Includes bibliographical references (pages 330-364) and index
Contents:
The Iraq connection : Abu'l-Wafa' Taj al-'Arifin and the Wafa'i Order -- The forgotten forefathers : Wafa'i dervishes in medieval Anatolia -- Haci Bektas and his contested legacy : The Abdals of Rum, the Bektashi order, and the (Proto-)Kizilbash communities -- A transregional Kizilbash network : the Iraqi shrine cities and their Kizilbash visitors -- Mysticism and imperial politics : the Safavids and the making of the Kizilbash milieu -- From persecution to confessionalization : the consolidation of Kizilbash/Alevi identity in Ottoman Anatolia
Summary:
"The Kizilbash were at once key players in and the foremost victims of the Ottoman-Safavid conflict that defined the early modern Middle East. Today referred to as Alevis, they constitute the second largest faith community in modern Turkey, with smaller pockets of related groups in the Balkans. Yet several aspects of their history remain little understood or explored. This first comprehensive socio-political history of the Kizilbash/Alevi communities uses a recently surfaced corpus of sources generated within their milieu. It offers fresh answers to many questions concerning their origins and evolution from a revolutionary movement to an inward-looking religious order"-- Provided by publisher
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.