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

5.1. THE CONCEALMENT PERIOD: PREPERATION FOR THE GREAT
HURŪJ
5.1.1. Sultan Ali Padishah
“Nothing could appear more unpromising than the position of the three little sons of
Shaykh Haydar, who were of the moment entirely at the mercy of their father’s
enemies.” 754 , writes Edward Browne while explaining the imprisonment of three
Safavid princes and their mother in the fortress of Istahr by Sultan Yakub’s men, just
after the death of Shaykh Haydar. According to Khwandāmir, Sultan Yakub did so
because of his fear that they would take revenge for Sultan Haydar’s death. He says,
after Haydar’s death sufis gathered in Ardabil and chose Sultan Ali, the eldest son of
Haydar, as his father’s successor. “In a short while many sufis assembled to offer their
congratulations on Sultan Ali’s succession, and some of them were intent upon taking
revenge for Sultan Haydar’s death.” 755 Then Sultan Yakub dispatched one of his great
commanders to capture the Safavid princes and their mother Halime Begum. When he
saw Sultan Yakub’s soldiers in Ardabil Sultan Ali, seeing no alternative to submitting,
754 BRW, p. 49.
755 HS, p. 564. Also consider HT, p. 162; AA, p. 35.
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