Countries and Their Cultures: Qizilbash

The Qizilbash were formed out of several Turkish Shia groups that were living in northwest Persia (Azerbaijan) in the fifteenth century. These groups were oppressed by the Osmanli Turks in the early years of the Ottoman Empire. Shaykh Heydar, a charismatic Sunni religious leader, attracted a large following of Shia from Azerbaijan. He called his most loyal Turkic followers "Qizilbash" and created a special hat for them to wear. The Heydar hat was red, and "Qizilbash" came to mean "red hats," "red heads," or "red beards." The Qizilbash became known as skilled warriors. They could put 70,000 armed horsemen in the field at one time. Some became mercenaries, but most of them supported the Safavid shahs who were fighting against the Sunni Ottoman and Sunni Uzbek Turks. The Qizilbash are no longer considered a warrior class, but they are still thought to be within the upper strata of power and among the intelligentsia. They also tend to be predominantly urban professionals -- doctors, teachers, engineers, and lawyers. Because of physical dispersal and taqiyya, they are no longer a cohesive group; nevertheless, they have maintained their strong ethnic pride.