Safaviyeh
Encyclopedia
The Safaviyya was a Sufi order founded by the Kurdish
mystic
Sheikh
Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252–1334). It held a prominent place in the society and politics of northwestern Iran in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but today it is best known for having given rise to the Safavid dynasty
.
Safī al-Din grew up in Ardabil
but left it, for lack of adequate teachers, and travelled to Shiraz
and then Gilan. In Gilan, he became the disciple of Sheikh Zahid
, leader of the Zahidī
Sufi order. He eventually became Sheikh Zahid
's chief disciple and married his daughter. Upon Sheikh Zahid
's death, the Zahidiyya
came under Safī al-Din's leadership and was renamed the Safaviyya.
Safī al-Din's importance is attested in two letters by Rashid al-Din. In one, Rashid al-Din pledges an annual offering of foodstuffs. In the other, Rashid al-Din writes to his son, the governor of Ardabil, advising him to show proper consideration to the sheikh.
After Safī al-Din's death, leadership of the order passed to his son Sadr al-Dīn Mūsā
, and subsequently passed down from father to son. In the mid-fifteenth century, the Safaviyya changed in character and became militant under Shaykh Junayd and Shaykh Haydar, launching jihads against the Christians of Georgia
. Haydar's grandson, Ismail
, further altered the nature of the order when he founded the Safavid empire in 1501 and proclaimed Twelver Shi'ism the state religion.
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
mystic
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252–1334). It held a prominent place in the society and politics of northwestern Iran in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but today it is best known for having given rise to the Safavid dynasty
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...
.
Safī al-Din grew up in Ardabil
Ardabil
Ardabil is a historical city in north-western Iran. The name Ardabil probably comes from the Zoroastrian name of "Artavil" which means a holy place. Ardabil is the center of Ardabil Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 412,669, in 102,818 families...
but left it, for lack of adequate teachers, and travelled to Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
and then Gilan. In Gilan, he became the disciple of Sheikh Zahid
Zahed Gilani
The mystic Taj Al-Din Ebrahim ibn Rushan Amir Al-Kurdi Al-Sanjani , titled Sheikh Zahed Gilani, was Grandmaster of the famed Zahediyeh Sufi Order at Lahijan....
, leader of the Zahidī
Zahediyeh
The Zahediyeh Sufi Order was founded by Sheikh Zahed Gilani of Lahijan. As a precursor to the Safaviyya tariqa, which was yet to culminate in the Safavid Dynasty, the Zahediyeh Order and its murshid, Zahed Gilani, holds a distinct place in the history of Iran....
Sufi order. He eventually became Sheikh Zahid
Zahed Gilani
The mystic Taj Al-Din Ebrahim ibn Rushan Amir Al-Kurdi Al-Sanjani , titled Sheikh Zahed Gilani, was Grandmaster of the famed Zahediyeh Sufi Order at Lahijan....
's chief disciple and married his daughter. Upon Sheikh Zahid
Zahed Gilani
The mystic Taj Al-Din Ebrahim ibn Rushan Amir Al-Kurdi Al-Sanjani , titled Sheikh Zahed Gilani, was Grandmaster of the famed Zahediyeh Sufi Order at Lahijan....
's death, the Zahidiyya
Zahediyeh
The Zahediyeh Sufi Order was founded by Sheikh Zahed Gilani of Lahijan. As a precursor to the Safaviyya tariqa, which was yet to culminate in the Safavid Dynasty, the Zahediyeh Order and its murshid, Zahed Gilani, holds a distinct place in the history of Iran....
came under Safī al-Din's leadership and was renamed the Safaviyya.
Safī al-Din's importance is attested in two letters by Rashid al-Din. In one, Rashid al-Din pledges an annual offering of foodstuffs. In the other, Rashid al-Din writes to his son, the governor of Ardabil, advising him to show proper consideration to the sheikh.
After Safī al-Din's death, leadership of the order passed to his son Sadr al-Dīn Mūsā
Sadr al-Dīn Mūsā
Sadr al-Din was the son and successor of Safi-ad-din Ardabili. His mother was Bibi Fatima, daughter of Zahed Gilani. Sadr al-Din directed the Safaviyya for 59 years. During this time, the activities of the Safaviyya were viewed with favour by Timur, who provided an endowment for the shrine of...
, and subsequently passed down from father to son. In the mid-fifteenth century, the Safaviyya changed in character and became militant under Shaykh Junayd and Shaykh Haydar, launching jihads against the Christians of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
. Haydar's grandson, Ismail
Ismail I
Ismail I , known in Persian as Shāh Ismāʿil , was a Shah of Iran and the founder of the Safavid dynasty which survived until 1736. Isma'il started his campaign in Azerbaijan in 1500 as the leader of the Safaviyya, an extremist heterodox Twelver Shi'i militant religious order and unified all of Iran...
, further altered the nature of the order when he founded the Safavid empire in 1501 and proclaimed Twelver Shi'ism the state religion.
See also
- Safavid dynasty family treeSafavid dynasty family treeThe oldest extant book on the genealogy of the Safavid family is Safvat as-safa and was written in 1350 by Ibn Bazzaz, a disciple of Sheikh Sadr-al-Din Safavi, the son of the Sheikh Safi ad-din Ardabili. According Ibn Bazzaz, the Sheikh was a descendant of a noble Kurdish man named Firooz Shah...
- Safvat as-safaSafvat as-safaThe Safvat as-safa , also spelled Safvat al-safa or Safwat al-safa, is a hagiography of the Sufi shaykh Safi-ad-din Ardabili , founder of the Safaviya Sufi order.- Author :...
- Safavid dynastySafavid dynastyThe Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning...
- Msha'sha'iyaMsha'sha'iyaThe Musha‘sha’iyyah were a Shī‘ah sect founded and led by Muhammad ibn Falah, an Iraqi-born theologian who believed himself to the earthly representative of ‘Alī and the Mahdi...
, a rival Shi'a sect