The following account of the Safavid reconquest of Tabriz from Ottoman rule in 1603 is drawn from the seventeenth-century Armenian historian Arakel. It is particularly noteworthy for its portrayal of the Kurds as the Medes, as well as for the insight it provides into the fluid political loyalties of Kurdish rulers during the Ottoman–Safavid struggle for control of the region:
A certain Ghazi Khan (Beg), a Kurd, who was a grand nobleman and the ruler of the land of the Mar (Kurds), was pursued by the Ottomans; for the Ottomans wanted to kill him and rule over his principality. He, therefore, sent a loyal man named Khan Avdal ('Abdal) to the shah, requesting that he come and save him. He promised to be on the shah's side [in any ensuing conflict].
Another Kurdish grandee, named Ulama-oghli ('Olamā-oğli) Haybat Beg, did not send envoys, but came himself to the shah. The Georgian kings also wanted the Persians to rule their land, for they were outraged to the depth of their souls by the Ottomans, not as much for their oppression, as, especially, for the capture of their ruler, Simon Khan the Great. The Ottomans had seized him, taken him to Istanbul and killed him there. They also tricked his grandson, took him to Istanbul and killed him as well. Furthermore, there were many hostages of the Georgian kings at the Persian court: for example, the daughter and son of the above-mentioned Simon Khan of Tiflis; the son of King Alexander of Kakhet'i, who was named Constantine; and the brother of the atabeg¹ of Somkhet'i, named Tahmāsp-qoli. Many other Georgian hostages were in the hands of the Persian kings, as well.
From the land of Aghuank', from among the Armenians, came Sarukhan Beg and his brother Nazar, from the village of Voskanapat, the priest Oghlan and his brother Ghalabegi from the village of Hat'erk', Jalal Beg and his nephews from Khach'en, Melik Sujum from Dizak, Melik P'ashik from the village of K'ochʻiz, Melik Babē from the village of Britis, Bishop Melk'isēt' from the village of Me-likzada of Upper Zakam, and Melik Haykaz from the village of Khanatsakh in the land of K'shtagh (K'ashatagh). Moreover, all the inhabitants of four villages in Dizak left together and went to Persia. The shah settled them in the city of Isfahan. In addition, a third of the inhabitants of the small town called Dasht," which is located in the Goght'n gawar, near Agulis, immigrated to Persia and the shah settled them in the city of Isfahan as well. The reasons for the depar-ture of the people of Dizak and Dasht were the heavy taxes, extortion, destruction, and the violent and pitiless extermination of Christians [by the Ottomans]. They were all poverty-stricken, in debt, and without a way out; that is why they escaped to Persia. The men, whose names we have mentioned, were all notable men. They, as well as many other such persons, had gone to the shah, and the kat'oghikoi knew this. Moreover, it was clear to them that the shah would certainly come to the land of the Armenians. That is why they wished to go to him, to display their friendship to the shah and maybe to also gain his sup-port and aid against oppression and their debts.
After concluding all their meetings, Kat'oghikos Dawit' and Bishop Manuel of Khor Virap remained in Armenia. Kat'oghikos Melk'isēt', Bishop Manuel of Hawuts' T'ar, and Bishop Astuatsatur of Geghard left Tat'ew and traveled to Persia on some pretext. Once they crossed the borders of Persia, they continued their journey, without lingering, and traveled until they reached Isfahan. They ap-peared before Shah 'Abbās and told him of their intentions. The moment the shah heard and learned this, he was delighted in his soul and rejoiced in his mind. He cheered up physically and his happiness in those days was the greatest [happiness] he experienced throughout the rest of his life. As was characteristic of his insidious disposition, Shah 'Abbās began to extol them, gave them lavish gifts and offer-ings and invited them into his presence every day. He conversed with them about their goals and won their hearts. Feigning loyalty and friendship, he promised them great prosperity, and, with empty words, insidious and cunning ways, portrayed himself as a true friend. He thus managed to obtain all [their] secret thoughts. He learned of the ways into and out of their lands and [the names of] the men who were in charge. Realizing that their mouths spoke what was in their hearts, the shah ordered his military commanders to pre-pare the army to march. His order was immediately carried out. After that, the entire army moved in the direction of Tabriz against the Ot-toman forces, which had positioned their camp there, and were occupying Tabriz and its gawars.
The shah left Isfahan to go to Tabriz. He took all the notable men with him. They departed Isfahan on swift horses and reached Tabriz after several days. The Ottoman army was not prepared for the arri-val of the Persians, for the latter did not take long to reach Tabriz, but arrived within a few days. When Shah 'Abbās came to Tabriz, luck was with him. The governor of Tabriz, named 'Ali Pasha, who was the commander of all the Ottoman forces guarding the region, had gathered all his 20,000 men and had marched to the Salmast (Salmas) gawar against the aforementioned Kurdish lord, Ghazi Khan, for the Ottomans had learned the latter had severed his union with the Ottomans, had come to an agreement with the Persians, and had sent his confidant, 'Abdal Khan, to the shah. That is why the Ottoman troops had gathered and had gone to Salmas against Ghazi Beg. But, Ghazi Beg, prior to the arrival of the Ottoman army, had left Salmas, gone to the Urmiye gawar, and entered the impregnable fortress called Gogarch'in Ghalasi (Qal'e), located in the middle of Lake Urmiye, and fortified his position there. When 'Ali Pasha and the Ottoman army arrived in Salmas and saw that Ghazi Beg had left for Urmiye, he did not march on Urmiye, for he wanted to subdue the Salmas region and its fort first and then march to Urmiye against Ghazi Beg. Since there was only one strong fort, called Gharniea-rukh (Qarnī-yarūq) in Salmas, the Ottomans prepared to besiege it. The Ottoman army remained there for almost three months; they at-tacked the fort but could not take it.
While the Ottomans were attacking the fort of Qarnī-yarüq, the shah arrived in Tabriz. He left the city and moved against the Otto-man army. The Ottomans found out about the arrival of the Persians and when they ascertained that it was the shah himself who had come-for, prior to that, they thought it was just a general-they immediately abandoned their attack on the fort and moved toward the village of Sofian (Şufiān). There, on the field of Sufian, the two armies met each other in open battle. 'Olama-oğli Haybat' Beg dem-onstrated the greatest of bravery in this battle.
The Ottomans sought to reverse their defeat by organizing a campaign to recapture Tabriz. Under the terms of their relationship with the Ottomans, a number of Kurdish rulers were obliged to participate in the expedition. When the Ottomans encountered what proved to be a carefully prepared trap, they marched into it nonetheless.
The episode also offers a revealing glimpse into the nature of Ottoman–Kurdish relations during this period. Despite their temporary alliances with the Ottomans at times, Kurdish rulers pursued their own interests and priorities. In this instance, there appears to have been little enthusiasm for sharing the Ottomans' fate:
He then summoned all the great notables from the surrounding gawars, as well as from the Georgian and Kurdish provinces. Among them was the great no-bleman of the Kurds, whom they named Mirsharaf [Mir Sharaf]. He ordered all the commanders of the provinces and adjacent lands to gather in the city of Karin, that is, Erzurum. He ordered that each one assemble and fully prepare and arm his troops, march toward Van and join Ceğal-oğlū, when he arrived there, to go to Tabriz and fight the Persians.
After that, Ceğal-oğlū left Karin and went to Tigranakert, that is, Amida [Diarbekir]. He halted there to prepare and to gather an army from all the central provinces of Asia and Mesopotamia. The great and well-known pasha of the time, named Nasif Pasha, a native of the city of Beria, that is, Aleppo, also came to Amida and joined Ceğal-oğlū. They both prepared for war, for Nasif was equal to Ceğal-oğlū. These two gathered all the troops of the Ot-toman Empire, left Tigranakert, and came once again to Van. There they also gathered the troops from Kurdistan and Erzurum. A huge and innumerable army was formed. They left Van and marched to Tabriz. They reached the borders of that city, near a settlement called Sufian. The battle took place on the field of Sufian and the Ottoman army suffered a defeat. The much-experienced Shah 'Abbās divided the Persian army into four corps: he entrusted the first group to Allahverdi Khan and ordered him to advance overtly and openly against the Ottoman army. He entrusted the remaining three [corps] to his three notables: the first, to Gharch ghay (Qarchaqāy) Khan; the second, to Zu'l-Faqar Khan; and the third, to Pirbudagh (Pīr Būdāq) Khan. He or-dered that they hide and ambush the Ottomans from three sides. The shah, hidden with his ğulams, remained on top of a far-away moun-tain. When the day of the battle arrived, Allahverdi Khan came out with his troops and appeared before the Ottoman army. Seeing them, the Ottomans thought that the Persian army consisted of what they saw in front of them. They, therefore, eagerly attacked and began to fight. The Persians then, as previously agreed upon, gave a smoke signal. Seeing the smoke, those Persians that were hiding in ambush, rushed out, fell on the Ottomans, surrounded them on four sides and began the slaughter. They cut them to pieces and filled the field with corpses. It was a great disaster and a sad day [for the Ottomans]. The sardar remained in his camp, but he was in great sorrow, and, like a woman in childbirth with birth pangs, could not find rest or quiet anywhere. With a disturbed heart he glanced at the road leading to the battle, awaiting someone to bring him good news. But no one came.
The great paron, the Kurd Mir Sharaf, whom we mentioned ear-lier, was at the side of the sardar. In his soul, he sensed that the sardar's side was defeated. That was why there was no news. He tried to find an excuse to leave the sardar and flee. He, therefore, ut-tered these false words of consolation, "I beg your excellency to order me to take the battlefield. Perhaps I will meet the shah and fight him [challenge him]." Responding to his numerous requests, the sardar ordered him to go into battle. Mir Sharaf, however, left the camp and turned directly toward his domain without even look-ing back. The Persian troops were victorious over the Ottoman army and put them to flight toward the Ottoman camp. They followed on their heels, killing them and pushing them right to the camp. The Persians entered the camp and began to kill the Ottomans there as well. Qar-chaqãy Khan came near the tent of the sardar, struck it with his sword, cut it and went through it, but none of the Ottomans came against him. The bloodletting continued until nightfall: the Persians killed some, put others to flight, captured others and threw them down by the shah's feet. They claim that thirty-four famous notables were captured: pashas, k'ehias, ğullar-ağasis, sancak-beys, and many others.
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