(t. “Red-head”). The word is used in both a general and a specific sense. In general, it is used loosely to denote a wide variety of extremist S̲h̲īʿī sects [see g̲h̲ulāt ], which flourished in ¶ Anatolia and Kurdistān from the late 7th/13th century onwards, including such groups as the Alevis ( ʿAlawīs ; see A. S. Tritton, Islam: belief and practices, London 1951, 83).

The ʿAlawīs were closely connected with the Nuṣayrīs [q.v.] of northern Syria and Cicilia, and the tahtacis ( tak̲h̲tad̲j̲is [q.v.]), in order to protect themselves from persecution by the Ottoman government as …