Zahed Gilani

The mystic Taj al-Din Ebrahim Al-Kordi Al-Sanjani (1216 - 1301), titled Sheikh Zahed Gilani, was Grandmaster of the famed Zahediyeh Sufi Order at Lahijan. Sheikh Zahed is revered as a spiritual authority and his tomb near Lahijan in Iran's Gilan Province, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, draws numerous pilgrims to the picturesque village of Sheikhanvar. His ancestors hailed from the ancient city of Sanjan in Greater Khorasan in northeastern Iran. Fleeing the Seljuq invasion that would eventually conquer large parts of Persia, his ancestors settled in Gilan in the late 11th century. Sheikh Zahed Gilani was able to attain cultural and religious influence on the Ilkhanid rulers (1256-1353), descendants of Genghis Khan, who followed Seljuq rule.

The Shaikh's most notable disciple was Sheikh Safi Al-Din Ardebili (1252-1334), the Eponym of the Safavid Dynasty (1501-1722). He wed Shaikh Zahed's daughter Bibi Fatemeh and, overgoing the interest of Shaikh Zahed's firstborn son, was entrusted with the Grand Master's Zahediyeh Sufi Order, which he transformed into his own, the Safaviyeh (Safavid) Order. Some 170 years after Sheikh Safi Al-Din's death, the Safaviyeh had gained sufficient political and military power to claim the Throne of (Northern) Iran for the Safavid Heir, Shah Ismail I Safavi. The Shaikh's second-born son wed Shaikh Safi Al-Din's daughter from a previous marriage. 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 of the Safaviyeh [Order]) was written by Shaikh Pir Hossein Abdul Zahedi, a 17th century descendant of Sheikh Zahed Gilani. This hagiography in praise of the Safavid forebearers, was devoted to the genealogy of the Safavid Sufi masters.