Qizilbash

Qizilbash or Kizilbash (Nastaliq: قزلباش - Qızılbāš; Ottoman Turkish for "Crimson/Red Heads"; sometimes also Qezelbash or Qazilbash) is the label given to a wide variety of Shī‘ī Islamic militant groups (ghulāt) that flourished in Anatolia and Kurdistan from the late 13th century onwards, some of which contributed to the foundation of the Safavid dynasty of Iran. The expression "Red Heads" is derived from their distinctive twelve gored crimson headwear (tāj or tark in Persian; sometimes specifically titled "Haydar's Crown" / تاج حیدر / Tāj-e Ḥaydar), indicating their adherence to the twelve Ithnā‘asharī Imāms and to Shaykh Haydar, the spiritual leader (sheikh) of the Ṣafaviyya movement.