7 Origins and History the Kurdish quarter remained an important center of Kurdish language and cul- ture well into the 20th century. Moreover, Kurdish tribal groupings and emir- ates remained important actors in their mountainous homelands. The political and military significance of the Kurds was further enhanced by the struggle between the Egyptian Mamluks and the Mongol Ilkhanids in Iran. Residing on the border- lands between the two empires, Kurdish tribesmen came to be seen as potential military allies. The Mamluks attempted to mobilize Kurdish support in the struggle against the Mongols through the appointment of a “Generalissimo of the Kurds” (Muqaddam al-Akrad), an individual responsible for uniting the Kurdish tribes. Mongol administers also reached accommodations with Kurdish tribal elites rec- ognizing, for example, Asad al-Din Musa as the ruler of the Mazanjaniyya region near Hakkari. In the late 14th century, the Middle East was shaken by the invasions of Timur Lang (1370–1404), who conquered a vast territory stretching from Central Asia to Anatolia. Following his death, his empire rapidly degenerated with Timurid authority over Kurdistan being replaced by that of the Turkic Karakoyunlu and Akkoyunlu tribal confederations. By 1450, the Karakoyunlu rulers, who emerged as the dom- inant force in Azerbaijan, extended their authority over the Kurdish emirates of Bitlis, Siirt, and Hasankeyf, while the Kurds residing in the Diyarbakir region were governed by the Akkoyunlu Turkmen. In 1460, the Akkoyunlu ruler, Uzun Hasan (1428–1478), began advancing eastwards seizing the Kurdish held towns of Hasankeyf and Siirt. In response, the Karakoyunlu ruler, Cihanşah (1397–1467), launched a counteroffensive, but was defeated and killed in 1567. Subsequently, Uzun Hasan’s forces drove east into Azerbaijan and Iran, on the way seizing the Kurdish strongholds of Cizre-Bohtan, Bitlis, and Hakkari. Early Modern Period (1500–1830) The Akkoyunlu dominance in Iran was relatively short-lived, ultimately being defeated and overthrown by the Safavids, a Sufi religious order founded by a Kurd- ish mystic, Safi ad-Din Ardabili (1252–1334). Although originally a Sunni move- ment, by the mid-15th century the movement had come to be associated with “exaggerationist” (ghulat) beliefs, a radical and messianic form of Shi’ism. The Safa- vids attracted widespread support amongst the Turkmen tribes of Azerbaijan and Anatolia, in the process becoming an important military as well as religious power. In the late 15th century, the movement successfully ousted the Akkoyunlu dynasty and, in 1501, the order’s charismatic leader, Ismail Safavi was crowned shah in the Akkoyunlu capital of Tabriz. Over the subsequent decade, Shah Ismail I (r. 1501–1526) established a vast empire stretching from Kurdistan in the west to the borders of Afghanistan in the east. Once in power, the shah eschewed millennialism, opting instead to establish orthodox Twelver-Shi’ite Islam as Iran’s official religion. This religious revolution set the stage for conflict with the predominantly Sunni Kurds who now found them- selves under Safavid rule. Although some Kurdish potentates, most notable the emir of Hakkari, İzzeddin Şir, adapted to the new religious order, most were deeply
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