Ubaydullah Ahrar

Born in the Tashkent region, he received his authorization from Ya'qub Charkhi and became the most influential Naqshbandi shaykh of 15th-century Transoxiana. He used his sway over the Timurid sultans to protect the people from oppression and war (famously brokering peace near Shahrukhiyya in 890/1485); he is the pir of the Ahrariyya branch of the Naqshbandiyya, and the order continued through his successors Muhammad Qadi Samarqandi and Muhammad Zahid Wakhshi. He died on 29 Rabi' al-Awwal 895 AH (20 February 1490); his grave lies in the Khwaja Ahrar complex on the southern edge of Samarkand, a famous shrine. (Sources: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam 'UBEYDULLAH AHRÂR'; Encyclopaedia Iranica 'AḤRĀR, ḴᵛĀJA ʿOBAYDALLĀH'.)