Bozoklu Sheikh Jelāl or Qizilbash Shah Velī, as he is known among his disciples, (born 15th century, Bozok, Ottoman Empire [now Yozgat, Turkey] - died 1519, Erzincan, Ottoman Empire) was a rebellious and mesne lord man who gave his name to the Jelālī revolts (1519 - 1610).

His Life edit

Jelāl, who was mesne lord in the Bozok sanjak (which included today's Yozgat province in the Ottoman Empire), left Bozok after his business was disrupted during the Ottoman-Safavid wars (1514-1823), came to the Tokat region and started living in a cave near Turhal. Bozoklu Jelāl knew that Alevi Qizilbash Turkmens were in majority in the region; here he began to gather supporters after announcing that Alevis could not live their faith as they wanted, that the state was governed according to the Sunni Islam, that he was the Mahdi and that he would eliminate these injustices. Bozoklu Jelāl, who gathered mostly unemployed people around him, quickly gained fame by giving fatwas to those around him that all the prohibitions of the sharia were halal. Bozoklu Sheikh Jelāl, gained more than 20 thousand disciples thanks to the propaganda he carried out against the Alevi Turkmens and started preparations for the rebellion.

His Rebellion edit

When the dates showed 7th March 1519, Bozoklu Sheikh Jelāl, who was raised the flag of rebellion against the state, and the force consisting of more than 20 thousand pedestrians and horsemen under his command, quickly mobilized the Ottoman Empire. Sadi Pasha, who was Beylerbey of Rum, and the Ottoman forces under his command went on an expedition against Sheikh Jelāl. Sadi Pasha, who was defeated as a result of the clashes between the parties in the rebellion area, had to retreat to Amasya. After this defeat, Deli Husrev Pasha, who was Beylerbey of Karaman, went on an expedition against Sheikh Celâl to suppress the rebellion. However, when Jelāl and his army defeated the Ottoman army under the command of Husrev Pasha in the same location, the rebellion began to spread rapidly in Ottoman lands. Selim I, who was in Edirne at that time, appointed Ferhad Pasha, who was Beylerbey of Rumelia, to suppress the rebellion. Ferhad Pasha immediately set forth on Sheikh Jelāl, with an army, which was consisting of kapikulus and janissaries under his command. In addition, a messenger was sent to Alī Beg, who was Bey of Dulkadir, to help Ferhad Pasha. Sheikh Jelāl, who received the news of these developments, decided to take refuge in Shah Ismail, thinking that he could not cope with such power. Sheikh Jelāl, who gathered his supporters and reached Sivas, turned towards Şebinkarahisar when he received the news that Alī Beg was approaching him. Realizing that the rebels would flee, Alī Beg attacked Sheikh Jelāl and his supporters in Akşehir in the Erzincan region, without waiting for Ferhad Pasha, who was approaching Ankara. As a result of the harsh clashes between the parties, Alī Beg won and all the rebels, especially Bozoklu Sheikh Jelāl, were put to the sword and the first Jelālī rebellion was thus suppressed.

References edit