Anti-Safavid Texts in the Ottoman Empire
-Refutations in the 16th Century-
From its founding, the Safavid State declared the Shia-Imamiyya school the
official state creed and pursued a policy of forced Shia conversion in the
regions under its control. Furthermore, due to their expansionist activities
targeting the Ottoman territories through their adherents, the Qizilbash elements
in Anatolia, the Safavids became a necessity for the Ottoman Empire
to intervene. The Ottomans implemented numerous political, religious
and scholarly measures to hinder the Safavids. Due to this cautious approach,
the Safavids were criticized in numerous written forms, from sultanic
decrees and fatwas to historical sources and poems, particularly individual
refutations. These refutations constitute the earliest and most concrete
form of criticism directed at the Safavids in the Ottoman Empire. The
writing of these refutations began approximately twenty years before the
founding of the Safavid State, intensified on the eve of the Battle of Chaldiran,
and continued throughout the following centuries, including the sixteenth
century. This book focuses on ten texts, most of which are manuscripts,
written in the 16th century, when the aforementioned texts of refutation
emerged and intensified. These refutations, which also affected the
official Ottoman view of the Safavids and the Qizilbash in the 16th century,
were analyzed from the perspective of the History of Islamic Sects discipline.
In the introduction section of this study, which consists of an introduction,
three main sections and a conclusion, the purpose and importance
of the research, its scope and limitations, and its method are explained. In
addition, the sources used are introduced in terms of their importance in
the research. In the first section, the historical development and activities
of the Safavid State are included, and the measures taken in the Ottoman
Empire and the fatwas regarding jihad against the Safavids are examined.
In the second section, the authors of the refutation texts written by Ottoman
scholars against the Safavids are introduced in chronological order and the
contexts in which they were written are discussed. In the third section, the
content of these refutation texts is analyzed. Under the title of Conclusion,
important findings reached throughout the study are given.
Keywords: Islamic Sects; Ottoman; Safavid; Ahl al-Sunnah; Shia; Kizilbash;
Refutation.