Bitlis (Principality)

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The Kurdish principality of Bitlis ( Kurdish : Badlis ) existed from 1182 to 1847 and emerged from the tribal federation of the Rojaki (Rozagi). The Rojaki defeated the Georgian King David III. and captured Bitlis and Sason in the 10th century. The principality occasionally came under the rule of other rulers such as the Aq Qoyunlu (1467–1495) and the Safavids (1507–1514). After the fall of the Aq Qoyunlu, the Rojaki princes regained their independence. In 1531 the prince Sharaf Khān entered into an alliance with the Safavids and was murdered by Olama Takkalu in 1532.

The famous Kurdish historian Sharaf ud-Dīn Khān al-Bitlīsī was the son of Prince Shams ud-Dīn and grandson of Sharaf Khān. Shams ud-Dīn fled to Persia under the pressure of Sultan Suleyman I and sought asylum at the court of Shah Tahmasp I. His son Sharaf ud-Dīn was born in 1533 and grew up at the court of the Safavids. During the reign of Ismail II , he fell under suspicion and was exiled to Naxçıvan . He fled from there to Van and was by Sultan Murad III. Appointed Prince of Bitlis in 1583.

The Rojaki princes were able to maintain their relative independence during the long rivalry between the Ottomans and the Safavids. In the middle of the 17th century, Abdal Khān was ruler of Bitlis. He was described by the French traveler Tavernier as the most powerful of the Kurdish princes. According to Tavernier, Abdal Khān was independent and did not recognize either the Safavid Shah or the Ottoman Sultan. Evliya Çelebi praised Abdal Khān as a prince of the Renaissance and the Thousand Arts ( Hazārfann ).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ EJ Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, p. 1144, ISBN 9004082654 .

Sources and web links