The Insurrection of Sheikh Baha_al_Din Estiri and the Religious and Ethical Weaknesses of Safavid Legitimacy

تاریخ و فرهنگ

Article 1, Volume 43, Issue 1 - Serial Number 86, June 2011   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/history.v0i0.12953

Author

Ali Akbar Ja’fari^*

Abstract

The crisis of the religios legitimacy of Safavids close to the end of this dynasty’s governance triggered many uprisings and rebellions in different parts of their ruling domain. Sheikh Baha_al_Din Estiri was the leader of one of the most important uprisings in Khorasan. The sheikh, who has been frustrated with the Safavid court and government’s indifference regarding the Ozbacks’ attacks made on Khorasan, set up to Isfahan .His conscientious warnings were ignored in Isfahan and he was accused of sufism and unbelief. After returning to Khorasan and gathering his followers together, he took a stuggling measure that did not last long and the Safavid army crushed this movement .With due respect to the importance of the issue especially
the evaluation of the social and religious status of Iran during Shah Sultan Hossein Safavi’s ruling, the objective here is to analyze Sheikh Baha_al_Din Estiiri’s insurrection .The main assumption of this study is that the “Estiri’s uprising testifies the religious and ethical weaknesses of SafavidLegitimacy”. The suppression of this famous rebellion annihilated the will of the protection of Safavid state among people. The suppression of this noble attempt and similar acts paved the way for Safavid collapse.

Keywords

Sheikh Baha_al_Din Estiri; Legitimacy; Safavids; Khorasan; Shah Sultan Hossein