The Crisis of Religious Identity in Sixteenth Century Central Asia: The Centrality of ?Alidism in the Ma?har al-?Aja?ib

The present study explores the centrality of Alidism in the religious profile of a Sufi community active in the early sixteenth century in Mawarannahr, which was at the center of the ongoing major religio-political transformations in the aftermath of the decline of the Timurid dynasty. This community was led by a female Sufi master celebrated as Agha-yi Buzurg (the Great Lady). The misfortunes faced by Agha-yi Buzurg and her followers during this critical transitional period was related to her group's upholding the Timurid-era tradition of Alid devotion under the early Shibanid rule. The public proclamation of pro-Alid sentiments in post-Timurid Central Asia became dangerous in the early sixteenth century when the veneration of Al and his descendants started being associated with sympathies toward the Shii Safavids. It is remarkable that Agha-yi Buzurg's public career as a leader of the Sufi community consisting of male and female disciples was not the main factor provoking the attacks against her community, but instead, it was their admiration of Al and his descendants.