Mahmudi (tribe)


The Mahmudi, also known as Pinyanişi, was an Ottoman-Kurdish tribe in the Lake Van region. According to Evliya Çelebi they had 60,000 warriors.
The Mahmudi tribe under their leader Hasan, until then loyal to the Safavids, switched sides to the Ottomans following the Ottoman attack on Azerbaijan in 1554 during the Safavid Campaign.
Their chief, Sarı Süleyman Bey, strengthened the Hoşap Castle in the Lake Van region, in 1643.
They bordered the Safavids, and were been raided by them.