Allahverdi Khan
Allahverdi Khan | |
|---|---|
Fars | |
| In office 1595-6 – 1613 | |
| Monarchs | Abbas I, Safi |
| Preceded by | Farhad Khan Qaramanlu |
| Succeeded by | Imam Quli Khan (Safavid governor) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | ca. 1560 |
| Died | 3 June 1613 |
| Relatives | Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618) |
Allahverdi Khan (
gholām ("military slave"), rose to high office in the Safavid state
.
Abbas I demonstrated his genuine respect and affection for him by personally supervising the funeral arrangements, and by going to his house the day after his death to offer his personal condolences to his family.[1]
Biography
Background
Allahverdi was born a
Abbas I to counterpoise the power of the Qizilbash, which constituted the nucleus of the Safavid military aristocracy.[2]
Service under Shah Abbas I
In 1589, he took part in the assassination of the powerful minister (vakil) and kingmaker Morshed-Kholi Khan Ostaglu, who was secretly condemned to death by Shah Abbas I. As a result, he was made
Fars, a move that made him the first gholam to attain equal status with the Qizilbash emirs
. This act also meant that the large provinces would no longer be administered by semi-autonomous and frequently self-minded Qizilbash emirs, but by officers appointed directly by the Shah.
In 1596/7, he was transferred to the governorship of
Afshar tribe, the Arsahlu and Gundzulu, together with some Lur and Arab tribes, rebelled at Ramhormoz. However, it was shortly suppressed by Allahverdi Khan.[3]
In August 1598, Allahverdi Khan, as a Robert Sherley, he reorganized the army and strengthened it by increasing the number of gholam troops from 4,000 to 25,000.[1]
Allahverdi Khan led the Persian armies in a number of successful campaigns on both the eastern and the western frontiers of the Safavid empire, including the 1601-2 conquest of
Ottoman–Safavid War of 1603–1618, Allahverdi Khan besieged the Ottoman city of Van. During the siege, he was informed of Ottoman reinforcements under Mehmed Pasha marching towards the city. He then sent an army under Qarachaqay Khan to stop the reinforcements from arriving, which he successfully accomplished.[4] However, Allahverdi Khan later lifted the siege, and returned to Abbas I, who was in Khoy.[4] On 6 November, Allahverdi Khan took part in the battle of Sufiyan, where the Safavids decisively defeated the Ottomans.[5]
Death and burial
Allahverdi Khan died on 3 June 1613, during a visit at
Imam-Quli Khan as the governor of Fars, thus succeeding his deceased father. Allahverdi Khan was buried in an exquisite tomb at Mashhad. His tomb was built next to the Imam Reza shrine as a unique way of respect,[6] which reflects his standing and status in the Safavid empire. The tomb still stands to this day; it is an elegant two-storied octagonal structure with marble slabs and tiles sheathing the interior.[7]
Allahverdi also had another son named Daud Khan, who would later serve as the governor of Ganja and Karabakh.
Legacy
Allahverdi Khan presided over construction of several public buildings and charitable foundations. The
Zayandeh River built by the architect Mir Jamal al-Din Muhammad Jabiri in Isfahan under Allahverdi Khan's patronage still bears the general's name. Allahverdi Khan is furthermore credited with several other building works, such as a large double dam near Sarab; a fortification around a village in Fars; a large qaysariyya, or royal market, in Lar, which impressed the Spanish envoy García de Silva Figueroa; and a stately house near Nahavand for Abbas I. Allahverdi Khan also initiated the construction of a large theological college, Madrasa Khan, in Shiraz as a teaching base for the Islamic scholar Mulla Sadra. The project would be completed by his son Imam-Quli Khan.[7]
See also
- Georgians in Iran
References
- ^ a b c Savory 1985, pp. 891–892.
- ^ Shah ʹAbbas & the arts of Isfahan, by Anthony Welch, pg. 17
- ^ Potts 2014, p. 233.
- ^ a b Floor & Herzig 2015, p. 95.
- ^ Floor & Herzig 2015, pp. 98–100.
- ^ a b Blow 2009, p. 102.
- ^ a b Babaie 2004, pp. 92–94.
Sources
- Babaie, Sussan (2004). Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–218. ISBN 9781860647215.
- Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who became an Iranian Legend. London, UK: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. LCCN 2009464064.
- Floor, Willem; ISBN 978-1780769905.
- Matthee, Rudi (1999). "FARHĀD KHAN QARAMĀNLŪ, ROKN-AL-SALṬANA". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Matthee, Rudi (2011). Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–371. ISBN 978-0857731814.
- Mikaberidze, Alexander (ed., 2007). Allahverdi Khan. Dictionary of Georgian National Biography.
- Newman, Andrew J. (2008). Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–281. ISBN 9780857716613.
- Potts, Daniel T. (2014). Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era. London and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199330799.
- Roemer, H.R. (1986). "The Safavid period". The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Timurid and Safavid periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 189–351. ISBN 9780521200943.
- Savory, R. M. (1985). "ALLĀHVERDĪ KHAN (1)". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 8. pp. 891–892.
- ISBN 978-0521042512.