Assessments on Safavid/Persian Pilgrims in Ottoman Eastern Provinces in 16-18th Centuries

Safavid pilgrims in order to reach Damascus-Mecca used Erzurum-Urfa-Aleppo or Van-Urfa-Aleppo route as connection paths which was determined by Ottoman Empire for them. Those roads sometimes made Safavid pilgrims left in a difficult situation because of a competitive field for two countries. The impunity of being a pilgrim in all Islamic territorries could not protect them from attacks. Persian Landlords was appointed by Ottoman Empire, in cooperation with Kurdistan Rulers and local community, became part of the problem instead of protecting pilgrims; this situation often caused discontents between Ottoman Sultans and Safavid Shahs. In spite of this, Shiite pilgrims never interrupted. The hardships that Persian pilgrims lived, on the grounds of the politics of the two countries, are clearly visible in Ottoman archives, chronicles and travelbooks of the Safavid