When the sons of Sultan Bayezld II began to quarrel over the succession even while their father was still alive, Prince Sultan Qorqud secretly left his city of Antalya at the beginning of 1511 and headed for Manisa, a town closer to the capital, from where he could more easily observe the developments at court. His departure, which did not in fact pass unnoticed, gave rise to rumours of the death of the sultan, who had been in poor health for years. This totally unfounded news brought to a head the resentment which had been simmering among the Qizilbash, especially in the province of Teke-Ili, of which Antalya was the capital, ever since the persecutions mentioned above; the tension had been increased by their fear of deportation and their anger at not being allowed to cross into Persia. Led by a certain Qizilbash called Shah Qull, who hailed from that area but whose origins are otherwise not completely clear, hordes of rebellious Tiirkmens, composed almost entirely of Qizilbash, roamed the region, murdering and looting. The rebels belonged to the landless rural classes who had nothing to lose but who believed themselves to be assured of paradise if they were killed. The economic distress in Anatolia should not be ignored as a motivating factor in the uprising. This social aspect combined with Shia extremism is clearly discernible. Wherever the rebels appeared they spread fear and panic. Villages whose inhabitants refused to join them were razed to the ground, the people - even women and children - were massacred, and all the animalsslaughtered. Even mosques and Islamic monasteries were not spared their lust for destruction. Regular forces which intercepted them were defeated, whether under the command of the governor of Anatolia or of Prince Sultan Qorqud, who did battle with them on the plain of Alashehir. In the end Sultan Bayezld had to despatch his Grand Vizier Khadim Ali Pasha with a large army. The latter pursued Shah Qull and his bands, who had fled from him at Antalya, across wide stretches of Anatolia until finally on 2 July 1511 he caught up with them in the neighbourhood of Sivas. The battle ended in catastrophe for both sides: the Grand Vizier was mortally wounded, and Shah Qull was killed either during or soon after the engagement. Despite heavy losses his adherents managed to escape across the Persian frontier. At Ray they joined Isma'il, who was probably filled with suspicion by their misdeeds. At all events, the leaders were executed on his orders for committing robbery on Persian soil, and the others distributed among the fighting units, obviously because he feared the consequences of accepting such troops into his ranks as a separate and unified force. Although Shah Qull had begun as a supporter of the Safavids, in the later stages of the revolt he had been worshipped as God, Prophet and Mahdl and had thus relinquished his support for Isma'il. For this reason alone it is somewhat unlikely that the rebellion was instigated or assisted by the Safavids. Moreover, this is never suggested in the sources (Source: The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 6).
Qizilbash Mobilization in Anatolia by Safavid Kingdom Triggers Ottoman Reaction
