A Persian Bureaucrat Between the Shah and the Sultan: Idris-i Bidlisi's Attempt to Seek Shah İsmail's Patronage

Abstract

Idris-i Bidlist (1457-1520) is undoubtedly one of the most original and important intellectual figures in the 16th-century Ottoman world. As a bureaucrat and historian of Iranian provenance, he lived in a very turbulent period of the Ottoman-Aqquyunlu, Ottoman-Mamluk and Ottoman-Safavid rivalry (rivalries) at the end of the 15th century and at the beginning of the 16th century. He established relationships at different times with each of these four dynasties which were hostile to each other. Although he is remembered for being under the patronage of Bayezid Il and Selim I, in fact he attempted to seek patronage of different dynasties in chis political atmosphere. No doubt one of the potential patrons was Shah Ismail. In the light of a recently discovered document this article discusses Bidlist's aim to find a new patron in the person of the Shah, an idea he conceived in Istanbul after leaving Bayezid Il's patronage, during his sojourn in Mecca where he travelled for realizing this aim.