TURKOMANS BETWEEN TWO EMPIRES: THE ... - Bilkent University

The ethnic origin of the Safavid family is not clearly documented in
contemporary sources. The family’s claim of descendence from the Prophetic line has
been already discussed by several scholars, and a consensus was established. 428 To
summarize, the origins of Safavid family had no relation to the family of the Prophet.
The legend that family members descended from the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim was
a later invention, dating to the shaykhdom of either Hoca Ali or Junayd, closely
connected to desires for the appearance of shi’ite tendency in the doctrine of the Order
and aiming to provide legitimate ground for claims of worldly power. 429
Some scholars argue that Firuzshah, the oldest confirmed ancestor of Shaykh
Safī, was born to a Kurdish family. 430 Nonetheless, the family has certain affinity to
Turkish culture and language as well. An interesting entry in Saffetu’s-safa, which was
recited in some later Safavid chronicles as well, recounts that while searching for a
mature spiritual guide Shaykh Safī went to the Province Fars, where he encountered a
recommended Shaykh. After realizing the young age of Safī, the Shaykh calls him
“Turkish Pīr” (Pīr-i Türk). 431 The same phrase is used several times to name Shaykh
Safī in Saffetu’s-safa. But, how should we understand this phrase? Basil Nikitine, after
reciting these phrases in Saffetu’s-safa, argues that during this period, Ardabil was not a
428 In the context of later Safavid assertion that they descended from the family of the Prophet, the origin
of Safavid Dynasty, indeed, has been discussed at length by scholars and an agreement on the seyyidship
of Safavids has already been reached. To repeat all those discussions here would be repetitive. For a brief
summary, see Mazzaoui, pp. 46-52. According to Zeki Velidi Togan, the oldest well-known ancestor of
Safavids, Firuzshah, was a Kurd. See Z. V. Togan, “Sur L’origine”, p. 356.
429 An extremist form shi’ism was certainly implanted in the doctrine of the Order by the shaykhdom of
Junayd This topic will be further analyzed in the following pages.
430 See Zeki V. Togan, “Sur L’origine des Safavides”, Mélanges Massignon, III, 1957, p. 356. Togan
argues that the descendants of Shaykh Safi, who descended from a Kurdish family, were completely
‘turkified’ by the time of Shah Ismail. See i.b.i.d., p. 353.
431 Recited in Sohrweide, p. 99. AA recounts the same event. But in that account Safī is called “O Turkish
youth!” See AA, p. 22.
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