Ali Mirza

Ali Mirza also Ali Safawi ( listen ^{? / I} ; * in the 15th century; † 1494 near Ardabil ) was the son of the order leader Sheikh Haidar and Halime Alamschah Begom; and brother of the later Iranian Safavid king Ismail I. His family was the leader of the radical Shiite Safawiyya and related by marriage to the ruling house of the Aq Qoyunlu . His father died on July 9, 1488 in the fight against the Shirvan Shah and Ali Mirza inherited him as the eldest son. Ali Mirza was the first of the Safawiyya leaders to acquire the title of Padishah (King), a sign that he also claimed worldly power. He gathered many followers of his order in Ardabil, where they called on him to avenge his father's death. The Aq Qoyunlu ruler and uncle Ali Mirzas Yaqub, who had helped the Shirvanshah against Haidar, was alarmed and had Ali Mirza locked up in the fortress of Istachr in southern Iran with his mother and two younger brothers Ibrahim and Ismail .

After four and a half years of imprisonment and the death of Yaqub in 1490, Ali Mirza was released to the throne Rustam in 1493 by the Aq Qoyunlu prince and pretender . He wanted to use Ali Mirza's influence and power in Safawiyya for himself. In return, Rustam is said to have appointed Ali Mirza as his own successor. Together they were able to defeat the other heir to the throne, Baisonqur. But over time, Rustam began to see Ali Mirza as a growing threat. Ali Mirza learned of Rustam's intention to kill him and fled with his men towards Ardabil. Rustam sent soldiers after him, who intercepted and killed him at Shamasbi near Ardabil. Ali Mirza had chosen his brother Ismail as his successor and had previously sent to Ardabil. Ali Mirza's body was buried in Ardabil at the request of his mother. His brother Ismail was supposed to defeat the Aq Qoyunlu after a few years in 1499 and unite Persia under his rule.

Web links

• Ali Mirza . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)