Safavid Origins

The Safavid name is credited to al Sheikh Safi al Din al Ardabili [650 – 735 AH]. He was initially from amongst the followers of al Sheikh Taj al Din al Zahid al Kilani; a sufi preacher of the Shafi’i school of thought at Ardabil.[1]

He established a sufi order called al Ikhwan which spread much in the regions of Azerbaijan. After his death, the order—called the ‘Safavid Order’—was led by his son Sadr al Din Musa [704 – 794 AH]. At the death of Sadr al Din, his son Khawajah ‘Ali became the head of the movement and remained so for 36 years, passing away in Palestine in the year 830 AH. His grave his well known in Yafa as the grave of ‘Ali al ‘Ajmi. Khawajah had many encounters with Timur Lank (Tamerlane), the Mongol Shia, and had an inkling of an inclination to Shi’ism, though by no means an extremist. Some researchers suggest that his inclination to Shi’ism was a result of Timur Lank’s influence, who had gifted him the city Ardabil and its surrounds as an endowment to him and his sons. Another point of note is that since Khawajah ‘Ali brokered the freedom of some tribes held captive by Timur Lank, they became his ardent supporters and an integral part of his army.

After him, his son Ibrahim—titled Sheikh Shah, i.e., the Sheikh King—took his place at the head of the movement. His title was based on his affinity for kingship rather than leading a sufi movement. He passed away the year 851 AH. His affinity to Shi’ism, and more so Twelver Shi’ism was quite apparent considering the skirmishes his followers had with the Ahlus Sunnah at Dagestan under his instruction.

He handed over the reins to his leadership to his youngest son, Junaid who paid much attention to the monarchy and is advancement. Due to his ambitions and the many followers he had garnered, the other kings of the region were apprehensive of him and so they aligned themselves against him, forcing him to relocate to Aleppo and then to Diyar Bakr, where his relationship with Hassan Uzun flourished.

This Junaid was an ardent and extremist proponent of Shi’ism who fought against the Ahlus Sunnah. His sufi order, thus, became an amalgamation of Tasawwuf and Shi’ism. They were the mystics, whilst the Twelve Shia Imams were deemed their leaders. Junaid made clear and unambiguous declarations that he had completely disassociated himself from the Ahlus Sunnah and had become a Shia. He then waged war against the Kings of Turkmenistan, of Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu, as well as the Ottomans. When faced by insurmountable odds he made a pact with the Sultan of Aq Qoyunlu, Hassan Uzun, but was soon killed in one his wars at the city of Shirvan the year 861 AH. He was succeeded by his son Haydar who had been married off to Martha, the daughter of Hassan Uzun[2]. Her mother was Catherine daughter of John IV of Trebizond[3] and Bagrationi.

Haydar was the first to be given the title of ‘Sultan’ in sufi royalty. He instructed his followers, the ‘Darawish’[4], to adopt the scarlet headgear of 12 gores, commemorating the Twelve Imams, which led to them being designated by the Turkish term Qizilbash, meaning “Red Head”. His followers were ardent believers in him and held extreme views regarding their spiritual guides. They paid very little attention to worship, focusing on poetry, praise, and an extreme dogma in relation to the holiness of their spiritual leaders.

Haydar campaigned against the King of Shirvan in avenging his father’s death but was killed in the year 893 AH. He had three sons, ‘Ali, Ibrahim, and Ismail. The then leader of the Aq Qoyunlu, Yaqub was apprehensive of them and had them imprisoned; though they were later freed after his death. In the interim, both ‘Ali and Ibrahim were killed whilst the third, Ismail relocated to Gilan which lay along the Caspian Sea, south of Ardabil, where he was taken care of by the sufi leaders.

From a young age, his education consisted of an extreme Shia dogma and he, from a tender age, made inroads with the Qizilbash mystics arousing a movement of vengeance for his father and grandfathers murder. His efforts were realized and he led a campaign against the Aq Qoyunlu state the year 907 AH, killing its leader. He sat at his throne after all the tribes of Turkmenistan pledged fealty to him; tribes which were sympathetic to the sufi path.

He then founded the Safavid Dynasty.

NEXT⇒ Shah Ismail, first King of the Safavid Dynasty

[1] A city previously within the Azerbaijan region, now north eastern region of Iran, close to the Caspian Sea.

[2] He established the Aq Qoyunulu state which ruled over north eastern Iran.

[3] A city which is now within the Turkish borders on the shores of the Black Sea. It was at that time a Christian state.

[4] The mystical path of Safi al Din al Ardabili and his son Sadr al Din which was of the Ahlus Sunnah, gradually, evolved into a tradition with some Shia thoughts and then went on to becoming an extreme Shia ideological powerhouse. Tasawwuf has unfortunately been the target of Shia influence on many an occasion. Dr Kamil Mustafa, the Shia author, has written on this in his books al Fikr al Shia wa al Naza’at al Sufiyyah and al Silah bayn al Tasawwuf wa al Tashayyu’. This has also been inferred to by the orientalist Brown where he states, “Tashayyu’ and Tasawwuf were weapons of war for the Arabs and Persians.” See, A Literary History of Persia, pg. 410.

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