Khwaja Ala al-Din Ali Ardabili

Son of Sadruddin Ardabili; he assumed leadership of the Safaviyya upon his father's death in 794/1392. Under him the order reached its widest influence, gaining khalifas in Anatolia, its reach extending to Timur's inner circle (Faruk Sümer questions the reliability of the account that Timur freed Turkish captives at his request in Ardabil). His significance for the Bayramiyya lies in Hamiduddin Aksarayi (Somunju Baba) pledging to him at Khoy and returning to Anatolia with his license; the chain of the Bayramiyya founded by Haji Bayram Wali thus connects to the Ardabil lodge (TDV also records the view that the license came from his father Sadruddin — a noted disagreement). Late in life he set out on pilgrimage with a large company; disciples gathered around him in Jerusalem, where he died in Jumada I 832 (February 1429; some sources 830/1427) and was buried in the Bab al-Rahma Cemetery along the eastern wall of al-Aqsa; his grave is known as that of "Sayyid Ali Ajami". In his era the Safaviyya remained a Sufi order. (Sources: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam; Encyclopaedia Iranica.)