Bayburdlu

Bayburdlu (Persian: بایبوردلو), or Bayburtlu (بایبورتلو), was a Turkoman tribe. Its name implies that the tribe's origins lay in and around the town of Bayburt in northeastern Anatolia. The anonymous Karamanid historian Shikari narrates that when the pastures between Konya and Ankara entered Karamanid rule, one half of the region was granted to Bayburd Beg, while the other half was granted to Turghud Beg, the eponymous leader of the Turghudlu tribe. According to the narrative in the Didighi Sultan Menakibname, Turghud Beg and Bayburd Beg were brothers and were dispatched to Anatolia (Rum) from Khorasan by Didighi Sultan, an influential descendant of the Sufi poet Ahmad Yasawi. The tribe dwelled in the northwestern parts of Iran and was loyal to the Safavids. Several tribe members were prominent figures during the Safavid rule of Iran. Qaraja Elyas Bayburdlu was one of Ismail I's (r. 1501–24) commanders at the Battle of Sharur in 1501. During the reign of Abbas the Great (r. 1587–1629), Shahverdi Beg Bayburdlu was a close friend of him, while Morad Khan Sultan Bayburdlu served as the governor of Arasbaran. Members of the Bayburdlu tribe were often appointed as the governors of the region of Arasbaran, where they had settled. A firman (decree) of the Safavid Shah Hoseyn (r. 1694–1722) attests to the recruitment of Emam Qoli Beg, the son of Mohammed Beg Bayburdlu, in the district around Shaki and Shirvan.

Bibliography

• Oberling, Pierre (1988). "Bāybūrtlū". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
• Sümer, Faruk (2012). "Turgutlular". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, Vol. 41 (Tevekkül – Tüsterî) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Turkiye Diyanet Foundation, Centre for Islamic Studies. pp. 420–421. ISBN 978-975-389-713-6.
• Tapper, Richard (1997). Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of the Shahsevan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52158-336-7.