Emirate of Çemişgezek

Emirate of Çemişgezek (Kurdish: Mîrektiya Çemșgezek, Mîrektiya Melkişî) was an emirate ruled by a Kurdish dynasty and centered around Çemişgezek including Mazgirt, Pertek and Sağman. Although there isn't a clear account of its establishment and the first centuries, a certain Malik Shah is credited with founding the polity during the 13th century. Following the Mongol invasions, Çemişgezek was contested and sporadically occupied by different powers, namely the Aq Qoyunlu and the Qara Qoyunlu, where the emirate initially sided with the latter.

Despite earlier animosity, emir Sheikh Hasan forged friendly relations with the Aq Qoyunlu during the second half of the 15th century. With the rise of the Safavid dynasty in Iran, Sheikh Hasan's grandson Hajji Rustam swore fealty to Ismail I (r. 1501–24) and handed over the rule to a Safavid governor. After having sided with the Safavids, who were defeated by the Ottomans at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, Hajji Rustam sought pardon with the approval of Selim I (r. 1512–20), who executed him. However, Hajji Rustam's son Pir Husayn managed to secure his rule from Selim I in the form of an ocaklık (hereditary rule). Succession strife among Pir Husayn's children prompted the division of the emirate's former domains into new sanjaks (provinces), which various lines of the dynasty continued to govern under the Ottomans.

The region was inhabited by Muslims, composed of Kurdish tribes, as well as a slight majority of non-Muslims, primarily Armenians. The Kurdish population had Shiite tendencies. Some communities migrated east to Iran as Qizilbash and are claimed to be connected to the local modern-day Kurdish Alevis.