Persianate A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...

Bitlis Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Rojaki'' (or ''Rozagî'') tribal confederation.

History

The Rojaki defeated the Georgian King David the Curopalate and conquered

Bitlis Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Sasun in the 10th century. The principality occasionally came under the rule of outsiders, such as the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

(from 1467 to 1495) and the

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

(from 1507 to 1514). After the decline of the Aq Qoyunlu, the Rojaki princes asserted their independence. The principality supported the Ottoman Sultan

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

, and in return its rulers were named Noble Khans. In 1531, the Rojaki prince withdrew his support from the Ottomans and turned towards the Safavids instead, an event that led to the capture of the principality by the Ottomans. A good era for the principality began in 1578, when Sultan

Murad III Murad III (; ; 4 July 1546 – 16 January 1595) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death in 1595. His rule saw battles with the Habsburg monarchy, Habsburgs and exhausting wars with the Safavid Iran, Safavids. The long-inde ...

nominated Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi the Emir of the principality. Until 1596, eighteen Rojaki princes ruled the principality. The Rojaki khans maintained their relative independence during the long rivalry between the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

and the

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

. In 1665, Abdal Khan's status as the Emir of the principality was strengthened after a visit to Bitlis by the Ottoman sultan

Murad IV Murad IV (, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; , 27 July 1612 – 8 February 1640) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad I ...

, as he supported the Ottomans in their feud with the Safavids. Abdal Khan has been described by the French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier as the most powerful Kurdish prince. According to him, Abdal Khan was independent and did not acknowledge the Safavid or Ottoman states.

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

has praised Abdal Khan as a

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

prince and owner of a library of books in several languages. Several European travelers noted the ability of the emirate to call in militias (up to 12,000 cavalry forces) in order to defend itself. The autonomy of the principality ended in 1655 as Emir Abdal Khan entered into conflict with the Malik Ahmad Pasha, the

Wāli ''Wāli'', ''Wā'lī'' or ''vali'' (from ''Wālī'') is an administrative title that was used in the Muslim world (including the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates and the Ottoman Empire) to designate governors of administrative divis ...

of Van at the time. Abdal Khan was accused of confiscating properties in Bitlis by merchants in Van and an his closeness with the

Yazidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...

. As result, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

ended its tolerance towards the autonomy of the principality of Bitlis and it was integrated into the Van eyalet.Eppel (2016), p. 33

Persian language and culture

For centuries, Bitlis and neighboring Kurdish principalities were profoundly influenced by

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

and culture due to their connections with Persian-centered empires. Persian was the language of administration, used by Sufis, poets, merchants, and scholars. By adopting Persian, Bitlis’s ruling classes and elites aimed to integrate themselves into the broader

Persianate A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...

world, portraying their social environment as part of this prestigious tradition. From the 14th century, Persian literary production flourished in Bitlis, with notable works by Idris-i Bidlisi and Sharaf Khan. Persian was predominant in palace education, ''

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

s'', personal correspondence, and literary and historical writings. Despite a shift to Turkish in Ottoman bureaucracy during the 16th century, Persian continued to be used in Bitlis for communications with

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

shahs and for inscriptions on buildings and gravestones. Although Bitlis’s role as an imperial vassal is documented only to a limited extent, surviving records show that Persian remained the language of bureaucracy and diplomacy in the Bitlis court throughout these centuries. Persian manuscripts filled the palace library, and its influence persisted in daily life and cultural practices well into the 19th century.

History

Persian language and culture

See also

References

Further reading