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 ...
of
Sabzewar from around 1353 until his death.
Reign
Yahya, an aristocrat, came to power after the assassination of
Khwaja Shams al-Din 'Ali in around 1351. He had been informed beforehand about the assassination plot, and afterwards protected Shams al-Din 'Ali's murderer,
Haidar Qassib. 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
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, ...
claimant
Togha Temur, who ruled in
Astarabad
Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies app ...
. 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 coinage
[Roemer, 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 t ...
, 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