The Role and Position of Kurd Tribes in the Wars of Shah Tahmasp I with the Ottoman

The Safavids were engaged in four major wars with the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Shah Tahmasp I (1514-1576 A.D.). Since the Kurdish-inhabited areas were the Iranian–Ottoman borderlands, the Kurds also unwillingly entered these wars and played their roles. Therefore, given the decisive role of the Kurdish tribes in this confrontation, this descriptive-analytical study basically seeks to determine the Kurds' approach to the battles occurred. The findings indicate that their approach drew on the influential political and economic factors and was closely linked to the policies of the Safavids and the Ottomans towards the Kurdish tribes. Thus, given the geographical location of the Kurdish-inhabited regions, through exercising expedient policies, the two rules sought to take the utmost advantage of the Kurds' military power and the strategic position of Kurdistan in their own interests and to win the battles. These confrontations eventually produced the maintenance of independence and political realm of Iran for the Safavids, the Ottomans' dominating Mesopotamia and reaching the coasts of the Persian Gulf, and the survival of the Kurdish local emirates for the Kurds.