OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION’S POSITION AGAINST THE QIZILBASH (DERSİM SANJAC EXAMPLE)

OSMANLI İDARESİNİN KIZILBAŞLIĞA YÖNELİK TUTUMU (DERSİM SANCAĞI ÖRNEĞİ)

Abstract

It can can be claimed that, within the classical period -considered as marginal among the other islamic groups- Qızılbash were greatly excluded by the administration of the Ottoman empire, but they were not forced to be a part of the Sunni sect. But, dating from the 19th century, this view was greatly departed by the central administration. There are two main reasons for that. First of them arose from the thought of having a total control over the empire and making the most of the human resources available and the second reason was protestant missionaires’ intentions on Christians, Qızılbash, Yazidi, and Durzi people living in that area under the dominance of the Ottoman Empire. To this end, a great effort was spreaded particularly by Abdulhamit the 2nd to not to leave those societies under the Imperialist groups’s mercy and the central administration felt the need to develop new policies to gather Qızılbash, Nusayri, Yazidi and Durzi around the Padishah. It was hoped to reach that goal by assimilating these groups into Sunni practices and greatefforts were made in this respect. Within the framework of modernism, all reforms and actions were the parts of a greater whole. Besides, ret forms were not limited to a region or a certain population. In this context, this study examined the efforts made to assimilate Qızılbash into Sunni and evangelization policies of protestant missionairesSTRUCTURED ABSTRACT In the introduction, historical situation of Qızılbash in Anatolia was discussed. After that, otoman Empires’ definiton of The Qızılbash of Dersim was mentioned and perspectival and historical differnces between those definitons were revealed. On the other hand the attitudes of Qızılbash of Dersim against these activities. Findings were shared in the research report and in the conclusion these findings were evaluated under general headings. In the 14th century, most of the population in Chemishqezeq Sancak consisted of Turkmenians. At the end of this century, groups of Zaza Qızılbash had a deep impact on the demographic structure of that region. Conflicts between community dwellers and central administration became unavoidable since the ideology of the state changed into Sunni belief system. The Qızılbash of Dersim built residential units up to the farthest sections of this challenging area. Throughout the years, shirking their duties, they transformed into an irresponsable group that internalized banditry as a way of life. Being exposed to continuous military operations and becoming more and more radical, they eventually transformed into a legalized society. In addition to these political developments, social and economic situation of the region lead up to a feudal structure. The primary actors in this feudal structure were landlords and dede. Moreover, leaders of some tribes, having both titles, gathered their worldly and reliqious leaderships under the same roof. Particularly, dede were the most powerful actors of this structure through the period and they functioned as figures who control the members of their sect and as representatives of Qızılbash discipline. After losing a great amount of land, the state embarked on a quest of breaking the effectiveness of local powers to be able to control and rule it’s people, to make its presence felt throughout the country and to make the most of it’s human resources in a more strict way. The radical change in this period was structured through a plan. Reports were written regarding the implementation of the reports and their composition. In this period, a large number of reports were prepared regarding the correction of Dersim Sanjak. According to these reports: Dramatical changes were regarded as necessary in planning, transportation, communication, education and administration. Solutions advised by these reports can be seen as the parts of a whole. One of the solutions suggested by these reports was to assimilate Dersim Qızılbash into Sunni. Even at the end of the 19th century assimilation of Qızılbash was not a concern of the central administration. According to the author of this article, these actions were not the part of the states’ real policies and administrative pratices. But in that century, in which the state became weaker, they were originated from the need to not to leave those societies under the Imperialist groups’s mercy and to prevent the an alliance between internal threats like Armenians, Qızılbash, and yazidi. The most important step in assimilating these groups into Sunni sect was education. Schools that were assignd to educate the public of Dersim acted as a representative of Sunni ideology. It may be because of this perception that they were not able to become popular among the residants and they didn’t enroll their classes for being scared of their intentions. On the other hand, a teachers’ school to give education in Zazaki (Zaza language) were planned but it couldn’t be constructed. Plans of distributing Quran freely and using Naqshi and Maulawi sheiks couldn’t create any significant results. Plans regarding the mobilization of Sunni population into that area and transportation of the local population into different regions of the empire as soldiers couldn’t be realized. It should be claimedthat it’s necessary to see Efforts of the local population to serve as a state officer was strictly limited. It should be said that, the actions regarding planning, transportation, communication, education and administration in Dersim should be seen as a part of a whole. Through these investments, civilisation of the region and assimilation of the local population in to Sunni sect was considered to be of equal importance. Within the period, Islamic policies of Sunni sect had mean so much for Sunni Turks, Kurds, Georgians, Arabs, Albanians etc.. Like the other heretic groups, Qızılbash of Dersim this policies meant nothing. contrarily they were tied to their beliefs more strictly and became more resistant. And it can also be said tha

Özet

Klasik dönemde Osmanlı merkezi yönetiminin, Müslümanların marjinal grupları arasında sayabileceğimiz Kızılbaşları ötelediği; ancak bu grubu sistemli bir şekilde Sünnileştirme gibi bir düşünce içerisinde olmadığını söyleyebiliriz. Ancak XIX. yüzyıldan itibaren merkezi idarenin, bu anlayışından uzaklaştığı da bir gerçektir. Osmanlı yönetiminin bu anlayıştan uzaklaşmasının iki temel gerekçesi vardır. İlki, Tazimatla beraber devletin merkezileşme gayretleri çerçevesinde, imparatorluğa tam hâkim olabilmek ve insan kaynaklarından azami derecede istifade etme düşüncesinden kaynaklanmıştır. İkincisi gerekçe ise Protestan misyonerlerin Osmanlı tebaasından olan Hristiyanlara, Kızılbaşlara, Yezidilere ve Dürzilere yönelik çalışmalarıdır. Özelikle II. Abdulhamid, bu toplumsal tabanları, emperyalist devletlerin insafına bırakmamak için büyük çabalarda bulunmuştur. Merkezi yönetim Sünni gruplarla beraber Kızılbaş, Nusayri, Yezidi ve Dürzileri de, padişahın etrafında toplayabilmek için yeni politikalar geliştirmek zorunda kalmıştır. Bu grupların Sünnileştirilerek bu maksada ulaşılacağı ümit edilmiş ve bu hususta büyük gayretler gösterilmiştir. Modernleşmeyle birlikte, imparatorluk genelinde yapılan her türlü yenilik veya faaliyetler büyük bir bütünün parçalarıdır. Ayrıca yenilikler, bir bölge veya belirli bir nüfusla da sınırlı değildir. Bu bağlamda çalışmada, Dersim Sancağı özelinde, devletin takip ettiği politikalardan birisi olan Kızılbaşların Sünnileştirilmesi ve Protestan misyonerlerin Hristiyanlaştırma gayretleri irdelenmiştir. Giriş kısmında, Anadolu'daki bahsedilmiştir. Kızılbaşlığını nasıl tanımladığı, bu tanımlamaların dönemsel durumu ve bakış açısı arasındaki farklılıklara değinilmiştir. Ayrıca XIX. yüzyıldan itibaren Dersim Kızılbaşlığına yönelik Protestan misyonerlerin Hristiyanlaştırma çabaları ortaya konulmuştur. Diğer taraftan iki baskı arasında kalan Dersim Kızılbaşlarının bu faaliyetler karşısındaki tutumu anlatılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular araştırmada paylaşılmış, sonuç değerlendirilmiştir