Dersim
After the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion in Armenia, as in many territories subject to Armenia, Dersim, the people resisted the influence of the new religion and adhered to their old religious traditions. After the Byzantine Empire occupied the western parts of Armenian state, they deported as many of the Dersimites as they could capture to Thrace and made these refugees serve as soldiers against the Bulgarian invasion. Despite all Byzantine "tricks", the people of Dersim were able to prevent the establishment of Byzantine influence in their neighbourhood. Also the Seljuks defeated Byzantine Empire in 1093 but the people of Dersim did not submit to the Seljuks. At the time of the establishment of the Safavid Empire, Shi'ism, the official sect of the Safavid Empire, had been able to spread to Dersim in a favourable manner. The Kurds of Dersim showed favour towards Shāh Ismā'īl I and agreed to cede the fortress of Kemah to Ismā'īl as a military base to facilitate the military movements of the Safavids, on condition that their sovereignty and independence would be respected by Ismā'īl.