Padishah Khatun

Safwat al-Din Khatun (; 1256 – 1295), otherwise known as Padishah Khatun , was the ruler of Kirman from 1292 until 1295 as a member of the Qutlugh-Khanid dynasty in Persia and a poet in Persian language.

Life She was born in 1256, as the youngest daughter of Qutb al-Din (d. 1257) and Kutlugh Turkan of Kerman. She already had her own fiefdom in Sirjan thanks to her mother Kutlugh Turkan's visit to coronation ceremony of Abaqa in 1265.

Her first spouse was Abaqa Khan to whom she was married on 22 May 1272. She converted to Buddhism from Islam upon her marriage. The marriage was arranged by her mother to secure Mongol support for her rule. She was granted the household of Abaqa's late mother Yesunjin. She was instrumental in strengthening the rule of her mother Kutlugh Turkan and was her supporter against her siblings Muzaffar al-Din Hajjaj (1276) and Suyurghatmish (1280).

After Abaqa's death She did not leave for Kerman after Abaqa's death in 1282, choosing to stay in court and live with her mother until her death in 1283. She sent her sister Bibi Khatun to protect her interests in Kirman during her stay in court, ceding Sirjan to her. She obtained to co-rule Kirman due to her influence on Arghun in 1284. However, powerful vizier Buqa ruled in favor of Suyurghatmish, hastily married her to Gaykhatu and thus obtained her removal to Anatolia in 1286. She regained Sirjan in 1289 from Arghun.

Reign Upon Gaykhatu's election in 1291, Padishah again found herself in a position of power. She demanded to be given the rule of Kirman as her personal fief, which her spouse agreed to. She imprisoned her half-brother Suyurghatmish in October 1292. However he managed to escape thanks to his wife Kurdujin Khatun, only to be imprisoned again.

She minted coins in Kerman with the regnal name Padishah Khatun, citing her husband the Ilkhan Gaykhatu as overlord with the title Padishah-I Jahan (Ruler of the World/Universe).

Death When her husband Gaykhatu was assassinated on 21 March 1295, Padishah was thrown into a difficult position. She was immediately imprisoned on orders of Kurdujin Khatun and Shah Alam - Suyurghatmish's widow and daughter. She was strangled to death on her way to Baydu's court in Kushk-e Zar in June/July 1295. She was buried in Gubba-i Sabz Mausoleum as her mother during reign of Muzaffar al-Din Mohammad.

Legacy Padishah earned mention in the travel diary of Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, a contemporary of Padishah. She was also skilled at calligraphy.