CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Huckleberry, Samuel Austin |
|---|---|
| Title | Taj and Tribe: The Kizilbash and Sacred Kinship during the Reign of Shah Abbas I (1587-1629) |
| Summary | Since its inception in 1501, the Safavid realm was a marriage between a mystical order and a sovereign state. During the reign of Shah Abbas I (r.1587-1629), it is said that the Safavids’ stalwart mystical disciples – the Kizilbash – were marginalized and replaced by slaves (Pers. gholam) due to the state’s efforts to suppress Sufism and assert a Twelver-Shi’ite orthodoxy. This thesis contests this claim by asserting that Abbas’ reign coincided with an adjustment to the relationship between himself and his disciples. Previously the Safavid state frequently suffered inter-regnal civil wars due to the tribal social configuration of the Kizilbash in the Safavid realm. Reasserting himself as the Perfect Guide (murshid-i kamil) of the Safavid mystical network, Shah Abbas disciplined unruly tribes to be loyal under the Safavid mystical crown (the taj-i haydari) worn by all disciples. Upon success against their border rivals, Ottomans and Uzbeks, Shah Abbas utilized the deeply ingrained structures of the mystical network extending well beyond the borders of the Safavid realm to diffuse his image as a Sufi king (pir-shah). As the temporal head of the Dergah-i Ali (the Sublime Lodge), Abbas prepared his disciples and courted Shi’ite-minded Sufi networks to build a realm fitting the faith of the Safavids’ mystical community. By rethinking Abbas’ reign during this period, this thesis offers a model through which to reinterpret both the Kizilbash and, on another level, suggests the Kizilbash are one avenue for reinterpreting the Safavid realm’s confessional evolution as a whole. |
| Supervisor | Krstić, Tijana |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/huckleberry_samuel.pdf |
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