After Shah Nimatullah the masters of the Nimatullahi Order resided in India until the end of the 18th century A.D. (12th century A. H.). The center of the order shifted back to Iran with the arrival of Sayyed Ma'Sum 'Ali Shah Dakkani in Iran in 1775 A.D. (1190 A.H.). Until the early 1970's the Nimatullahi Order was based solely in Iran, and the majority of Nimatullahi sufis were Iranians, living in Iran.

However, when Dr. Nurbakhsh became the master of the order in 1953, upon the death of his master, Munes 'Ali Shah Dho'r Riyasatain, the order slowly expanded outside Iran, as people form all over the world arrived in search of the spiritual techings of Sufism.

During the more than 50 years that Dr. Nurbakhsh has been master of the order, he established more than a hundred khaniqahs in Iran, Africa, Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States.