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

After the death of Shaykh Haydar, the sufis of Ardabil chose Sultan Ali
Padishah 698 , the elder son of Haydar, as their shaykh, although he was very young. 699
The khalifas and disciples of his forefathers frequented his court with gifts. However,
Sultan Ali’s activities in Ardabil were soon interrupted by the order of Sultan Yakub,
who esteemed the sons of Shaykh Haydar as a potential threat for his sovereignty. By his
decree, Sultan Ali, his two brothers Ibrahim and Ismail 700 , and his mother Alamshah
Bagum were moved to Istahr and imprisoned there in March 1489. 701 They remained
under custody for nearly four and a half years till the beginning of August 1493. 702
4.3.4. The Disciples of Haydar: ‘the People of Rum’
Khunjī constantly underscores the disciples of Haydar as mainly coming from Anatolia
(Rūm) 703 . After narrating the first two triumphant campaigns of Shaykh Haydar and
stating that all the kings of nearby countries were astonished by his success, Khunjī
adds, for example, “The Lord of Rum, despite all his army and dominions, was afraid of
the turbulence (bī-bākī) of the subjects of the Shaykh.” 704 On another occasion, when
Sultan Yakup called the Shaykh to ban his king-like activities the first thing that his
counselors advised was to obstruct his (Haydar) connection with his supporters, but
698 Sultan Ali is generally called as ‘Padishah’ by Safavid sources. As Savory underlines, his adoption of
this title must be a clear evidence of the fact that the claim of Safavid family for the temporal power
became even clearer. See Savory, Iran under the Safavids, p. 20.
699 Haydar left three sons begotten by his marriage with Alamshah Bagum: Sultan Ali, Mirza Ibrahim, and
Mirza Ismail. See, for example, HT, p. 156. Two contemporary Italians, Caterino Zeno and an unknown
merchant state this marriage also produced three girls. But they do not give the names of these girls. See
Caterino Zeno, “Travels in Persia”, p. 43; “The Travels of a Merchant in Persia”, A Narrative of Italian
Travels in Persia, p. 185.
700 Ismail was born on Tuesday, July 17, 1487, to Alamshah Bagum. HS, p. 562.
701 Ahsenu’t-tevārih, IX, p. 585; Sarwar, p. 26.
702 Sarwar, p. 26.
703 Others being coming from Tālish and Siyāh-kuh (Qaraja-dagh). See TA, p. 67. He also mentions
Shamlus elsewhere. See TA, p. 71.
704 TA, p. 69.
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