The perception of Kızılbaş in the 17th century Ottoman Empire in the light of Evliya Çelebi Travelogue

Evliya Çelebi's 'Seyahatnâme' is a masterpiece consisting of 10 volumes describing the travels of a traveller living in the XVIIth century in the Ottoman geography for more than 50 years. Each volume describes the different geographies he travelled and the cities, towns, societies and cultures he encountered in these geographies. What makes Seyahatnâme important is not only that it contains travel notes, but also that it is a source of information about the culture, economy and geography of the Ottoman society of the 17th century. The concept of Kizilbash was generally started to be used towards the end of the XVth century. It is stated that this concept emerged as a result of Sheikh Haydar, the father of Shah Ismail, the founder of the Safavid State, making the Turkmen tribes in Azerbaijan and Eastern Anatolia wear twelve-slice red turbans, each symbolising an imam. In Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatnâme, the concept of Kızılbaş is generally used by attributing it to the Shiite belief. It should also be noted that Evliya Çelebi's judgements about the Kizilbash are negative. Evliya Çelebi attributes the reason for this to the fact that the Kizilbash led rebellions, spread fear among the people and interfered in political events. It should also be noted that the perception of Kizilbash in the Seyahatnâme is parallel to the perspective of the Ottoman bureaucracy of the period.