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Qizilbash military order
The Qizilbash (Red Heads) were the Safavid dynasty's early core Shia military-religious force and tribal alliance of seven main Turkic tribes, suppor…
Timeline
- c. 1533Qazvin · Qazvin ProvinceAfter Tahmasp I acceded as a child, Qizilbash amirs held key posts as provincial governors and guards commanders, maintaining control of the center around tribes such as the Shamlu and Rumlu, and continuing as the main cavalry fighting the Ottomans and Uzbeks.
- c. 1538Iranian Plateau · IranIn the later 1530s, conflicts erupted among Qizilbash tribes over regency and fiefs; the shah began to use Persian civil officials and palace eunuchs to counterbalance the tribal amirs, foreshadowing a later shift from tribal military aristocracy to joint rule by bureaucratic-religious elites.
Sources
- Qizilbash — Roger Savory https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/qezelbas
- Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire — Andrew J. Newman (2006)