In a 17th-century Safavid collection of popular tales concerning the reign of Shah Ismail, we find a remarkable story about an attempt by Yazidi Kurds to capture Tabriz and take control of the Safavid Empire. The narrative is filled with recurring themes and motifs associated with Kurds and Kurdish figures, making it a valuable source for understanding their place in the popular imagination of the period:
At this time a messenger arrived from Tabriz with a message from Soltan Ebrāhim Mirzā stating that the Şārem Khān the Yazidi Kurd had raised a great army and was headed for Tabriz.
"Who is Şārem Khān the Kurd?" asked Shāh Esmāʻil.
"Şārem Khān is one of the calamities of the age," replied Hosayn Beg Laleh. "They say he is a hundred and ten years old and has seventy sons. None can match his bravery, and he has forty thousand households of Yazidi Kurds under his command. He heard of the rebellion of Mohammad Karahi and is leading an army toward Tabriz."
It was ordered that Saru Ali Beg, the keeper of the royal seal, take three thousand Qezelbāsh and go fight. He kissed the royal foot and hurried off, ar-riving in Tabriz twelve days after leaving Esfahan. Solțān Ebrahim Mirzā re-viewed a thousand of his own men and the Qezelbāsh and was intending to go fight Şärem Khān when the news came that Şärem Khān had gotten as far as the village of Sufiyan Kandi. Solțān Ebrāhim Mirzā said, "Since Tabriz has no citadel, if they enter the city, it will be a great disaster. We must go out to meet them." Saru 'Ali Beg said, "It is as the prince has said."
So the prince and Sāru 'Ali Beg and their army set out. They arrived in Salmās just as Şārem Khan the Kurd arrived with his army. Seeing twelve thousand Qezelbāsh facing off against his own, he deemed this a paltry number and or-dered that the war-drums be beaten. The ranks of war and killing were arrayed. Now Şārem Khān had a son named Sāru Khān, a man of powerful stature, without peer in valor. He leaped upon his mount and sought combat on the battlefield. One of the Torkmans entered the fray, but Sāru Khān felled him with one blow of his club. Another soldier approached and was slain the same way. That Yazidi Kurd killed ten Qezelbāsh, and no one wanted to venture onto the battlefield against him. When Soltan Ebrāhim Mirzā saw that nobody wanted to go fight, he himself leaped onto his mount to ride onto the battlefield. Sāru 'Ali Beg urgently be-seeched the prince to let him fight, but he did not listen, and even as Sāru Ali Beg was speaking, Solțān Ebrāhim Mirzā gave his stone-splitting spur to his horse and took off for the battlefield. When the eye of Saru Khan the Kurd fell upon the beauty of that prince, he saw that he was a man of extraordinary comeliness. He said, "O youth, is there no one else among the Qezelbāsh to come onto the battlefield? Come, I will take you to my father and elevate you to a high rank."
Solțān Ebrahim Mirzā said, "Take this!" and drew his sword. "So be it," said the Kurd, "but I cannot slay this young man; I must capture him alive." At that moment the prince of the earth, with a great cry, struck with his sword at the top of the Kurd's head. As Sāru Khān raised his shield, Solțān Ebrāhim struck him under his arm; all his guts came spilling out and he tumbled off his horse.
When the army of Şārem Khān the Kurd saw this blow, they at once charged at Solţān Ebrahim Mirzā. He would have felt shame if he fled, so he turned his face to that vengeance-seeking army. They surrounded that prince, but every-one he struck on the head with his sword was split down to the breastbone, and he ended up killing twenty-six renowned Kurdish warriors. Sāru 'Ali Beg and Mantash Khān killed a number of men themselves. The battle grew fierce, and a number of men were killed or wounded. As evening drew near, the war-riors withdrew from the battlefield and returned to their positions.
When the news of the death of Saru Khan reached Şārem Khān, he rent his collar in anguish, crying: "Today they brought me the news late; I was about to see the brother of Shaykh-oghli, but it did me no good. Tomorrow I will seek him out on the battlefield and bring this seven-maund battle axe down on his head!"
Şarem Khan's men arose at dawn and began forming their ranks, with Şārem Khān placing himself at the center. Like a gloomy demon, with his white beard flowing down to his navel, he put his black cuirass and breastplate on his chest and his helmet on his head. Then he headed for the field of battle like a crazed elephant. His son Qaplān Beg said, "O father, by the spirit of Mo'aviyeh, I beg you to let me go into battle to kill the murderer of my brother; he will be too afraid to come out to fight you.'
"O my son," said Şārem Khan, "you have sworn quite an oath before me! I give you leave to go fight."
So Qaplān Beg charged onto the battlefield and roared, "Where is the broth-er of Shaykh-oghli? Let him come out and fight!" Solțān Ebrāhim Mirzā spurred forth his steed and charged at Qaplān Beg. After some initial taunts and insults, they began their struggle. Qaplān Beg drew his sword and lunged at Solţān Ebrāhim Mirzā, but that lion of the forest of bravery fended off the blow by raising his shield over his head. Qaplān Beg took another swing at him, but Solţān Ebrahim Mirzā smashed him on the wrist with his iron mace so hard that he shattered the Kurd's hand and sword-pommel both. Qaplān Beg tried to turn to escape, but the prince dealt him another mace-blow which crushed his shoulder. The Kurd lost consciousness and tumbled from his mount. Solţān Ebrāhim Mirzā spurred his horse forward and trampled the bones of Qaplān Beg under its hooves.
Şärem Khān now came galloping in pursuit of Solțān Ebrāhim Mirzā, now joined by Sāru Ali Beg as well. "O youth," said Şārem Khān, "you have killed two sons of mine, any single hair of whose heads were worth a hundred of you!"
"Hell is waiting for the three of you to come together!" retorted the prince. Şārem Khān could bear no more. He reached for his quiver, took out his ivory bow, and nocked an arrow, aiming at the prince's chest. Solțān Ebrahim Mirzā, though, dove forward, and the arrow missed him and fell to the ground. The prince then sat straight up in his saddle again.
Şārem Khān bit his hand in frustration and nocked another arrow. Realizing that Soltan Ebrāhim Mirzā would repulse it, he paused, then let fly. Solțān Ebrāhim Mirzā flattened himself in the saddle to let the shot pass over him; then he straightened up into a manly posture again. The Kurd loosed another arrow, which also missed. The prince then went to bring his sword down on Şārem Khan's head, but the latter lifted his shield to ward off the blow. Şärem Khān then came in close, grabbed Solțān Ebrāhim Mirzā by the wrist, and wrenched his sword out of his hand. He raised it high, and when Solțān Ebrāhim Mirzā lifted his shield over his head, he brought it down on the prince's shield so hard that the impact shattered everything down to the roots of his hair. Sāru 'Ali Beg now came up and blocked Şārem Khan's way, hooking his sword-belt with his spear, but the Kurd, using the prince's own sword, sliced that spear in two. Sāru 'Ali Beg and his companions then gripped their swords and attacked Şārem Khān so fiercely that they nearly took his head off. Sāru 'Ali Beg's sword-point hit Şärem Khān squarely in the head, and blood came gush-ing out. That foul one, enraged, struck Sāru 'Ali Beg such a blow with his sword that he split him from stem to sternum.
Mantash Beg grabbed the wounded prince and set off for Tabriz. The Kurds pursued the Qezelbāsh and began to assault and plunder their camp. Şārem Khān kept shouting, "I am wounded and cannot keep up! Stop!" But it was to no avail. Four leagues outside of Tabriz, Mantash Beg encountered 'Abdi Beg Shamlu, who was there with six thousand men. Now after Shah Esmā'il had dispatched Sāru 'Ali Beg, he had had a dream in which Solțān Ebrāhim Mirzā fell into a sea of blood; Sāru 'Ali Beg tried to pull him out, but he too fell in. Both of them were thrashing about when Mantash Khān Ostājlu arrived and grabbed the hand of the prince and pulled him out. Sāru 'Ali Beg, however, drowned in the sea of blood. Mantash and the prince had gone a little way when they came to a great river, and Abdi Beg brought them across. When Shah Esmā'il awoke, he related his dream to his commanders. The next day he set off in the direction of Tabriz.
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