Yahya Karawi (died 1355/56) was the leader of the

Sarbadars The Sarbadars (from fa, سربدار ''sarbadār'', "head on gallows"; also known as Sarbedaran ) were a mixture of religious dervishes and secular rulers that came to rule over part of western Khurasan in the midst of the disintegration of t ...

Sabzewar Sabzevar ( fa, سبزوار ), previously known as Beyhagh (also spelled "Beihagh"; fa, بيهق), is a city and capital of Sabzevar County, in Razavi Khorasan Province, approximately west of the provincial capital Mashhad, in northeastern I ...

from around 1353 until his death.

Reign

Yahya, an aristocrat, came to power after the assassination of

Khwaja Shams al-Din 'Ali Khwaja Shams al-Din 'Ali (died 1351–52) was the leader of the Sarbadars of Sabzewar from 1348 until his death. Biography Shams al-Din 'Ali was a member of the Sabzewar aristocracy and a leader of one of the city guilds. During Shaikh Hasa ...

in around 1351. He had been informed beforehand about the assassination plot, and afterwards protected Shams al-Din 'Ali's murderer,

Haidar Qassib Haydar ( ar, حيدر), also spelt Hajdar, Hayder, Heidar, Haider, Heydar, and other variants, is an Arabic male given name, also used as a surname, meaning " lion". In Islamic tradition, the name is primarily associated with Ali ibn Abi T ...

. Unlike his predecessor, Yahya was a religious moderate and did not maintain many of Shams al-Din Ali's social programs. Early in his reign, Yahya undertook negotiations with the Ilkhanid claimant Togha Temur, who ruled in Astarabad. The Sarbadars had achieved independence from Togha Temur, but the two sides had subsequently come to a military stalemate. As a result of these negotiations, Yahya agreed to recognize Togha Temur as his suzerain and to pay him tribute. Furthermore, he agreed to present himself before the khan on an annual basis to renew his pledge of loyalty, something no Sarbadar leader had ever been compelled to do before. The Sarbadars therefore became vassals to the khan. In fact, this was all part of a plan by Yahya to eliminate Togha Temur for good. The appearance of the khan's name on Sarbadar coinageRoemer, p. 29; Smith Jr., p. 136 as well as the shipment of the promised tribute allayed Togha Temur's doubts about the sincerity of Yahya's intentions. Therefore, when Yahya and a group of 300 Sarbadars showed up at Togha Temur's camp in December 1353, he let Yahya and two others enter his tent armed. As the two leaders were speaking, one of the Sarbadars drew an axe and struck Togha Temur. Yahya then decapitated the khan. After Togha Temur was killed, the Sarbadars spread out through the camp and attacked the khan's troops. Most of them were quickly slaughtered. The Sarbadars even killed all of the animals in the camp in an effort to cripple the nomads' way of life. His victory complete, Yahya then annexed the khan's domains, including Astarabad. Unfortunately for Yahya, he did not long outlast the khan. In 1355 or 1356 he was assassinated. His nephew,

Zahir al-Din Karawi Zahir al-Din Karawi was the leader of the Sarbadars of Sabzewar from 1356 to 1359. Reign Zahir al-Din was the nephew of Yahya Karawi. After his uncle's murder in 1355 or 1356, the partisans of Wajih ad-Din Mas'ud attempted to take control of the ...

, was then installed by Haidar Qassib as head of the Sarbadars.

Notes

References

*Roemer, H. R. "The Jalayirids, Muzaffarids and Sarbadars." ''The Cambridge History of Iran Volume 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods.'' Edited by Peter Jackson. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986. *Smith, Jr., John Masson. ''The History of the Sarbadar Dynasty 1336-1381 A.D. and Its Sources''. The Hague: Mouton, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Yahya Karawi Sarbadars 1350s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain