Osmanlı-İran Sınırında Bir Serhad Sancağı: Bayezid (1578-1848)

Abstract

The struggle between the Ottomans and Iranians began after the second half of the 15th centruy. The Ottomans had a decisive victory over the Safevids and at this time the sovereignty of Bayezid Sanjak fell under the hands of the Ottomans. As of this time the Bayezid Sanjak was constantly exchanged between the two states until the last quarter of the 16th century. With the capture of Bayezid by the Ottomans, it became a buffer zone between the Ottoman state and the Safevids. The Ottoman State used the Bayezid Sanjak as a border outpost and it received significant logistic support from the Bayezid during the military expeditions carried out against the Safevids. As Bayezid, located on the serhad border, was frequently attacked, the Sanjak was damaged a lot. These attacks resulted in the desolation of the villages near the border as well as causing the emergence of social and economic problems. The Ottoman State always strengthened the castle to be able to protect Bayezid, which was a serhad sanjak, and always had to fortify the necessary ammunition. Since Bayezid Sanjak was located on the passing route of the Ottoman-Iranian border, there were always mobilizations in the sanjak. Most of these mobilizations stemmed from the nomadic Kurdish tribes. The fact that the Kurdish tribes passing along the border harmed the local community caused unrest. The lack of authority of the Babıali on the frontier caused the tribes to be more dynamic and it made them hard to be controlled. Also, the fact that the tribes easily passed between the borders, especially in the 19th centur, led to serious problems between the Ottoman and Iranian states.