Finding the Root Causes of the Babaian Uprising in Anatolia (637 A.H.)

After converting to Islam in the Transoxiana, the Turks retained much of their previous religious beliefs. The victory of the Seljuks over the Romans in the battle of Malazgerd (463 AH / 1071 AD) caused the Turks and Islam to find their way to Anatolia. There were two types of Turks living in Anatolia: the civilized and urban Turks of Central Asia settled in the urban centers of Anatolia and the nomadic Turks settled in the villages and summer areas. The Seljuk policy in settling the Turks led to clashes between the nomads and the settlers. The nomads were dissatisfied with the government due to being deprived of sources of wealth; therefore, they revolted against the Seljuks. The Babaian uprising is a clear example of these uprisings, which, despite its failure, weakened the Anatolian Seljuk government. Using the descriptive-analytical method, this research aims to investigate the factors that formed the Babaian uprising. Thus, the author seeks to answer the following two questions: What factors caused the Babaian uprising? What was the contribution of each factor to the uprising? In response, two hypotheses have been proposed: a) Economic, political and religious factors played a role in the Babaian uprising. B) Although this uprising had a religious form, it seems that the main motive of the insurgent was to achieve economic goals