|kizəl|bäsh noun
( plural kizilbash or kizilbashes )
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Turkish kizilbaş, from kizil red + baş head
1. : a Persianized Turk of a class devoted to business and professional pursuits in Afghanistan ; also : a member of a community of Turkish or mixed-race colonists in Asia Minor
2. : a community of Kurdish Turks in eastern Turkey who are Christians and whose women refuse to veil their faces
3. : a nomadic people in the plains around Ankara, Karahisar, and Tokat professing the Muslim religion but practicing ancient pagan rites