KIZILBASHES (

See also:

• TURKISH

Turkish, " Red-Heads ")  , the nickname given by the Orthodox Turks to the Shiitic Turkish immigrants from Persia, who are found chiefly in the plains from Kara-Hissar along Tokat and Amasia to Angora . During the wars with Persia the Turkish sultans settled them in these districts . They are strictly speaking persianized Turks, and speak pure Persian . There are many Kizilbashes in Afghanistan . Their immigration dates only from the time of Nadir Shah (1737) . They are an industrious honest folk, chiefly engaged in trade and as physicians, scribes, and so on . They form the bulk of the amir's cavalry . Their name seems to have been first used in Persia of the Shiites in allusion to their red caps . See Ernest Chantre, Recherches anthropologiques clans l'Asie occidentale (Lyons, 1895) .