Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer, "Boundaries of Belonging: Sectarianism and Statecraft in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

June 23, 2026

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In 16th-century Anatolia, European observers reported that the vast majority of the region’s population followed the religion of the Safavids—Shia Islam—and warned that if war broke out between the Ottomans and Iran, the Ottoman state feared losing all of Asia Minor. This startling observation captures the central puzzle of Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer’s Boundaries of Belonging: how did a Sunni empire govern a massive Shia-leaning population that it simultaneously suspected, surveilled, and needed?

Who Were the Qizilbash?

The Qizilbash (literally “redhead” in Turkish) were not a simple religious minority. They were the architects of the Safavid Empire itself. The term originally referred to supporters of the Safavid Sufi order, which transformed over the 14th and 15th centuries from a spiritual movement in northwestern Iran into a militant, increasingly Shia political force. Followers wore a distinctive red headgear with twelve folds representing the twelve Shia imams. When Shah Ismail founded the Safavid Empire in 1501, it was Qizilbash armies that made it possible. For decades, European and Ottoman sources used “Safavid” and “Qizilbash” interchangeably.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Introduction & Guest Background** - Host Ruben Silverman introduces Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer and her book, *Boundaries of Belonging*.
2 (04:09) **Why This Period Matters & What’s Been Missed** - The 16th century is a formative period for both empires, but scholarship has been too state-focused.
3 (12:43) **Who Were the Kızılbaş?** - Definition, origins, and their role as the architects of the Safavid Empire.
4 (20:30) **The Ottoman Kızılbaş Problem** - How a significant Kızılbaş population came to live under Ottoman rule.
5 (24:49) **Why People Joined (or Left) the Kızılbaş Community** - Multiple, overlapping motivations, not a single explanation.
6 (35:27) **What Held the Kızılbaş Together?** - Rituals, objects, and networks that sustained belonging under pressure.
7 (44:14) **The Paradox of Migration** - The Ottoman state persecuted Kızılbaş subjects while actively encouraging immigration from Safavid Iran.

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Show Notes

Examining sectarian divergence in the early modern Middle East, Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer's study provides a fresh perspective on the Sunni–Shi'i division. Drawing on Ottoman Turkish, Persian, and European sources, Boundaries of Belonging: Sectarianism and Statecraft in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2026) explores the paradox of an Ottoman state that combined rigid ideological discourses with pragmatic governance. Through an analysis of key figures, events, periods, and policies, Boundaries of Belonging reveals how political, economic, and religious forces intersected, challenging simplistic sectarian binaries. Baltacıoğlu-Brammer provides a comprehensive historical account of Ottoman governance during the long sixteenth century, focusing on its relationship with non-Sunni Muslim subjects, particularly the Qizilbash. As both the founders of the Safavid Empire and the largest Shiʿi-affiliated group within the Ottoman realm, the Qizilbash occupied a crucial yet often misunderstood position. Boundaries of Belonging examines their role within the empire, challenging the notion that they were merely persecuted outsiders by highlighting their agency in shaping imperial policies, negotiating their status, and influencing the Ottoman–Safavid rivalry in Anatolia, Kurdistan, and Iraq, and western Iran.

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