ḎU’L-QADR

 

ḎU’L-QADR (arabicized form of Turk. Dulgadır), a Ḡozz tribe (Taḏkerat al-molūk, ed. Minorsky, p. 194) that became established mainly in southeastern Anatolia under the Saljuqs. In 738/1337 one of their leaders, Zayn-al-Dīn Qarāja b. Ḏu’l-Qadr, founded a principality incorporating the towns of Albestān and Marʿaš. These princes were clients first of the Mamlūks of Egypt and later of the Ottomans. The dynasty came to an end in 928/1522, when ʿAlī Beg, the tenth ruler, and his entire family were executed by order of the Ottoman Sultan Solaymān I (926-74/1520-66; Mordtmann; Mordtmann and Ménage).

The Ḏu’l-Qadr often opposed the Āq Qoyunlū, but in 860/1456 contingents of them joined Uzun Ḥasan (857-82/1453-78) before the battle on the Tigris and again in 878/1473 at the battle of Bāškent (Woods, pp. 97, 131-34, 212). As the Ḏu’l-Qadr principality crumbled, many tribesmen entered the service of Shah Esmāʿīl Ṣafawī (907-30/1501-24) and formed one of the most important of the Qezelbāš tribes. Several of their leaders were prominent during the reigns of Shah Ṭahmāsb I (939-84/1524-76) and Shah ʿAbbās I (996-1038/1588-1629; Eskandar Beg, pp. 140, 1085; tr. Savory, pp. 225, 1310); according to Eskandar Beg (p. 1084), under Shah ʿAbbās only the Šāmlū tribe had more prominent amirs than the Ḏu’l-Qadr. Yet it was in the same period that the decline of the tribe began. In the stiff competition for power and wealth the Šāmlū, Qājār, and Afšār tribes grew stronger, whereas the Ostāljū, Takalū, Ḏu’l-Qadr, and others gradually lost strength and subsequently disintegrated (Reid, p. 10).

During the Safavid period Ḏu’l-Qadr were found in Azerbaijan, in Fārs, and around Ganja; they were still present in the last area until the 1920s (Ḥasan Rūmlū, pp. 143, 151; Eskandar Beg, p. 458; tr. Savory, p. 631; Taḏkerat al-molūk, ed. Minorsky, p. 194; Valili Baharlu, pp. 61-96). The Ḏu’l-Qadr of Azerbaijan settled in the southern part of the province and the adjacent region of Ḵamsa. According to Lady Sheil (p. 397), they comprised some 200 households in 1849. Today the only vestige of that group is a village by the name of Ḏu’l-Qadr, 31 km south of Sareskand (Razmārā, Farhang IV, p. 234). The Ḏu’l-Qadr tribe of Fārs has left no trace, even though men from that tribe governed the province throughout most of the 16th century (Reid, pp. 55, 64 n. 88).

 

Bibliography: (For cited works not found in this bibliography and abbreviations found here, see “Short References.”)

Eskandar Beg, pp. 31-33, 47-48; tr. Savory, pp. 50-53, 80-83.

Ḥasan Rūmlū, ed. Seddon, II, passim.

J. H. Mordtmann, “Dul-kadırlılar,” in İA III, pp. 654-62.

Idem and V. L. Ménage, “Dhū’l-Ḳadr,” in EI ² II, pp. 239-40.

J. Reid, Tribalism and Society in Islamic Iran, Malibu, Calif., 1983.

Lady [M. L.] Sheil, Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia, London, 1856.

F. Sümer, Oğuzlar, Ankara, 1967, pp. 152, 282, 285-86, 338.

Idem, Sefevi devletinin kuruluşu ve gelişmesinde Anadolu Türklerin rolu, Ankara, 1976.

H. Valili Baharlu, Azerbaycan. Coğrafi, tabii, etnoğrafi ve iktisadi mülāhazāt, Baku, 1921.

J. E. Woods, The Aqqoyunlu. Clan, Confederation, Empire, Minneapolis, Minn., 1976.

M. H. Yınanç, “Akkoyun-lular,” İA I, pp. 251-70.

(Pierre Oberling)

Originally Published: December 15, 1996

Last Updated: December 1, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. VII, Fac. 6, pp. 573-574