 Tamgha of Afshar according toMahmud al-Kashgari, which representsBonelli's eagle according toAbu al-Ghazi Bahadur | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Iran200,000–342,000[1]  Turkey, Afghanistan | |
| Languages | |
| Afshar dialect,Persian,[2]Turkish,Turkmen[3][page needed] | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Oghuz Turks |
Afshar (Azerbaijani:Əfşarافشار;Turkish:Avşar,Afşar;Turkmen:Owşarاوْوشار;Persian:افشار,romanized: Afshār) is a tribe ofOghuz Turkic origin that split into several groups inIran,Turkey andAfghanistan.[4][5]
Afshar means "obedient". According toRashid-al-Din Hamadani, Afshar, the eponymous founder of the tribe, was a son of Yildiz Khan, the third son ofOghuz Khan.[6] During theSeljuk conquests of the 11th century, they moved fromCentral Asia into theMiddle East.[4] They are noted in history for being one of theQizilbash tribes that helped establish theSafavid and later theAfsharid dynasty of Iran.[4]Nader Shah, who became the monarch of Iran in 1736, was from the Qereklu clan (Persian:قرخلو) of Afshars.[7][8] The founders of theGermiyanids,[9][10] and theKhalkhal Khanate were also of Afshar descent. The founder of theKaramanids may have also been of Afshar descent.[4]
Today, Afshars mainly inhabit Iran,[11] where they remain a largely nomadic group.[12] They are variously grouped as a branch of theAzerbaijanis[13][14] orTurkomans (a common general term used for people ofOghuz Turkic origin).[15]
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani explained the nameAfshar as meaning "nimble, agile". According to linguistGyula Németh, the nameAfshar derives from the Turkic rootauš- 'to obey', which appears in theTatar andCrimean Tatar languages.[16] Thus,Afshar means "obedient".[6]
The name of this tribe appears asƏfşar in the works ofMahmud al-Kashgari (11th century) andFakhruddin Mubarak Shah (early 13th century), whereasRashid al-Din Hamadani (early 14th century) and those who relied on his account, including Yazıcıoğlu (15th century) and Abu’l-Ghazī (17th century), record it in the formAvşar. In sources predating theMongol invasions, the formƏfşar, consistent with the usage found inMahmud al-Kashgari and Fakhr al-Din Mubarakshah, is predominant. Although the pronunciation Avşar became more widespread inAnatolia between the 14th and 17th centuries, in the Safavid realm the tribe continued to be referred to exclusively as Əfşar. Today, inhabitants of villages and tribal settlements in Iran affiliated with this lineage still identify themselves by that name.[17]
BothMahmud al-Kashgari and Rashid al-Din, alongside the otherOghuz tribes, recorded the tamgas (tribal emblems) of the Afshars. In addition, Rashid al-Din states that the Afshars shared a common totem— a bird of prey— with three closely related tribes (Kızık, Baydili, and Kargın), and that the right side of the sheep constituted their ritual portion (toy ülüşü) in accordance with customary law. The same author further explains the meaning of the tribal name as “agile, keen on hunting.”[17]
The earliest mention of the Afshar tribe can be found in theDīwān Lughāt al-Turk byMahmud Kashgari, who flourished inc. 1075. Kashgari mentioned the Afshar tribe sixth in his list of 22Oghuz Turkic sub-tribes, and pointed out that the sub-tribal names are those of their ancestors "who gave birth to them in older times".[4]
In the 11th century, the first Afshar tribesmen entered Iran andAnatolia fromTransoxania along with other Oghuz invaders. More members of the Afshar tribe may have arrived during the Mongol conquests during the second half of the 13th century. For a period afterwards, the Afshar tribe is untraceable in historic records as a distinct group, for they are subsumed under label ofTurkoman. Furthermore, it seems that the different Turkoman elements were subject to diverse re-grouping processes, insofar that when new "tribes" came into existence, only some were able to maintain traditional Oghuz tribal names, such as "Afshar".[4]
Georg Stöber explains that in the political environment of the time the ranking of the different groups supported by (constructed) genealogies became increasingly important.Rashid al-Din Hamadani (died 1318) believed that the ancestor of the tribe was a person named "Afshar", who in turn was genealogically linked to the hero Oghuz. The Afshar tribe were also said to be part of the right wing (bozuq) of the Oghuz army.[4]
In the 12th century, two governors (father and son) from the Afshar tribe heldKhuzistan (southwestern Iran) for 40 years. TheKaramanid dynasty, who held sway in the MiddleTaurus (modern-day Turkey), may have been of Afshar descent. Afshar tribesmen are said to have belonged to nomadic groups in the region ofSivas, and the tribe was part of theAk Koyunlu Turkoman tribal confederacy.[4]
In later years, many Afshars moved to the east, where, as part of theQizilbash, they aided in establishing theSafavid dynasty of Iran. Other Afshars remained in Anatolia however, which at the time was Ottoman soil. There, on Ottoman soil, they formed separate groups. During the 19th century nomads in theÇukurova, who were known to migrate betweenSyria in the winter and Anatolia in the summer, were forcibly settled by the Ottoman Darwish Pasha in the area ofGöksun andKayseri; in the mid-twentieth century, villagers of Afshar descent could still be found in the vicinity of the latter two areas.[4]
The eastward movement of the Afshars from Anatolia is connected to the foundation of Iran's Safavid dynasty. The Afshars served ShahIsmail I (r. 1501–1524), as part of the Qizilbash tribes that were likely blends of each other and also transcended Turkomans. Stöber therefore explains that the 16th-century Afshars cannot wholly descend from the tribe attested in the 11th century.[4]
List of Afshar tribes are: Alplū, Arašlū, Bekešlū, Gündüzlü, Imirlü, Köse Aḥmedlū, Köselü, Pāpāglū, Qāsemlū, Qereḵlū, Karalu, Karamanlu, Salmanlu, Sindelli, Tur Ali Hacılu, Receplü, Balabanlu, Karabudaklı and Qirqlū.[19]
Afshars in Turkey mostly live inSarız,Tomarza,Yozgat andPınarbaşı districts ofKayseri province, as well as in several villages in Adana, Kahramanmaraş and Gaziantep provinces.[20]
While Afshars had remained nomadic and retained theirOghuz lifestyle, forced settlements caused them to adopt a settled lifestyle. A resistance against Ottomans under spiritual leadership of the bard Dadaloğlu and local Afshar lordKozanoğlu was proven futile.[20][21]
In 1570-71, within theBozulus, three branches ofDiyarbakir Afshars under Mehmed Kethüdâ numbered around 804, 367 and 109. Apart from these, there were many more Afshar branches under the administration of otherkethüdas.[22]
In the 17th century, some of Bozulus Afshars migrated toCentral Anatolia and settled mostly inKaraman Eyalet. Other ones, especially members ofDamascus Turkmens remained in their old settlements. This branch, which is calledboz ulus mândesi ('Bozulus remnant') on Ottoman documents, were later settled inRakka Eyalet, however many of the tribesmen belonging to this community migrated to Western Anatolia.[22]
In 1716, the Köpeklü branch of Bozulus Afshars were seen inMihaliçkaza. On the other hand, some other Afshars of Bozulus migrated to Iran during the reign ofShah Abbas.[22]
Several folk dances in Afshar-inhabited areas are known after the name of the tribe. Afshar kaba (Turkish:Avşar kabası) is danced around theBarak Plain inGaziantep.[23] Afsharhalay or ağırlama[24] (Avşar halayı orAvşar ağırlaması) is known aroundKırşehir,Yozgat,Keskin, as well asKayseri, while Afsharzeybek (Avşar zeybeği) is found aroundBurdur,Antalya,Denizli, andMuğla.[25]
In an Afshar village nearAnkara where, according to oral tradition, the ancestors of the inhabitants came from Central Asia, the researchers found that 57% of the villagers hadhaplogroup L, 13% had haplogroup Q and 3% had haplogroup N. The high rate of haplogroup L observed in this study, which is most common inSouth Asia, was difficult for researchers to explain and could not be traced back to any specific geographic location, and authors said it would be difficult to associate this haplogroup with the Turkic migrations, given the paucity of evidence.[26]
During the reign of Nader Shah, a group of Afshars assimilated with a couple of modernTurkmen tribes that currently live in the territory of present-dayTurkmenistan, such as Gekleng, Murcheli, Esgi, andErsary. It is known that they formed a backbone of the Murcheli tribe. The Afshars also played a major role in the formation of theTurkmen tribe of Alili.[27][better source needed]
