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

After performing the pilgrimage to Mecca, Shaykh Safī died on September 12,
1334 at Ardabil. 437 As Mazzaoui concludes, two significant facts exist about the Order
of Ardabil during his lifetime; namely, “one: the high respect which the Order and
Shaykh Safī enjoyed under the Mongols, and two: the curious fact that most of the
inhabitants of Ardabil were of [the] Šāfi’ī school and were followers of Shaykh Safī ad-
Dīn.” 438 Furthermore, Shaykh Safī himself was a sincere and prudent follower of sunni
Islam. However, the nature of contact between the Order and the Turkoman milieu, even
its existence, is not clear in the available sources.
Towards the end of his life Shaykh Safī named his second son Shaykh Sadruddin
Musa 439 (1305-1391) as his successor. 440 Shaykh Sadruddin held the position for 57
years. His Shaykhdom witnessed the further proliferation of disciples and the influence
of his family on regional politics. The wealth of the tekke also increased considerably; 441
and his followers visited Ardabil in great numbers. 442 During his long term of office,
many Ilkhanid amīrs and Mongol nobles became his disciples. 443 As Tārīkh-i ‘Ālam-ārā
writes, “[his glory] spread everywhere, the number of adepts increased and these
brought him masses of valuables, and soon, as his father’s successor, he added to the
spoken at court.” BRW, p. 15. Attempting to prove the dominance of Turkish in the Safavid realm,
Browne also calls attention to the fact that the war-cry of Safavid soldiers was not “Long live Persia!” or
the like, but rather, in the Turkish language, “O my spiritual guide and master whose sacrifice I am!” Is
this your translation or his? If it’s yours, change it to: “O my spiritual guide and master, for whom I
sacrifice myself.” Also see Sümer, pp. 5-6. For several European travellers’ witness accounts see Fuat
Köprülü, “Âzerî”, IA, pp. 120-21.
437 Sarwar, p. 21; Savory, Iran under the Safavids, p. 9;
438 Mazzaoui, p. 46.
439 Sadruddin Musa was born from the marriage of Shaykh Safī and Bibī Fatima, the daughter of Shaykh
Zāhid Gilnānī. HS recounts Shaykh Zāhid’s miraculous foretelling of the birth of Sadruddin during the
wedding ceremony of Shaykh Safī and Bibī Fatima. See HS, p. 559. AA repeats the same account. See
AA, pp. 25-6.
440 HS, p. 559.
441 Savory, Iran under the Safavids, p. 9.
442 Sarwar, p. 21.
443 AA, p. 26. However, Shaykh Sadruddin seems to have occasionally fallen into conflict with temporal
rulers. The competition between him and Malik Ashraf is recorded in Safavid sources. See, for example,
HS, p. 560; HT, pp. 137-48.
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