Abstract Shaykh Safi al-Din Ishaq (d. 1334), who founded the Safavid (Safaviyya) Sufi order and gave his name to the Safavid dynasty, lived in Ardabil in northwestern Iran. Shah Ismaʿil (d. 1524), founder of the Safavid state, was buried in a tomb adjoining that of Shaykh Safi. Over time, a complex of buildings grew up around these two tombs and diverse objects were endowed to what became the Shakh Safi al-Din Shrine. Today, the holdings of some libraries and museums in Istanbul include manuscripts containing endowment annotations and the endowment seal of the shrine, most of which also contain the endowment seal of Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa (d. 1758), an Ottoman statesman, as well as a calligrapher, man of letters, and patron of poets. Ali Paşa served for five years in Tabriz, where he established a waqf, as well as in Ardabil and the surrounding region, before being appointed grand vizier (g.v. 1732–35, 1742–43). Shortly after he returned to the capital, he founded a complex there with a library on the grounds, to which he endowed his books, including a large number of works by poets who wrote in Persian. I argue that it must have been Ali Paşa who brought to Istanbul the manuscripts containing the endowment seal and endowment annotations of the Shaykh Safi al-Din Shrine in Ardabil.
Read full abstract