New Findings and Views on the Denominational Tendencies of Karakoyunlus with Reference to Historical Facts and Hakîki’s Unknown Poems

Abstract

The belief system and denominational tendencies of Karakoyunlus have always interested both European and Turkish and Iranian researchers. These researches have set forth various findings and views on this subject. It is surely that there is no consensus within these views; while some researchers qualify the beliefs of Karakoyunlus as “Shia” or “Ghali Shia”, some of them have brought forward the view that this state belonged to the Sunni denomination. This situation has led to contradictory ideas on the question of the belief or denomination of the State of Karakoyunlu.

This paper, based on various findings and views on the denominational tendencies of the State of Karakoyunlu which have figured in the literature to date, discusses findings and ideas set forth by historians from Europe, Turkey and Iran. After assessing these findings and ideas, the paper presents to reader findings which figure in the works of historians who lived concurrently with the State of Karakoyunlu. The researches, done both in the era of Karakoyunlus and in later periods, were assessed within the scope of history and folklore from a critical point of view. In addition to these findings and assessments, new findings and ideas, that need to be addressed, are set forth on the basis of the content of nine ghazals which we found in the “conk” of an Alevi “dede” during our fieldwork and which are likely to belong to Cihan Shah Hakiki, the ruler of Karakoyunlu. As a result of these new findings, that we made, and the critical analysis of the existing literature, it is aimed to eliminate the confusion about the belief system of the Karakoyunlu State, and ambiguity and uncertainty arising from it.