Taj Al-Din Ebrahim ibn Rushan Amir Al-Kurdi Al-Sanjani (or Sinjani;

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

:تاج الدين ابراهيم كردی سنجانی)‎ (1218 – 1301), titled Sheikh Zahed (or Zahid) Gilani, was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

Grandmaster (murshid-i kamil) of the famed

Zahediyeh The Zahediyeh Sufi Order was founded by Zahed Gilani of Lahijan. As a precursor to the Safaviyya tariqa, which was yet to culminate in the Safavid dynasty, the Zahediyeh Order and its ''murshid'', Sheikh Zahed Gilani, holds a distinct place in ...

Sufi order at

Lahijan Lahijan ( fa, لاهیجان, Lāhijān, also known as, Lāyjon in Gilaki) is a city near the Caspian Sea and the capital of Lahijan County, Gilan Province, Iran. According to the 2016 census, its population was 167,544 in 58,378 families. La ...

. He is also known as '' Sultân-ûl Khalwatiyya Abdülbaki Gölpınarlı, Türkiye'de Mezhepler ve Tarikâtlar ''(

Madh'hab A ( ar, مذهب ', , "way to act". pl. مَذَاهِب , ) is a school of thought within ''fiqh'' (Islamic jurisprudence). The major Sunni Mathhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE a ...

s and

Tariqat A tariqa (or ''tariqah''; ar, طريقة ') is a school or order of Sufism, or specifically a concept for the mystical teaching and spiritual practices of such an order with the aim of seeking ''haqiqa'', which translates as "ultimate truth". ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

)'', İnkılâp Yayınevi, 1997. and Tadj’ad-Dīn Ebraheem Zāheed al-Geylānī'' as well. According to Minorsky and Elwell-Sutton at the '' Encyclopaedia of Islam'', the tomb of Sheikh Zahed is situated a few miles to the south of the town of

Lankaran Lankaran ( az, Lənkəran, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a dis ...

Life

Since the mid-13th century, Sheikh Zahed has been revered as a spiritual authority and his tomb near

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

's Gilan Province, on the shores of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

, draws numerous pilgrims to the village of ''Sheikhanvar''. His ancestors came from the ancient Iranian city of Sanjan in Khorasan (located in present-day Turkmenistan). Fleeing the Seljuq

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity aggressively enter territory (country subdivision), territory owned by another such entity, gen ...

that would eventually conquer large parts of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, his ancestors settled in Gilan in the late 11th century. Taj Al-Din Zahed Gilani was able to attain cultural and religious influence on the

Ilkhanid The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

rulers (1256–1353), descendants of Genghis Khan, who followed Seljuq rule. His most notable disciple was

Safi-ad-din Ardabili Safi-ad-din Ardabili ( fa, شیخ صفی‌الدین اردبیلی ''Ṣāfī ad-Dīn Isḥāq Ardabīlī''; 1252/3 – 1334) was a poet, mystic, teacher and Sufi master. He was the son-in-law and spiritual heir of the Sufi master Zahed Gila ...

(1252–1334), the

Eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

of the Safavid dynasty (1501–1736). He wed Zahed's daughter Bibi Fatima and, overgoing the interest of Zahed's firstborn son, Gamal Al-Din Ali, was entrusted with the Grand Master's

Sufi Order, which he transformed into his own, the

Safaviyya The Safavid order, also called the Safaviyya ( fa, صفویه), was a tariqa ( Sufi order) founded by the KurdishSafi Al-Din's daughter from a previous marriage. 170 years after Safi Al-Din's death (and 200 years after the death of Sheikh Zahed Gilani)

Safaviyya The Safavid order, also called the Safaviyya ( fa, صفویه), was a tariqa ( Sufi order) founded by the KurdishSafavid Heir,

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

Safavi. The two families were to be intertwined for many centuries to come, by blood as well as mutual spiritual causes. The Sil-silat-al-nasab-e Safaviyeh or ''

Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

of the

Safavids Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

'', was written by Pir Hossein Abdul Zahedi, a 17th-century descendant of Zahed Gilani. This hagiography in praise of the Safavid forebears, was devoted to the genealogy of the Safavid Sufi masters. The Turkish Bayrami and

Jelveti Celvetîyye Tariqat or Jelveti is a Sufi order that was founded by ''"Akbıyık Sultan"'', a murid of Haji Bayram Veli in Bursa as ''"The tariqat of Bayramiyye-î Celvetîyye"'' and later reorganized by the Turkish saint Aziz Mahmud Hudayi. ...

orders also had their origin in Zahed Gilani's

Sufi Order.

Life

See also

References

Further reading