Zahed Gilani was probably a
Talysh. Since the mid-13th century, Sheikh Zahed has been 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 village of
Sheikhanvar. His ancestors came from the ancient Iranian city of
Sanjan in
Khorasan (located in present-day Turkmenistan). Fleeing the
Seljuk invasion that would eventually conquer large parts of
Iran, his ancestors settled in Gilan in the late 11th century. Taj Al-Din Zahed Gilani was able to attain cultural and religious influence on the
Ilkhanid rulers (1256–1353), descendants of
Genghis Khan, who followed Seljuq rule. His most notable disciple was
Safi-ad-Din Ardabili (1252–1334), the
Eponym of the
Safavid dynasty (1501–1736). He wed Zahed's daughter Bibi Fatima and, overgoing the interest of Zahed's firstborn son, Gamal Al-Din Ali, was entrusted with the Grand Master's
Zahediyeh Sufi Order, which he transformed into his own, the
Safaviyya (Sufi order) Order. Zahed Gilani's second-born son, Sadr al-Dīn, wed
Safi Al-Din's daughter from a previous marriage. 170 years after Safi Al-Din's death (and 200 years after the death of Sheikh Zahed Gilani)
Safaviyya had gained sufficient political and military power to claim the Throne of (Northern) Iran for the Safavid Heir,
Shah Ismail I Safavi. 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 Safavids, was written by
Pir Hossein Abdul Zahedi, a 17th-century descendant of Zahed Gilani. This
hagiography in praise of the Safavid forebears, was devoted to the genealogy of the Safavid Sufi masters. The
Turkish Bayrami and
Jelveti orders also had their origin in Zahed Gilani's
Zahediyeh Sufi Order. ==See also==