10 Facts About Shaykh Haydar

Shaykh Haydar was responsible for instructing his followers to adopt the scarlet headgear of 12 gores commemorating The Twelve Imams, which led to them being designated by the Turkish term Qizilbash "Red Head".

Shaykh Haydar soon came into conflict with the Shirvanshahs, as well as the Ak Koyunlu, who were allied to the former.

Shaykh Haydar was succeeded by his son Soltan-Ali as leader of the order.

Shaykh Haydar's parents had married on the eve of Shaykh Junayd's invasion of Trabzon.

Less than a year later, Shaykh Haydar's father was killed in the Battle of Tabasaran.

Shaykh Haydar's only surviving sister, Shah-Pasha Khatun, was married off to Mohammad Beg Talish, a pivotal figure in the foundation of the Safavid dynasty in the early 16th century.

Therefore, Shaykh Haydar ordered for the production of boats in Khalkhal and Astara, in order to avoid having to go by land.

The Ak Koyunlu then ordered for the beheading of Shaykh Haydar; they buried his severed head later on in Tabriz.

Shaykh Haydar died not far from the location where his own father Junayd had died in 1460.

Shaykh Haydar's son, known regnally as Ismail I, would later move his father's remains, and bury them inside the Safavid shrine located at Ardabil.