Shir Sarim or Sarim Khan was a Yazidi leader who led an uprising against Safavid Persia during the reign of Shah Ismail I.
Sarim was described as being a âÂÂhundred and ten years old, with a white beard hanging down to his navel; and wields an axe that weighs seven maunds, or some 40 kilograms.â In 1505âÂÂ6, Kurdistan and Diyarbakir were being raided by Shir Sarim and Alàal-Dawla Dhu'l-Qadar. A History of Shah Ismail Safawi (1939) by Ghulam Sarwar, notes that "In the ensuing winter of 1505-6, the Shah proceeded to the frontier of Adharbayjan, for suppressing [Shir] Sarim, a robber-chief of Kurdistan. After slaughtering his followers and plundering the camp, for Shir Sarim succeeded in escaping, the Shah moved to the river Qizil-Uzfln."
In 912/1506âÂÂ7 a Safavid force which had been despatched in pursuit of Sarim fought a hard battle with the Kurds in which both sides suffered heavy casualties. Two high-ranking Qizilbash amirs were killed: âÂÂAbdë beg ShÃÂmlà «, who was IsmailâÂÂs brother-in-law, and on the inner circle of his companions (ahl-i ikhtisÃÂs), and SÃÂrà « âÂÂAlë MuhrdÃÂr Takkalà «. Shir Sarim's son and brother were captured and taken to Tabriz, where they were put to death.
Sarim's uprising lasted for the next four years, from 1506-10. In 1510, Sarim was defeated by a Persian army, and Sarim was captured and killed. The Kurdish prisoners were put to death "with torments worse than which there may not be".