Ahmed Lur was a primary Luri follower of the

Hurufism Hurufism ( ''ḥurūfiyyah'', Persian: حُروفیان ''horūfiyān'') was a Sufi movement based on the mysticism of letters (''ḥurūf''), which originated in Astrabad and spread to areas of western Iran ( Persia) and Anatolia in the late ...

school of

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

in 15th century in Iran. He was one of the disciples of Fazlallah Na'imi, the founder of the Hurufism sect. Ahmed Lur also attempted to assassinate the

Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire of ...

ruler,

Shahrukh Mirza Shah Rukh or Shahrukh Mirza (, ''Šāhrokh''; 20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynasty in 1370. ...

. Though Shahrukh was injured in the altercation, the attack ultimately failed to kill him.

Biography

His hometown was in

Luristan Lorestan province () is one of the Provinces of Iran, 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Khorramabad. Lorestan is in the Western Iran, western part of the country in the Zagros Mountains and covers an area of 28,392 km2. In ...

. The Timurid era historian

Hafiz-i Abru Hafez-e AbruMaria Eva Subtelny and Charles Melville, (; died June 1430) was a Persian historian working at the courts of Timurid rulers of Central Asia. His full name is ʿAbdallah (or Nur-Allah) Ebn Lotf-Allah Ebn 'Abd-al-Rashid Behdadini; ...

mentioned Ahmed Lur as a commander of

Ahmad Jalayir Sultan Ahmad (سلطان احمد جلایر) was the ruler of the Jalayirid Sultanate (ruled 1382–1410), he was son to the most accomplished ruler of the sultanate, Shaykh Uways Jalayir. Early in his reign, he was involved in conflicts with h ...

, the Jalayirid ruler of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Ahmed Lur was accompanied by Jalayirid sultan in his last military campaign in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. Jalayir was killed in this war. As a result, Ahmed Lur decided to go to

Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...

and finally he settled in

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

, the Timurid dynasty's capital city. Lur started weaving hats in a simple booth. Apparently, this occupation (weaving the hats) had a special sacred place among the followers of Hurufism. As Ahmed immediately communicated with the followers of the Hurufism sect after entering Herat, it seems likely that Ahmed was already familiar with the sect before going to Herat and perhaps even while in

Efforts to kill Shahrukh

Sheykh

Fazlallah Astarabadi Fażlu l-Lāh Astar-Ābādī (, 1339/40 in Astarābād – 1394 in Nakhchivan), also known as Fażlullāh Tabrīzī AstarābādīIrène Mélikoff. ''Hadji Bektach: un mythe et ses avatars : genèse et évolution du soufisme populaire en Turquie' ...

, the founder of the

sect was killed by

Miran Shah Mirza Jalal-ud-din Miran Shah Beg (1366 – 20 April 1408), commonly known as Miran Shah (), was a son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire. During his father's reign, Miran Shah was initially a powerful regio ...

, son of

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

in 1393. As a result, a group of followers of Hurufism in the Timurid territory started revenge-seeking fights against the Timurid rulers. While he wearing a shepherd's coat, Ahmed attacked

, the brother of Miran Shah on the pretext of delivering a letter of complaint in Herats main mosque. The king was badly injured by the knife attack but ultimately survived. Ahmed was killed by a friend of Shahrukh Mirza, Ali Sultan Qouchin in 1426. After this incident, Shahrukh's emirs used this opportunity to repress the followers of Hurufism, leading to many being killed and even burned. A well-known calligrapher at Shahrukh's court was accused of having been a friend of Ahmed and was sentenced to prison. These persecutions eventually reached the point where the famous

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

poet,

Qasem-e Anvar Mu'in al-Din Ali Husayni Sarabi Tabrizi, commonly known by his '' laqab'' (honorific title) of Qasim-i Anvar (; 1356 – 1433) was a Sufi mystic, poet, and a leading '' da'i'' (preacher) of the Safavid order. Biography Mu'in al-Din Ali was bor ...

was exiled to

Samarqand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek and Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. Samarkand is the capital of the Samarkand Region and a district-level ...

due to his diwan being found in Ahmed Lur's booth.

References

{{Reflist Iranian Sufi religious leaders 14th-century Iranian people Lur people 1426 deaths