A Critical Review of the European Travelogues Reports on the Sufis of the Safavid Era

The European travelers' reports on the Sufi-era Sufism contain exquisite and valuable details as they are written out of the requirements of official historiography. Designed in a descriptive-analytical way, this article attempts to evaluate the reports of the travelers as compared to the works of dissidents, sympathizers, and Sufi scholars. The result showed that the travelers, due to their limited residence and specific routes, did not see the Sufis in many parts of Iran, and therefore their descriptions are not comprehensive. Travelers' reports generally indicate the continued confrontation of the Nemati-Heydari dervishes, the isolationism and remissness of some Sufis, and the dependence of a number of them on the government. Gathering money from passers-by and expressing keramats are also Sufi behaviors that have often been prejudiced and popularized by the travelers. Some Sufi services to the Shiite community and the popularity of the Sufi guardians have also attracted the attention of the travelers. Of course, there are some contradictions in the reports of the travelers, which may be due to the European mentality or the orientation of the translators.