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History of Islam Vol 3 of 3 by Akbar Shah Najeebabadi

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Civil Wars after Sultan the Conqueror<br />

449<br />

<strong>of</strong> Asia Minor in a manner that the Ottoman soldiers<br />

breadth<br />

sustained not even a scratch. Such large-scale killing <strong>of</strong> the Shi'a sect<br />

was extremely horrible. The rest lost heart and renounced their new<br />

faith. The undoing <strong>of</strong> the conspiracy <strong>of</strong> Ismail Safwi was, in fact, a<br />

marvelous victory for Sultan Salim. Although Ismail Safwi fretted<br />

much at this unfortunate happening, he kept silent. But shortly after<br />

that, he came out with the open declaration that he was about to<br />

launch an attack on the Ottomans to restore his ancestral throne <strong>by</strong><br />

arresting and deposing Salim, the Ottoman. Having heard this Sultan<br />

Salim called a meeting <strong>of</strong> his courtiers and military commanders and<br />

informed them <strong>of</strong> his plan to invade Iran.<br />

This declaration was made at a time when the episodes <strong>of</strong> Iranian<br />

power had gripped the mind <strong>of</strong> everyone and Turkish troops had<br />

already tasted defeat at their hands. Moreover, Shebani Khan, the king<br />

<strong>of</strong> Turkistan had already been killed <strong>by</strong> Ismail Safwi. Thus, to the<br />

audience <strong>of</strong> courtiers and military commanders any thought <strong>of</strong><br />

attacking Iran was an act fraught with danger. They all, therefore,<br />

kept silent three times at the call <strong>of</strong> the Sultan. However, the<br />

doorkeeper, named Abdullah broke the silence. He moved ahead,<br />

knelt down before Sultan Salim and submitted that he and his<br />

companions were ready to fight under the royal banner and die for<br />

victory. Sultan Salim grew very happy and promoted him to the post<br />

<strong>of</strong> district collector. Other commanders also followed suit.<br />

Ismail Safwi<br />

Ismail's lineage is as follows: Ismail bin Haider bin Junaid bin Ibrahim<br />

bin Khawaja Ali bin Sadruddin bin Sheikh Safiuddin bin Jibril. Sheikh<br />

Safiuddin was the first man in the family to achieve a prominent name<br />

and was famous. He lived in Ardabil and served the people as a<br />

spiritual guide. It is after his name that the family came to be known<br />

as "Safwi." Following the demise <strong>of</strong> Sheikh Safiuddin his son,<br />

Sadruddin took up the patched garment <strong>of</strong> his father and replaced<br />

him as a spiritual guide. Sultan Bayazid Yaldaram and Timur were his<br />

contemporaries.<br />

Along with the defeat and arrest <strong>of</strong> Sultan Bayazid in<br />

804 A.H. a large number <strong>of</strong> Turkish soldiers were also held <strong>by</strong> Timur.

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