Gretchen Lund
IMAMS
-There had been 12 infallible imams (leaders) after Muhammad -The 12th or "hidden" imam had gone into hiding to escape persecution -The Twelve Shiites believed he was still alive and would one day return to take power and spread his true religion SAFAVID PROPAGANDA
-Safavid propaganda suggested that Ishmail was the hidden imam, or even a reincarnation of Allah -Most Muslims and most Shiites thought this blasphemous -The qizilbash eagerly accepted these thoughts because they resembled traditional Turkish ways of military leaders with divinity -They believed Ishmail would make them invincible in battle -They became intensely loyal to the Safavid cause -Shah Ishmail's blend of Shiism and Turkish militancy gave his regime identity as well as enemies -The Sunni Ottomans detested the Shiite Safavids -They feared that the Safavid propaganda would reach the nomadic Turks in their own regions -When Selim the Grim became sultan, he launched a persecution of Shiites and a full on invasion of Safavid territory |
QIZILBASH
-Ishmail's father made his Turkish followers wear a red hat with 12 pleats in memory of the twelve Shiite imams -The hats were known as the qizilbash (red heads) Below: A man wearing a qizilbash |