The State Pir; Sheikh Safi-Ad-Din Ardabili Foundation

Sheikh Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252-1334), is a murshid who is the eponym of the Safavid Dynasty, which was founded by Shah Ismail It and highly respected in Turkish and Persian regions. The Ilkhanids ruled Iran at that time and later the other Turkish states (The Timurids, Aq Qoyunlu, the Safavids) made over some of their incomes to the dargah (khanqah) of Sheikh Safi-ad-din in Ardabil. When it conquered this area at the beginning of the 18(th) century, The Ottoman Empire also recognized the foundations donated to this clargah by the ancestors of the Safevids, and recorded them in a register. This foundation register is the most important source showing the socio-economic status of the Sheikh Safi-Ad-Din Ardabili Foundation. Based on this register, in this study, it was tried to explore the conditions of the Sheikh Safi-Ad-Din Ardabili Foundation. its incomes and expenditures, its economic value, its staff and their salaries, the needs of the complex of a clargah, a tomb, a masjid and an imaret, and their expenditures. For this purpose, the foundation register in "siyakat" writing system was completely read and evaluated. The information obtained in this study reveals that the foundation had a noteworthy economic power in terms of its sources of income.