A practice in Ottoman law: accusations against the Kızılbaş in the sixteenth century

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2351395 _(Table of contents)

This thesis deals with accusations against individuals and groups historically known as the Kızılbaş in Ottoman Anatolia in the sixteenth century, in particular those accusations which were made against the Kızılbaş by the Ottoman state. This thesis is interested in the relationship between the Ottoman state and its own subjects. It does not aim to explore the political struggles between the Ottomans and the Safavids, nor does it go into a religious analysis. This examination proposes a broad categorization for the accusations which were made against the Kızılbaş based on the type, content, and similarities of accusations. The examples studied here either reflect the religious sensitivities of the state or its political interests. The types, content, and similarities of accusations are asserted according to whether they breached the principles of Sunni Islam, public morality, or political interest. The present examination questions whether it is possible to categorize them and whether it is possible to attribute a “religious” or “political” quality to them in a clear-cut way. The introduction positions this study within Ottoman Sunni confessionalization and empire-building processes in the sixteenth century world. The second chapter examines how the Kızılbaş were defined by political and religious authorities. The third chapter explores the Ottoman criminal process. The fourth chapter categorizes the offences that were made against the Kızılbaş and examines each category in detail with multiple examples