, a Persian Ṣūfī order that soon after its inception in the 8th/14th century transferred its loyalties to S̲h̲īʿī Islam. The Niʿmat Allāhiyya first took root in south-eastern Persia where it continued to prosper until the time of S̲h̲āh ʿAbbās. For the next two centuries it survived only in the Deccani branch that had been established in the 9th/15th century. Reintroduced into Persia with considerable vigour in the early 13th/late 18th century, the Niʿmat Allāhiyya became the most widespread Ṣūfī order in the country, a position it has retained until recent times. 1. The founder and th…