Sheikh Said of Palu or Piran was a Zazasheikh and one of the leaders of Kurdish rebellion, also known as the Sheikh Said Rebellion and a Sheikh of the Naqshbandi order. He was born in 1865 in Palu to an influential family from the Naqshbandi order. He had five brothers. Still in his childhood, the family settled to Hınıs, Erzurum, where his grandfather was an influential Sheikh. In Hınıs Sheikh Said studied religious sciences and was involved in the localtekke set up by his grandfather Sheik Ali. His grandfather was a respected leader of the religious community and his grave was visited by thousands of pilgrims. He became the head of the religious community after his father SheikMahmud died. In 1907 he toured the neighboring provinces in the east and he established contacts with officers from the Hamidye cavalry. He urged the Kurdish deputies in the parliament to form a party of their own. Later he became a leader of the Azadî, a secret Kurdish society of former officers of the Hamidye and Kurdish notables. The Azadi was to become a leading force in the Sheikh Said Rebellion which began in February 1925 and starting from in Piran, soon spread as far as the surroundings of Diyarbakır. The Turkish army then opposed the rebellion and he was captured in mid-April 1925 after having been surrounded by the Turkish troops. He was condemned to death by the Independence Tribunal in Diyarbakır on the 28 June 1925 and hanged the next day in Diyarbakır with 47 of his followers. His remains were buried in an anonymous mass grave in order to prevent his memorization by the Kurds. His grandson, Abdülmelik Fırat, was a member of parliament. Fırat says that his ancestors were not involved in politics until his grandfather, for they had cordial relations with the Ottoman elite. The actressBelçim Bilgin is his great grand niece. His was dubbed by his followers with the name Bedi uz Zaman, due to the fact that he had memorized many of the works of Badi' al-Zaman al-Hamadani
