As a firsthand observer of the political calculations of the Kurdish rulers, Iskandar Beg offers a sobering perspective on whether or not the masses and Kurdish rulers were concerned about the religious identity of their adversary. The Ottoman/Safavid texts have numerous passages of this type about the lack of loyalty to "the Shiite or Sunni-side":
A further incident which occurred this year was the arrival at the royal camp of Soleyman Beg Mahmudi, the governor of Kosab and Qara Heşar, a provincial governor subject to the Ottoman beglerbeg of Van. He now transferred his allegiance to the Shah, in the cus-tomary manner of Kurdish emirs, who always give their allegiance to whichever party is in the ascendant. But the expressions of fealty he uttered did not derive from any loyalty of heart. The Shah, although he had no illusions as to the worth of professions of loyalty by Kurds, accepted Soleyman Beg's protestations at their face value (it is usually advisable for rulers to do this), loaded him with robes of honor, and raised him to the rank of khan before giving him permis-sion to return to his own territory.
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