Ali of Dulkadir
| Ali Beg | |
|---|---|
 Miniature from Hoja Sa'd al-Din's Taj al-Tewarih depicting Ali as he fights the Celali rebels. | |
| Beg of Dulkadir | |
| Reign | 1515–1522 |
| Predecessor | Ala al-Dawla Bozkurt |
| Ottoman Sanjak-bey of Chirmen | |
| Reign | 1512 |
| Ottoman Sanjak-bey of Kayseri | |
| Reign | 1514–1515 |
| Died | c. 1522 |
| Issue | Saru Arslan Uways Divaneh Veled[1] |
| House | Dulkadir |
| Father | Shah Suwar |
| Religion | Islam |
Ali Beg (Turkish: Şehsüvaroğlu Ali Bey; Ottoman Turkish: شهسوار اوغلی علی بك, romanized: Şehsüvâr-oġlı ‘Alî Beg; died c. 1522) was a governor of Dulkadir Eyalet, appointed by the Ottoman sultan Selim I. After resisting threats to his authority, he fell under suspicion of treason and was removed as governor in 1522.
Rise to power[edit]
Following his father's execution, Ali took refuge under the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512). After his accession to the throne, Selim I (r. 1512–20) appointed Ali as the sanjak-bey of Chirmen. Ali took part in Selim's campaign against Safavid Iran. As he was stationed in Erzincan, Selim dispatched Ali to explore the enemy forces. Ali caught several expeditionary Qizilbash troops. After his cousin Pirbende presented their heads to Selim in Sakallu, near Eleşkird, on 18 August 1514, Ali received a reward of 3 thousand florins and the sword of Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha. Five days later, Ali participated in the Battle of Chaldiran and pursued the fleeing Safavid forces.[2]
In November, Selim appointed Ali as the sanjak-bey of Kayseri on the border with the Dulkadirids in preparation to eliminate Bozkurt. As ordered by Selim, Ali occupied the Dulkadirid-controlled Sanjak of Bozok in the winter and beheaded Bozkurt's son, Suleiman. Selim granted Ali the newly-seized province of Bozok. Upon a complaint from Bozkurt, the Mamluk sultan urged Selim to dismiss Ali from his positions in May 1515. Selim contrarily requested the Mamluks to install Ali in the Dulkadirid throne. The Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri reminded Selim of Ali's father Shah Suwar's past deeds against the Mamluks, rejecting Ali's ascension. Qansuh soon realized that the Dulkadirid realm was lost for the Mamluks and proposed Selim to share the realm with the Ottomans. Selim fiercely objected and hinted at that he would attempt at conquering all of the Mamluk Sultanate. During the diplomatic traffic between the two states, the Dulkadirids destroyed the accommodations of the Ottoman army, which resulted in a great reduction of the Ottomans' military power.[3]
A 30 thousand-strong army under Sinan Pasha, the beylerbey of Rumelia, departed for Elbistan on 5 June 1515. Bozkurt transferred his harem and treasury to Mount Turna. Thirty thousand Dulkadirid troops faced the Ottoman military on 13 June 1515 near Ördekli, located between Andırın and Göksun. Upon Ali's invitation, some of the Turkmen lords who were once loyal to his father Shah Suwar changed sides. During the skirmish, one of the Ottoman soldiers noticed Bozkurt with his extravagant dress and lunged at him. Having killed Bozkurt, the soldier presented his head to Sinan Pasha. Much of the Dulkadirid troops deserted Bozkurt's four sons and brother Abdurrazaq, and fled to the mountains when they realized their leader was dead. Among numerous casualties, one of Bozkurt's sons and 30 chieftains died in battle, while Bozkurt's remaining relatives, including his consorts, were caught. Bozkurt's head was presented to Selim in Göksun. Selim sent Bozkurt's, his vizier's, and one of his son's heads to Cairo. Ali was installed as the new ruler of the Dulkadir contrary to Qansuh's request to leave a portion of the realm to Bozkurt's offspring. The khutbah (sermon) was read in Selim's name as a declaration of the Ottoman overlordship over the Dulkadirids.[4]
Reign[edit]
Ali's rise elicited several revolts led by his relatives, especially his cousin Shahruh's sons. Ali extinguished the revolt after he captured Ahmed, the most influential figure among the rebels, in the Zamantu Castle. Although Ali sent numerous gifts to Qansuh in February 1516, the Mamluks did not respond to Ali's attempt to have amicable relations. Ali's uncle Abd al-Razzaq and cousins had fled to Egypt, and after receiving 8 thousand dinars from the Mamluks, the Dulkadirid princes departed Cairo on 18 March to gather an army to topple Ali. On the other hand, Ali was invested in proving his loyalty to the Ottomans. He sent a 2 thousand-strong support force to Bıyıklı Mehmed Pasha, who set out to Diyarbekir to break the siege headed by Qara Khan, the Safavid-appointed governor who was not allowed to govern by the city's locals. In April 1516, Ali's forces participated in the Battle of Kochhisar, where Qara Khan died, and the Ottoman rule was restored.[5]
Qansuh arrived in Aleppo on 11 July in preparation to attack the Dulkadirids as he expected Selim to be busy fighting the Safavids in the east. In reality, Selim was planning to invade the Mamluk realm. In a letter to the Mamluk sultan, Selim called for their support to Ali against his relatives and proposed to return the Dulkadirids to Mamluk overlordship given they remain impartial to the Ottoman–Safavid dispute. Selim traveled to Elbistan, hiding his intentions to campaign from the Mamluks. Ali guided the Ottoman army south until Aintab. When Qansuh learned of the Ottoman army's arrival in Syria, he unilaterally recognized Abd al-Razzaq as the ruler of Dulkadir and dispatched him north with a 5 thousand-strong force under his command. Qansuh and the Mamluk army followed him. The Ottomans and the Mamluk armies engaged in battle near Dabiq on 24 August 1516. Ali was positioned on the right wing of the Ottoman army next to Zeynel Pasha, the beylerbey of Anatolia. Abd al-Razzaq and his nephew Shahruh's son Malik Arslan were located on the opposite side or the left wing of the Mamluk army. Ali killed Malik Arslan as soon as the fight began. During the skirmish that resulted in an Ottoman victory, Qansuh was killed, and Abd al-Razzaq was captured.[6]
In early 1520, Şah Ismail of Persia gave tacit approval to an uprising in Anatolia by the Kızılbaş, a Shia militant group. Known as the Şah Veli uprising because of the involvement of a Kızılbaş leader in the Ottoman province of Sivas named Şah Veli, it soon became so problematic to Anatolia that the governor of Sivas wrote to Selim for help. The Kızılbaş had many members within its ranks that were associated with the former Dulkadirid rulers who opposed Ali Bey. After two successive defeats at the hands of the Ottoman Army, Şah Veli was brought to Ali Bey and dismembered for all to see. This execution was meant to warn anyone who threatened Ali Bey that support for the Shia Kızılbaş was not to be tolerated under any circumstances.[7]
References[edit]
- ^ Venzke 2017.
- ^ Yinanç 1989, p. 99.
- ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 99–101.
- ^ Yinanç 1989, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Finkel, p. 113.
Bibliography[edit]
- Venzke, Margaret L. (2017). "Dulkadir". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Stewart, Denis J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. III. E. J. Brill.
- Yinanç, Refet (1989). Dulkadir Beyliği (in Turkish). Ankara: Turkish Historical Society Press. ISBN 9751601711. OCLC 21676736.
