View source for Principality of Bitlis

{{short description|Kurdish principality}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = 
| conventional_long_name = Principality of Bitlis
| common_name            = Bitlis
| era                    = 
| status                 = {{plainlist|
*[[Sovereign State]]<br>{{small|(1182–1467) (1495–1507) (1514–1655)}}
*Ruled by:
**[[Aq Qoyunlu]]<br>{{small|(1467–1495)}} 
**[[Safavids]]<br>{{small|(1507–1514)}}}}
[[Ottoman Empire]]<br>{{small|(1655–1847)}}
| status_text            = <!-- A free text to describe status at the top of the infobox. Use sparingly. -->
| empire                 = [[Ottoman Empire]]
| government_type        = [[Principality]]
| event_start            = 
| date_start             = 
| year_start             = 1182
| event_end              = 
| date_end               = 
| year_end               = 1847
| event1                 = 
| date_event1            = 
| event2                 = 
| date_event2            = 
| event3                 = 
| date_event3            = 
| event_pre              = 
| date_pre               = 
| event_post             = 
| date_post              = <!-- Flag navigation: Preceding and succeeding entities p1 to p5 and s1 to s5 -->
| p1                     = Seljuk Empire
| flag_p1                = 
| image_p1               = 
| p2                     = 
| flag_p2                = 
| s1                     = Ottoman Empire
| flag_s1                = Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg
| image_s1               = 
| s2                     = 
| flag_s2                = 
| image_flag             = 
| flag_alt               = 
| image_flag2            = 
| flag_alt2              = 
| flag                   = 
| flag2                  = 
| flag_type              = 
| flag2_type             = 
| image_coat             = 
| coa_size               = 
| coat_alt               = 
| symbol_type            = 
| symbol_type_article    = 
| image_map              = 
| image_map_alt          = 
| image_map_caption      = Principality of Bitlis in 1835
| image_map2             = 
| image_map2_alt         = 
| image_map2_caption     = 
| capital                = [[Bitlis]]
| common_languages       = [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]<br>[[Persian language|Persian]] (ruling class/elite, bureaucracy, chancery, literary, Sufis, mercantile, scholarly, ''[[madrasa]]s'', building inscriptions, gravestone inscriptions)<ref name="Vural"/>
| religion               = 
| demonym                = 
| currency               = 
| leader1                = [[Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi]]
| leader2                = 
| leader3                = 
| leader4                = 
| year_leader1           = 1578-1597
| year_leader2           = 
| year_leader3           = 
| year_leader4           = 
| title_leader           = Khan/Hakim
| today                  = [[Bitlis Province]]
}}
{{Kurds}}
The '''Principality of Bitlis''', also known as the '''Bitlis Khanate''',<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Koç|first=Gülseren Duman|date=2021-03-04|title=A negotiation of power during the age of reforms in the Ottoman Empire: notables, tribes and state in Muş (1820-1840)|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2020.1856092|journal=Middle Eastern Studies|volume=57|issue=2|pages=209–226|doi=10.1080/00263206.2020.1856092|s2cid=231741839 |issn=0026-3206|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and the '''Bitlis Emirate''' (1182–1847), was a [[Persianate society|Persianate]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Genç |first1=Vural |title=The Cultural Impact of the Persian Language in and around Bidlis |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2024 |volume=57 |issue=1 |page=28 |doi=10.1017/irn.2023.61|quote=In fact, Bidlis was part of the vast “Persianate world” or, as Green reconceptualizes, “Persographia,” which stretched from the Balkans to Central Asia and from the Indian subcontinent to the Caucasus, the area where Persian language, culture, literature, art, and identity dominated strongly.|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] [[principality]] centered at [[Bitlis]]. It originated from the ''[[Rojak (tribe)|Rojaki]]'' (or ''Rozagî'') tribal confederation.

==History==
The Rojaki defeated the [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] King [[David III of Tao|David the Curopalate]] and conquered [[Bitlis]] and [[Sasun]] in the 10th century.<ref>E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, p.1144, {{ISBN|90-04-08265-4}}.</ref> The principality occasionally came under the rule of outsiders, such as the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] (from 1467 to 1495) and the [[Safavids]] (from 1507 to 1514). After the decline of the Aq Qoyunlu, the Rojaki princes asserted their independence. The principality supported the Ottoman Sultan [[Selim I]], and in return its rulers were named Noble Khans.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Eppel|first=Michael|title=Routledge Handbook on the Kurds |chapter=The Kurdish emirates |url=https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315627427-4|date=2018-08-08|pages=35–47 |publisher=Routledge Handbooks Online|isbn=978-1-138-64664-3|language=en|doi=10.4324/9781315627427-4|s2cid=186808301 }}</ref> In 1531, the Rojaki prince withdrew his support from the Ottomans and turned towards the Safavids instead, an event that led to the capture of the principality by the Ottomans.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Eppel|first=Michael|title=A People Without a State, The Kurds from the Rise of Islam to the Dawn of Nationalism|date=5 June 2016|isbn=978-1-4773-0911-7|pages=31|publisher=University of Texas Press |language=en}}</ref>

A good era for the principality began in 1578, when Sultan [[Murad III]] nominated [[Sharafkhan Bidlisi|Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi]] the Emir of the principality.<ref name=":0" /> Until 1596, eighteen Rojaki princes ruled the principality.

The Rojaki khans maintained their relative independence during the long rivalry between the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] and the [[Safavids]]. In 1665, Abdal Khan's status as the Emir of the principality was strengthened after a visit to Bitlis by the Ottoman sultan [[Murad IV]], as he supported the Ottomans in their feud with the Safavids.<ref>Eppel (2016), p.32</ref> Abdal Khan has been described by the [[French people|French]] traveller [[Jean-Baptiste Tavernier]] as the most powerful Kurdish prince. According to him, Abdal Khan was independent and did not acknowledge the Safavid or Ottoman states.<ref>Eppel (2016), p.33</ref> [[Evliya Çelebi]] has praised Abdal Khan as a [[renaissance]] prince and owner of a library of books in several languages.<ref name=":0" /> Several European travelers noted the ability of the emirate to call in militias (up to 12,000 cavalry forces) in order to defend itself.<ref>Eppel (2016), pp. 32–33</ref> The autonomy of the principality ended in 1655 as Emir Abdal Khan entered into conflict with the Malik Ahmad Pasha, the [[Wāli]] of [[Van Eyalet|Van]] at the time. Abdal Khan was accused of confiscating properties in Bitlis by merchants in Van and an{{clarify|date=March 2024}} his closeness with the [[Yazidis]]. As result, the [[Ottoman Empire]] ended its tolerance towards the autonomy of the principality of Bitlis and it was integrated into the [[Van Eyalet|Van eyalet]].<ref>Eppel (2016), p. 33</ref>

==Persian language and culture==
For centuries, Bitlis and neighboring [[Kurdish emirates|Kurdish principalities]] were profoundly influenced by [[Persian language]] and culture due to their connections with Persian-centered empires. Persian was the language of administration, used by [[Sufism|Sufis]], poets, merchants, and scholars. By adopting Persian, Bitlis’s ruling classes and elites aimed to integrate themselves into the broader [[Persianate society|Persianate]] world, portraying their social environment as part of this prestigious tradition. From the 14th century, Persian literary production flourished in Bitlis, with notable works by [[Idris Bitlisi|Idris-i Bidlisi]] and [[Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi|Sharaf Khan]]. Persian was predominant in palace education, ''[[madrasa]]s'', personal correspondence, and literary and historical writings. Despite a shift to Turkish in Ottoman bureaucracy during the 16th century, Persian continued to be used in Bitlis for communications with [[Safavid Iran|Safavid]] [[shahs]] and for inscriptions on buildings and gravestones. Although Bitlis’s role as an imperial vassal is documented only to a limited extent, surviving records show that Persian remained the language of bureaucracy and diplomacy in the Bitlis court throughout these centuries. Persian manuscripts filled the palace library, and its influence persisted in daily life and cultural practices well into the 19th century.<ref name="Vural">{{cite journal |last1=Genç |first1=Vural |title=The Cultural Impact of the Persian Language in and around Bidlis |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2024 |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=27–45 |doi=10.1017/irn.2023.61|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Kurdish dynasties and countries]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Alsancakli |first1=Sacha |title=Matrimonial Alliances and the Transmission of Dynastic Power in Kurdistan: The Case of the Diyādīnids of Bidlīs in the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries |journal=Eurasian Studies |date=2017 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=222–249 |doi=10.1163/24685623-12340037}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Dehqan |first1=Mustafa |last2=Genç |first2=Vural |title=Kurdish Power Holders in Seventeenth-Century Bidlīs: a Brief Introduction [Di sedsala 17an de li Bidlîsê xwedan-hêzên kurd: destpêkeke kurt] [خاوەن دەستهڵاتدارانی کورد له سهدەی حهڤدەههمدا له بهدلیس: پێشهکییهکی کورت] [Hukmdarê kurdî yê Bidlîsê seserra hewtêsine: destpêko kilmek] |journal=Kurdish Studies Archive |date=2025 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=196–232 |doi=10.1163/9789004726253_007|doi-access=free }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitlis, Principality of}}
[[Category:Former Kurdish states in Turkey]]
[[Category:Kurdish dynasties]]
[[Category:History of Bitlis Province|Principality of Bitlis]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1847]]
[[Category:1182 establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:Safavid Iran]]
[[Category:Vassal states of the Ottoman Empire]]