A Khurasani Sufi Ṭāʾīfa through miraculous formation, female succession, and Mongol destruction: the case of the Maqāmāt-i Shaykh Ẓiyāʾ al-Dīn Ḥātimī

Abstract

The Maqāmāt-i Shaykh Ẓiyāʾ al-Dīn Ḥātimī is a unique and little studied Persian Sufi hagiography, partially extant in two manuscripts in Istanbul and Rampur. The text describes both the life and deeds of its subject, a Sufi Sheikh based in a village in Khurasan in the lead up to the Mongol Conquests, and the difficulties faced by his followers when the death of their leader coincided with a deteriorating political situation. Touching on themes varying from property inheritance to female leadership and from symbiosis with Turkish groups to Alid marriage alliances, this paper will reconcile the text with the wider situation of the period. It considers the Maqāmāt critically as a representative of the hagiographic genre, questioning the reliability of its transmission of historical information and exploring the circumstances of its authorship.