Sultan Sahak or Sultan Ishaq Barzanjî ( ku, سوڵتان سەھاک; late 14th century to early 15th century) was a Kurdish religious leader who reformed the modern beliefs of

Yarsanism Yarsanism, Ahl-e Haqq or Kaka'i ( ku, یارسان, translit=Yarsan or ; fa, اهل حق, ar, كاكائي), is a syncretic religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. The total number of followers of Yarsanism ...

and moreover considered to be the fourth of seven incarnations of deity. During his life, he had the role of overseeing the religious instructions of his angels and disciples. Many subsequent Yarsan leaders would trace their genealogy to Sultan Sahak.

Life

No consensus exist on when Sultan Sahak lived. Scholar Sadigh Safizadeh puts his date of birth between 1053 and 1215 AD. Yarsan sources consider the emergence of Sultan Sahak at the end of the 7th century. However, it is more probable that he lived around the late Mongol era and the rise of

Timur Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kü ...

since it is narrated that Timur himself met with the Sultan. Sultan Sahak was born in a poor family in Barzinjah near

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, G ...

and came from a well-known line of Kurdish

Sheikhs Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

. His family had moved to the region from

Hamadan Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...

long before his birth. His mother Khatun Dayerah was daughter of the famous Hasan Beg of the Jaff tribe, while his father Shaykh Isa, son of Seyyed Ali Barzanji Gorani, was a

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

leader. According to Yarsan mythology, his birth was miraculous as he appeared in the form of a divine falcon. It is said that he studied under Molla Ilyas Shahrazuri before settling in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

where he studied at the famous Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad. He afterwards travelled to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

for

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

. He returned to Kurdistan and built a mosque in Barzinjah to guide the local people. After the death of his father, the Sultan fell into a conflict with his brothers and he decided to settle in Sheykhan village in Avroman where he refounded the Yarsan beliefs. This story is however rejected by Yarsan traditions. Sultan Sahak was a chief

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...

and had twelve thousand followers in

Avroman Avroman or Hawraman, ( ku, هه‌ورامان, translit=Hewraman, fa, اورامان) is a mountainous region located within the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah in western Iran and in north-eastern Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The main part o ...

alone. Of his followers, he chose four (Benyamin, Piri Musi, Dawud and Razbar) to carry out religious instructions. These four disciples are considered angels in Yarsanism. The main religious book Kalâm-e Saranjâm was written when Sultan Sahak lived in Sheykhan village. He died near the village of Sheykhan on the Sirvan River. When

Vladimir Minorsky Vladimir Fyodorovich Minorsky (russian: Владимир Фёдорович Минорский; – March 25, 1966) was a Russian Orientalist best known for his contributions to the study of Persian, Lurish and Kurdish history, geography, ...

visited his site in 1914, he vividly described the location and the rituals associated with the grave.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sahak, Sultan Yarsan saints Iranian religious leaders Iranian Kurdish people Spiritual teachers Founders of religions 15th-century Kurdish people 14th-century Kurdish people