Ottoman tax registers (tahrir) and contemporary sources indicate that a very dense Qizilbash-Bektashi population inhabited the Rum Eyalet during the 15th and 16th centuries. A very dense Qizilbash population is also apparent in the Sanjak of Teke. Indeed, before the establishment of the Safavid state at the end of the 15th century, 40,000–50,000 Qizilbash were relocated from Teke-Karaman to the Azerbaijan region; yet one of the most striking facts is that an overwhelming majority—and according to some sources, all—of the Chepni were Alevi.