The Fall of Safi S’hiite Government in Qom

By the collapse of the Ilkhanid state, the Safi family, one of the noble and well-known families of Qom gained power in the Shiite city, and members of this patron of arts and learning family governed over Qom and its outskirts for eighty years (736-816 AH/ 1335-1413 AD). In those days, Iran, especially central Iran was exposed to disorder, invasions, and conflicts between powers like Ale-chuban, the Jalayerids, and Ale-Mozaffar. In such conditions, the wise Safi governors secured Qom from attack by choosing a policy of coexistence with all powers around. However, they sometimes befriended and united with a faraway power to confront the enemy's attack. At the beginning of the second decade of the 9th century AH, Timur’s grandson Iskandar ibn Umar Shaikh (812-817 AH/ 1409-1414 AD) conquered most of the Iraqi ÁJam and threatened Qom too. In those days, Qarayusef Qaraqoyunlo (813-823 AH/ 1410-1420 AD.) had gained great power in western Iran. He was a Shiite. To confront Iskandar’s aggression, Qom’s ruler of the time Ḵhajeh Mohammade Safi (806-816 AH/ 1404-1413 AD) united with Qarayusef and provoked him into war with Iskandar. The Safi government was powerful and Qom had an excellent strategic situation; therefore, Ḵhajeh Mohammad’s decision seriously endangered Iskandar’s condition in the region and provoked him to conquer Qom. Qom was fallen by the treachery of one of Ḵhajeh Mohammad’s confidants.