‘Turkmen’ Sultan, Armenian Deputy?

What is it about?

This article presents a provincial governor in Dersim (contemporary Turkey) under qara 'Uthman Aqquyunlu around 1435 CE, who simultaneously used an Armenian and a Turkic name. Based on a detailed reconstruction of his biography and positionality, I suggest that his case shows how 'identitarian' binary concepts of language, religion, culture, or nationality should be reconsidered to allow for a more permeable understanding of how multiple registers and traditions were combined in elite self-representation.

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