual guide, an offshoot of Ali and holder of thedivine power. They are chopping by artillery and guns andthe Ottoman Persian army between routed. Defeated bythe weapons of the new times, Ismail will never be theGuide and the Mahdi of Kizil Bach, and Iran will neverbecome an Alevi earth. Released and challenged by hisfollowers, the Shah will be converted to Twelver Shi'ismand support power over the nobility and traditional classesPersian.

On the evening of August 23, 1514 at Tchaldiran. Selim IOttoman savor his victory. The Persian troops pushedbeyond its borders, it needs to stabilize and control thearea. Already, the majority of Sunni Kurds rallied well inextremis to the Ottomans, and their support has weighedin victory. But it must now settle the account of otherKurds who kizil bach with their coreligionists Turkmensupported their religious leader. At the end of the day, theearth gorge blood of thousands of Kizil Bach beheaded.Others were able to flee by the thousands as well. Theymay be the cause of the Shabak in Iraq, they may havejoined the Ahl-e-Haqq in Iran. Many also stayed behind,went underground, the taqiyat , saying Muslims but of thebrotherhood of Bektashi, usual refuge of heretics huntedby the government.

In the ranks of the Janissaries in the convents of theBektashi dervishes in the mountains of Dersim, the KizilBach lasted. Gradually the suspicion of the Ottoman stateto them diminished before shutting down altogether. Afterthe sixteenth century, the Kizil Bach, scattered, tracked orfolded in their mountains, could not serve as extra strengthto the Safavids who do not even share more religion. Theysurvived the dissolution of the brotherhoods by KemalAtaturk, they were Young Turks, like many Armenians orKurds, they were Kemalists also hoping under a secularregime to free themselves of the Sunni yoke, they havealso revolted in Dersim in 1925, in 1937, they suppressedrevolts so frightfully long time and it was not stir only inthe 80s that Alevi Kurds joined their fellow Sunnis in theirpolitical struggle in Turkey, to the point that Today in thecountry's political fate of Kurds and Alevis is sometimesconfused. 

The identity of Kizil Bach, Turkish or Kurdish has oftenbeen presented as a tribal phenomenon mingled withshamanism. Now, we will see that the formation of thisbrotherhood has its roots in an ancient Iranian mysticground, even if it flourishes in the Turkmen tribal structurealready iranisés and if its implementation Anatolian homeprovides him with elements Christian and even paganbelief.

Esma'il Celebrates the Rite of the TwelveImams

The Ghulat

Who are the Kizil Bach? Of Ghulat all, ie of these sectsfrom Shiism, they say "extremists", not in their politicaldemands or religious observances, but in their veneration"extreme" Ali, son of the Prophet Muhammad and leadingreligious figure for all Shia. But here, this venerationbordering on suspicious worship for Muslims who call themsometimes ali-elahi , that is to say, Ali déïficateurs.

The reality is of course a bit more subtle. The Ghulatespecially believe in identification or common essencebetween Ali, God and Muhammad (the latter can bereplaced by other religious figures as sects). In general,these manifestations of divine figure are three in number,which naturally leads to see a Christian influence. Veryoften, the charismatic leader of the movement Ghulat itselfas the personification of God or Ali. This is the final step ina sense symbolic identification of the Lover (Sufi) to theBeloved (God). However, the authors themselves Shiitesbelieve that God's spirit ( ruh ), this breath that bringsdivine knowledge is present not only in the prophets, butalso in their imams.

Sufi symbolic discourse frequently served as a cover formore heterodox thinkers, who themselves literally heardthe most classic metaphors of the Muslim mysticalthought, but to safeguard them was hiding behind thepoetic and exuberant wave of Sufis. For we must neverlose sight of that heterodoxy Ghulat was still illegal,chased, hated, and that it is freely asserted that in periodsof weakening of central authority, or when the location ofhis followers (often mountain) allowed them to escaperepression. This situation forced secret, waiting for a saviormessiah, to distrust official bodies of the state havenaturally their importance when it comes to understandingthe world of Ghulat.

Because for Islam and Islamic law, the Kizil Bach, Shabak,Ahl-e Haqq, and other sects were always of idolatry homes,since they associate several figures in the oneness of thedivine manifestation. However, they could never enjoy theprotected status of dhimmi (second-class subjects, but thecult and security rights are guaranteed by contract),enjoyed by Jews and Christians. Indeed, if Christianity andJudaism are regarded by Muslims as the balance ofauthentic divine revelation but warped by time and faultytransmissions of their followers, the Ghulat are consideredfrom Islam and claim to add one or more cycles afterrevelation of the coming of Muhammad, the Seal of theProphets. But if Islam is more tolerant of other religions, hestrongly condemned the heresy within its ranks andpunishes with death apostasy. Even more than the Shiites,Ghulat therefore exercised the taqiyat or concealment oftheir beliefs. Even today it is difficult to know the exactnumber, as persecution or simply hostility which they aresubject are perennials from the Muslims. 

The common point of all these sects, ultimately fairlysimilar dogmas are:

- The practice of Ishq or passionate love for God;

Alvand Mirza Torkman Visits' Ala al-Qadar

Dowleh Zu'l

Battle Scene Between Safavids and Zu'l-

Qadars in Saru Qaplan qui est Killed

Esma'il (?) Kills Bayrak Soltan

- Their veneration for the People of the Mantle (the

immediate family of the Prophet, that is to say, his

daughters, his son Ali and his two grandchildren, son,

Hasan and Husein)

- The symbolic importance of the numbers 3, 5, 7 and 40

in their religious rites and their cosmogony, numbers that

connect a celestial cosmic religious and religious hierarchy

as part of their earthly life, and the 7 degrees of spiritual

hierarchy, the 12 imams the 40 abdal or Erenler , insiders

have reached divine knowledge.

All these traits them away from Islam the most

conservative and most down to earth (that is to say, most

Sunni!) Are found also in other mystical currents still

tolerated by the Shariah (Law Qur'an). So crazy love,

almost irreverent to God of a poet ' Ashiq , whether or

Bektashi Kizil Bach or is recurrent in all mystical and even in

the classical poetry.

The miraculous attributes ascribed to Ali and the Prophet's

family are familiar to Shiites and gestures inspired by the

popular fervor.

We must not forget that in the early days of Islam, Ali

appeared as the protector of the poor, the champion of a

faith remained pure, against the intrigues of the great

families of Mecca. It is rare in Muslim history, the

movements in rebellion against the incumbent does not

take the "Lion of God" to standard. As for the figures cited

above, as well as their highly symbolic that sometimes

border on magic, they are present in the Muslim gnosis

from the beginning of the establishment of Islam in

Mesopotamia, Iran and Syria, reflecting the sustainable

influence of Pythagoreanism and the legacy of ancient

Eastern religions. Similarly the cosmic organization of the

world and time, already made by the Shia and some Muslim

philosophers, comes from the neo-platoniscisme ( See also

Culture -> The Book of Thériaque )

As for the action of the Forty Sages or initiated in the

divine knowledge that in the period between the Earth and

beyond, are involved in the running of the universe past,

present and future, and without our world would be only

Chaos, we also found them in the Sunni piety, even more

popular.

As we see, each of these beliefs would not be enough

alone (apart from God Ali Mohamed Trinity) to completely

separate the Ghulat of Shiism. It's more systematic

assembly which makes them a separate group of Islam.

 These sects, dogma and rituals quite similar so are mostly

branched get geographies rather than religious currents:

the Ahl e Haqq , more present in Iran are mostly Kurds

Gorani language. The Shabak , Bajwan , Sarliyya , Kahaiyya ,

Ibrahimiyya are present in Iraq and offer a complex ethnic

mix or language between Arabic, Turkish and Kurdish. The

Nusairis or Alawis are in Syria. In Turkey, there are the

Bektashi , the Alevis , the Tehtejii the Tchepnis .

A religious unity therefore oppose their ethnic, linguistic

and social diversity even since it has sometimes dealing

Babor Shah Khan Chasing Shahibeg

with religious brotherhoods, whose membership inducedconversion and thus an individual commitment (dervishes),or tribes who confession is primarily a matter of birth. Thisis what separates the Kizil Bach and the Bektashi,otherwise so closely mingled in the minds, history andculture. These can be Ghulat Arabic, Turkmen, Kurdish,Zaza. They are of Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Arabic. Onelanguage may also reflect itself in this mix: the Shabak ,spoken by one of these communities in the north of Iraq, isa mixture of Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic. Zazaki, ancientlanguage spoken in Dersim (Eastern Anatolia) also includesKurdish and Armenian elements. In short, there is no morefaithful and vivid picture of the historical and religiouscomplexity of Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia than thatgiven by these populations, beliefs and ethnicities if mixed.

Anatolia to the Middle Ages

Seljuk victory over the Byzantine army at Manzikert in1071, significantly changed the human and geographicalaspect of the Anatolian mainland. Cultivated campaigns ofthe Greek and Armenian peasants shrank from the pasturesof Turkmen nomads. The Southeastern Anatolia, by cons,had to undergo less change, as it was already inhabited bypastoral tribes, Kurdish and Arabic. There was justcoexistence of Kurds and Turkmen tribes, not smoothlywith one another and in 1185-1187 where Kurds in theDiyar Bakr region and Upper Mesopotamia are massacredby a Turk, or as evidenced by the favor enjoyed NisibinChristians - Hasankeyf artoukides under the Turks, whodistrusted some Arabs and Kurds in the region.

But it is especially the Mongol advance in the fourteenthcentury that caused a large influx of Turkmen and Iraniansfleeing troops Ilkhanids. At that time, Eastern Anatolia ispart of the area of influence of the descendants of GenghisKhan, while the West (the territory of Rum) was dividedbetween Byzantium, this power that would not stopdeclining and the rising power of the Ottomans.

Fleeing the Mongols like many other Iranian refugees, manydervishes Central Asia (qalendar) once in Anatolia, led awandering life in close harmony with the ghazi whopreceded them. These mystical vagabonds, poets theirhours are not all peaceful. The prevailing insecurity oftenforced them to arm themselves. So, it becomes difficult todistinguish between these Sufis weapons and fighters ofthe faith themselves, especially as the war in Anatoliansteps resulting in the attack but also looting and banditry.Anatolia is, after all, a land open to troop movements since1071. These turbulent Turkmen for which we created theprincipalities of the Seljuks of Rum, have always resentedthe central government. It is paradoxical that eventuallythe two large centralized empires of modern Islam, theOttoman and Safavid, born of the activity of these ghazisso unruly. Ethnically, these confederations are as mixed asthe Mongol confederations: Armenians, Kurds, Syro-Aramaic, Arabic. The origin of the Safavids is uncertain:Kurds, Turkomans?

The Middle Ages was therefore for the Eastern Anatolia, as

'Akhi Sultan Juli Killing the Uzbeg inCombat

in Upper Mesopotamia, a period as troubled and confusedas politically fruitful for the economy, the arts, intellectuallife. Under the Seljuks, Sivas was a great trading center.The Artoukides raised Diyarbakir, Mardin, Hasankeyf HisnKayfa or the rank of capitals. 

But the devastation caused by the Mongols and laterTamerlane weakened the power of the princes andauthority of cities. The political and economic organizationwas then provided by the military-religious orders thatprovided more or less clearly Jihad against the Greeks. Theadvent of the Safavids in the sixteenth century came in aland so politically organized and structured religiously forover a century by Ghazi. But this political and religiousmodel may be older. Thus, Danishmendides, who reignedfrom 1071 to 1178 in the regions of Sivas, Kayseri,Malatya, were perhaps the first ghazi state. The etymologyof the name, Danishmend or "insider", "who hasknowledge" suggests a religious leader in the eponymous,which will be the case for other (Baba Ishaq Ismail).

In Eastern Anatolia, the Armenian population was thenMonophysite or majority, ie exposed to hostility and evenpersecution of the Byzantine church. Also said shewelcomed the Turkomans, like 600 years ago, theNestorians and Monophysites of Palestine and Syria hadreceived quite favorably the Muslim conquest. But therewas no massive conversion. In Erzurum, the Armenianpopulation was so large in proportion, we drank wine inpublic. In addition, the Sufis, very present in Anatolia,already rejected the external rituals of the faith, giving wayto much more heterodox practices, inspired by Gnosticism,perhaps even Indian and Christian elements.

Among the social factors that may have influenced the KizilBach, we must speak of akhis and futuwa . Thesebrotherhoods were indeed popular corporatist groups butnot professionals, which distinguished the first corporationsthat are emerging in major cities in the tenth centuryAbbasid. On the other hand, the ties that bound itsmembers were more social than religious, and also drewtheir powers of a balance of power against power andaristocracy, sometimes forming true urban militias, whichcan be traced throughout the literature, especially popular.

Unlike futuwwa , though they have influenced the Akhis area religious movement. In the early days, (at siècleà XI), it iseven mystical pure. They appear in Asia Minor andnorthwest Iran. Akhi means brother in Arabic, but inpopular language, also called rind or rindan (in Kurdishbeautiful, good). The first major character is akhi AkhiZandjani Faraj, who lived in the eleventh century. As thename suggests, it was from the northwest caucasian.Another great figure was, of Akhi Türk Ourmiya, IranianKurdistan, who lived in the twelfth century century. Theakhis traced their ancestry to Ali but do not seem to havehad any particular religious affiliation, except reverence forAlides in general. Circles akhis also referred the matter toAbu Muslim, a popular religious figure in Iran and we will seefurther the permeability of the Anatolian gnosis witheastern Iran.

Adi Khan Rescues Shahibeg From Drowning

Mohammad Mirza Aqa at the Court of

Rostam

After the Mongol invasion and the weakening of central

authority, the power went akhis in all cities. At the same

time, there was a literary explosion treaties futuwa ,

reflecting the enthusiasm that these ideas of mysticism

and social fraternity gave rise to a population that could

not count on the reassuring stability of a strong state. In

Prince cities without resident, Akhi govern.

In his travels, in the fourteenth century, Ibn Battuta, shows

the contagion between business and religion in these

corporations. It also shows us the political power that had

achieved these corporations. In Konya, the leader of akhis

is also the qadi, the akhi Kayseri is a Sharif, another emir,

suggesting the formation of more aristocratic groups, while

popular movements.

This popularity does not reach the brotherhoods that Islam.

There were parallel groups more or less professional among

non-Muslims, for example, among the Armenians of

Erzincan.

These brotherhoods had a late influence Kizil Bach. Even

today, an Alevi ceremony Djem, is in memory of a

corporate boss, Selman-î-Farsi. Similarly Kurds and Alevis,

practice the custom of blood brother when the brother of

the above, already practiced by Akhis which relates

perhaps an Indo-Iranian ancient practice. The Kurds thus

distinguish very well destbra (hand's brother), egalitarian

relationship with the Alevi sponsorship (kirivatî), which is to

give a child a sponsor from another religious community.

The high persistence of practices akhis is also explained by

the fact that after the ban of their brotherhood, the akhis

hunted like Kizil Bach took refuge in the Bektachiyya there

practicing takiyat or hiding their beliefs under the

protection of tekes dervishes.

Other religious movements could influence the Kizil Bach

when they established themselves in Kurdistan and

Anatolia. And Yezidis: the Kurds before the Mongol

occupation, there was a Sufi brotherhood, the Adawiya

founded by Sheikh Adi (which post-mortem will become a

major religious figure Yezidis). The Germiyan princes, a

mixture of Kurds and Turkomans, are considered by the

informants as Ibn Battuta Yezidis. On the eve of the

Mongol conquest, there is in fact a large pro-Yezidi Kurdish

propaganda in the media.

Finally, we must not overlook the fact that Anatolia,

Northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia was Shiite cultural

centers or on the margins of the very active Shi'ism. Épico-

rich Shiite literature, for example in Karbala, existed from

the fourteenth century in Anatolia. Moreover, as each

troubled period in Islam, minds lingered readily on the

golden age of rachidouns Caliphs (the first successors of

Muhammad, practicing and just pure Islam), but also lived

in hope a mahdi, that is to say, the advent of a religious

Guide that came from the other world would restore the

order of this world and the religious justice. Messianic

movements of revolt often produced. That of Baba Ishaq

around the Euphrates, who claimed divine apostle and

messenger of God, is one of the most interesting,

Najm Hangs Shaykham Sani Mirza at the

Gate of Qarshi

Jani Beg Visits Qasem Khan

especially since we ready to safavisme direct affiliation

with the babaïsme. The movement appears to Kafarsud in

1233. His followers, who came into the fight against the

Seljuks, control very quickly a territory between Malatya,

Amasya, Marach.

In any case, the border between Shiism and Sunnism was

not so radical in the Muslim Middle Ages. The Seljuks of

Rum had also long tolerated. A son of Saladin, the great

conqueror Ayyubid, champion of the Sunni faith, professed,

despite the hostility of his father against religious

deviance. The Illusionist Djawbani and says he posed as a

Alide during his travels in Anatolia to gather sympathy

popular. Note also that the uncertain border between Iran

and Sunni Shia also existed in Iran.

In the fourteenth century, in Khorassan, there is a similar

precedent: the Sarbardar who had even a heterogeneous

doctrine, which was organized in military brotherhood, in

reaction against the Mongolian paganism. The internal

dialectic of all extremist movements was the camouflage of

certain religious excesses in various forms or original

contributions to Twelver Shi'ism. The Sarbardar for

Amoretti, so are the first link in a long line leading to the

Kizil Bach. This organization into religious brotherhoods he

said is a trait peculiar to Iran. It should be noted that many

Iranians fled Eastern Mongols and reached Central Asia

where Iranian culture became predominant. And that

Iranian influence leads us immediately to the origins of

Bektachiyya.

The Savaviyya

Safi al Din Ishaq was born of a family probably Kurd and

Sunni, in 1252, and died in 1334. He was the founder of

the Sufi Safawiya and the ancestor of the Safavids.

His ancestors were already operating a brotherhood in

Ardabil in Azerbaydjan. It was a family of landowners who

had a function of spiritual guide, or Irshâd , transmitted

hereditarily. This inheritance of functions is usual in chites

circles, though at that time they were not yet really alides.

Born in Ardabil, he studied in Shiraz and later tied to a

Sheikh of Guilan, Sheikh Zayid, for twenty-five years. He

succeeded to the group's head of his disciples who then

called safaviya .

After his son Musa Sadr al-Din (1334-1391) has

strengthened and organized the Brotherhood, it prospered

by winning the favor of great rulers such as Tamerlane or

Uzun Hasan. This purely mystical organization militarized

under Djounayd (1447-1460) and Haydar (1460-1488).

At that time, the Kizil Bach had already converted to

Shiism, which prevented its leaders from marrying Sunni

Qoyounlou Aq. Djounayd and Haydar led a holy war against

Christians in Georgia and they were both killed in Chirwan.

After the death of Uzun Hasan, the reports were cooled

with Aq Qoyounlou and the defeat of Safavis Sheikhs result

of an alliance with the sultan of the Turkmen King Chirwan.

As a precaution, Aq Qoyounlou imprisoned his son, Ali and

Ismail. When they were released, Ali rebelled and was killed,

Shah Abu'l Esma'il Kills Kheyr Khan inBattle

Battle of Chaldiran

but the young Ismail, was hidden in Guilan by hissupporters. He managed to lead his followers andmaintained an effective propaganda in Asia Minor. His risewas meteoric then. At the head of Kizil Bach began byavenging the death of his father Haydar beating the king ofChirwan and White Sheep Chahrour in 1501. He took Tabrizand becoming Shah of Iran. When Kizil Bach led by Ismailconquered Iran, it was initially a state Ghulat behind aspiritual guide. After the defeat of Tchaldiran, whichweakens the authority of the Shah by showing that he wasnot invincible, the Kizil Bach turned against their guide whoeventually join the Twelver Shi'ism.

The persecution of the Shiites was general in the OttomanEmpire during the sixteenth century. Even after rallyingShah Ismail to Shi'ism, as the Ottomans did not distinguishbetween Shiite and Ghulat (for all of them pro-Persian).The obsession of Ottoman power is that of a Persianinfiltration.

 The mühimme defterli studied by Colin Imber outlines theinterplay of forces between Persia, the Ottoman Empire,Shiites and Kizil Bach. This persecution, we only give detailsof Kurdistan, is identical in the country of Rum and Iraq(and so on "real" Shiites).

According to reports from Ottoman officials, seeking theKizil Bach, Persia, to win over the nomadic environments,such Ulus tribes and Bedouins. Cadis the beylerbey andsancaks seek in everyday life, the actions of the subjectswhich would denote membership in heresy, inquisition,unusual in a Muslim country. Thus, in the 1570s, the qadiof Kirkuk reports the activities of a group of Kizil BachDakuk, specifying that they form joint meetings, betweenmen and women (main criticism leveled at Kizil Bach).

In 1570, the sandjakbeyi and qadi of Entab stop someMehmet: it seems that in his village, they insult thememory of Caliphs Omar and Othman (victoriousopponents Ali), but not Abu Bakr. More broadly, officialsrecommend to pay attention to given names. If in acommunity, no first name is Omar Othman, or, as Ali, theHuseyin, the Hasan predominate, then it is certain that weare dealing with heretics. Possible support activities toPersia course are repressed. A report of Urfa, 1574,mentions that a Shahirdi and his son collect Hosh present (Nezir ) and organize sacrifices ( Kurban ) for the Persianking. 

Less peaceful activities often troubled region. The cases ofthe most common revolt translate looting or robbery,traditional gestures of hostility to the central governmentand which were harmful to the state of the lifting of thetax. June-July 1578, the qadi Elbistan reports that acertain "Shah Ismail" appeared, from Syria with twohundred horsemen. It is reported in the Confederation ofSham Bayadi. It is engaged in brigandage. This false ShahIsmail will be continued without success for two years.Diwan orders to seize him from the summer of 1578 but itseems more mobile than the imperial troops. We report itto Haci Bektash. In September 1578, he received theSanjak of Malatya the allegiance of all tribes mentioned

Ghazali 'Arab as a Prisoner Brought BeforeShah Esma'il

Shah Esma'il Receiving Ghazali Oghli

after capturing a witness, and the list is given us:

The Izlü, Rishvan, Eshkanlu, Solaklu, Sheyh Hüseylü,Soydanlu, Eyerböklü, Adaklu, Kalaçaklu, Bezki, çakalu,Mihriman, Karasaz, Kömürlü.

A report from sancak of Bozok describes this false Hatai(pen name of Shah Ismail): blonde, blue eyes, long hair anda beard, he speaks Persian, which can assume that itcomes from Persia, but Is sent by the Shah or is it pass forthe deceased ruler (the Shah reigned Thamasp time) for itsown account? False son of sovereign or sovereignreappeared dead are not uncommon at the time, so Cem,son of the Ottoman sultan. He spotted several times, oncearrested and released by mistake, he waves the province,elusive. It is reported by his side Turkomans of Ali'lü tribe.

From December 1578 to January 1579, he preachedsedition to Beglü Kurdish tribe confederation Boz Ulus (Kizilnotorious Bach). It brings together many of their memberswith the intention of returning to Persia Baghdad,according to a report by the qadi Ulus. The Sanjak ispowerless to disperse them. Three weeks later, a documentthat tells the Diwan ordered us to Diyarbakir qadi to stopit. Then we do not know anything delui.

This adventure shows two weaknesses of both sides: whilethe power is unable to effectively oppose the false ShahIsmail, but the Kizil Bach can not permanently raise theregion.

The war against Persia resumed in 1578, when persecutionis very active. A spy network information cadis the sancakand beylerbey, which send their reports to the Diwan(Council of Ministers). Sometimes müfettish or mübeshircould be sent to quell a community. The suspects wereexecuted, exiled, imprisoned.

Persecution is as strong in Central Anatolia, between theprovinces of Erzurum and Karaman. After insurrections(matted) from the beginning of the century, there is nomajor revolts, the province appears takeover, but thekizilbachisme is alive. There are acts of insubordination,robberies. Many Kurds have joined the kizilbachisme. Butmany villages are kizilbach serbest (independent), andofficials can crack it without seeking permission from theowners.

In 1585 again, some Shey Haydar announces the arrival ofthe Shah in a village near Amasya. Then the change indoctrine brings the decline of Kizil Bach in the PersianEmpire and the end of their influence in Anatolia. In the1590s, the most militant bach kizil tribes had beeneliminated or were parties in Iran. The later rebellions djelalicould have shelter homes agitation kizil bach in theseventeenth century. 

 The Kurdish Kizil Bach are mainly from Dersim and regionsMarash and Malatya, mainly. They Zaza and Kurmanj. It islikely that even before the persecutions of Selim I, and ofcourse after the Turkish-Kurdish tribes are refugees inDersim, finding a population with significant Armenianelements, which gave the rites of Kizil Bach and his

Kh'ajeh Sultan Ali Siah Push ReturningTimur's Whip

Timur Kh'ajeh Visits Sultan Ali Siah Push atArdabil

Mo'in Mosaver MS. 'Alam-ara-ye ShahEsma'il

1689 Reza Abbasi Museum, Tehran. Photo Layla S. Diba

Christian contributions pre-Islamic. Turkmen tribes werealso able to escape in the Kurdish areas after faileduprisings of 1530 and it kurdifier.

  Some Zaza Kurds also claim to be directly descendedfrom Armenians. Anyway, there was a great cultural andsocial harmony between Christians and Kizil Bach Dersim. Itis also found in their belief of former track cults, such asthe veneration of fire, light, prayer at sunrise), but also ofthe moon, river sources. The Kurdish Kizil Bach, in nightceremonies, sacrifice a sheep, share it with bread and wine.They celebrate Easter with the Armenians and Khizr Eliasparty is often confused with Saint Sergius. The Kizil Bachalso religious respect of certain trees on the hills, lonely.We can not cut or lopping, otherwise serious misfortunes.It suspends rags, ex-votos, there sacrificed chickens orsheep. But this practice is also found in other parts ofKurdistan, which were never won by Alevism, for examplein the region of Afrin, northwest Syria.

The Kurdish Alevis influence is felt in many music. The Alevidirectory and uses the maqam kord and typical modulationin the Kurdish songs. Using the saz ( tembur ) by Alevismusicians should also be emphasized, as this instrument isvery important among the Kurds, both Sunni and Alevi.

The Bektashi

The brotherhood of the Bektashi indeed appeared in thethirteenth century. A Hadji Bektash, Turkish Sufi, whoselegend will enrich number of Kurdish and Alevi myths, fledKhorasan before the Mongol invasion. It was probably adisciple of Baba Ishaq. If at first Bektashism is barelydistinguishable from the heterodox climate in general, it willswitch further into heresy, perhaps under the influence ofKizil Bach, to the point that the Bektashi will have to bedistinguished from the power. The Bektashi owe theirsuccess in the Ottoman Empire by their links with theJanissaries, they relied mostly in their ranks. The flexibilityof the Bektashi doctrines and substrate Christian themesthey conveyed in their ideology may explain this success,the Janissaries are of Christian origin. They also had manyfollowers in the social elite and imperial policy.

The problem is that many Bektachiyya Ghulat infiltrated thepersecuted and that she left probably win more than itsfounders would have liked by the Kizil Bach or Hurufis. TheBektashi are closer to the Christians in the Balkans, whilethe influence of Kizil Bach is predominant in tekkes EasternAnatolia.

When the Janissaries were exterminated by the SultanMahmud in 1826, the Bektashi were also included in thepurge and monasteries were destroyed. But the ordersurvived in Anatolia until the twentieth century.

All authors agree on the difficulty of distinguishing theBektashi Kizil Bach, to the point that it sometimes seemsthat the Bektashi the Kizil Bach and Ahl e-Haqq are variantsof the same religion. Identical nicknames are given to Ahl e-Haqq ("extinguishers light") and the Bektashi, the Ahl e-Haqq and Kizil Bach ("David worshipers"). In the East, the

Ali and the 12 imams

Most cults Ghulat have very limited access

to their sacred texts (when they have

them), the study of these texts being

reserved for insider clergy. The faithful

then will practice a direct devotional,

emotional, with religious figures, which is

reminiscent of the Hindu bhakti.

Sheikh Sayid Riza launched in 1925 which

was perhaps the last great religious

inspiration in Dersim rebellion and also one

of the first national Kurdish revolts.

The turbeh Hadji Bektash is a place of

pilgrimage for the Alevis as for the

Bektashi (Photo Roxane)

influence of the Kurds is often stronger in bektachiyya

since Bektashism flexible enough, fits in the middle where it

operates. The feast of Mawlid , which was taken up and be

honored by the Bektashi is important among the Kurds

since the time of Saladin's son instituted in Erbil, in the

thirteenth century. The Kurdish and Iranian festival of

Newroz, the Bektashi connect with Ali, also has great

significance in the brotherhood. The legendary birth of

Hadji Bektash and the Mamé Alan, Kurdish mythical hero is

identical (v. The Vilayetnameh and Mamé Alan). According

to Martin van Bruinessen, there are also similarities

between Sultan Dahak (founder of Ah-e-Haqq) and Hadji

Bektash: and the battle between the lion Rider and snake.

But for the Kizil Bach Dersim, lion Rider is the mythical

ancestor of the tribe of Kureyshar and the man who rides

the wall or Munzur Baba Baba Mansour, the eponymous

ancestor of the tribe of Bamasuran. It is permissible

(today) that the miracle of Munzur Baba was done with the

spiritual strength of Hadji Bektash.

The Khurramites was a religious movement that appeared

in the ninth century of Islam. It is also one of the first

Ghulat sects or extremist Shi'ism, since it supported the

claims of the Abbasids (who presented first as champion

Alides) against the Umayyad caliphs. It was a pro-Iranian

cult and anti-Arab. Their veneration Abu Muslim, this

mysterious character, almost legendary, which first

supported the Abbasids in the name of Alides and was

executed by them, is significant. Even after the death of

Abu Muslim, followers of the Khurramiyya believed he

would return to destroy the Arab empire.

We were able to connect mazdékisme the fifth century.

Some of its members may have had relations Azerbaydjan

in the early ninth century with the rebel Babak, who

proclaimed reincarnation of a prohète. Proponents of

Khurramites are still in western Iran to IX ° and X centuries

and perhaps further east, in small communities, specifically

in areas where kizilbachisme flourished.

These Ghulat believed in the transfiguration of souls, in the

continuity of prophethood after Muhammad in the coming

of the Mahdi. And if we conclude this study of Kizil Bach by

evoking an earlier sect centuries to this movement, it is to

emphasize the continuity of Ghulat themes that appear in

the margins of the Shiite opposition and feed on culture

Iranian. Because at that time, from the Khuramiyya,

everything is there, the questioning of the uniqueness

dinive, although for Khurramiyya or Khurramdiniya (religion

"merry" in Farsi), it both dualism and not a Trinity

metempsychosis, Mahdism, prophecy, the epitome of the

old prophets or divine manifestations. And these are the

same constants that are found in all Ghulat movements,

with variations. Thus, for Amoretti the Sarbadar, military

and religious brotherhood active in Khorassan in the

fourteenth century, with this mix of heterodox beliefs

disguised as Shia, are one of the links leading to

kizilbachisme.  

Alevis or Kizil Bach are not a singular movement to the

margins of Islam but rather has offered the example of a

mystical tradition of fighting brotherhoods that existed

from the tenth century in Turkey and Iran.

© Sandrine Alexie, June 2000

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