Mohammad Beg

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Mohammad Beg (

Safavid king (shah) Abbas II
(r. 1642–1666) from 1654 to 1661.

Origins

Mohammad Beg was born in Tabriz to an Armenian family, which originally served as a ghulām ("military slave") of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, but later became tailors.[1] Mohammad Beg's father was Husayn Beg Tabrizi, who served as the court master tailor (qaychachi-bashi) during the reign of Shah Safi (r. 1629–1642).[1][2]

Biography

Mohammad Beg is first mentioned in 1643, when he was appointed as the city prefect of

Georgian origin).[3]

In 1646, Mohammad Beg was appointed as the port-master/harbourmaster (

Kohgiluyeh. However, during the same year, Mohammad Beg's relations with Allahverdi Khan became bad, and the two became rivals.[1] In 1654, Mohammad Beg was appointed by shah Abbas II as his grand vizier. One of his first acts was dismissing the Georgian prefect of Isfahan, Parsadan Gorgijanidze, due to his unpopularity among the inhabitants of the city.[5][6] Mohammad Beg also had the empire more centralized by converting more land into the crown domain (Hamadan in 1654, Ardabil in 1656/7, Semnan in 1656/7 and Kerman in 1658).[7][8][9]

In 1661, Mohammad Beg, after having failed to diminish the power of his rivals, was forced to resign from the grand vizier office.

Shaykh Ali Khan Zangana.[11]

Family

Mohammad Beg had a son named Amin Beg, who would later serve as the mu'ayyir al-mamalik in Isfahan. Mohammad Beg's two brothers, Ughan Beg and Husayn Beg, both served as the shahbandar of Bandar Abbas. Their uncle, Shamshir Beg, also served in the office, and was succeeded by Mohammad Beg's cousin Isa Khan Beg.[12] When Mohammad Beg was appointed as the nazer-e boyutat in 1651, he gave his previous office, mu'ayyir al-mamalik, to one of his other brother, Hasan Beg.[12] Furthermore, when Mohammad Beg was appointed grand vizier, he appointed Hasan Beg as the qaychachi-bashi.[12]

Furthermore, one of Mohammad Beg's nephews served as the vizier of the governor of

Gilan. During most of the reign of Abbas II, all of silver and silk commerce was controlled by the family of Mohammad Beg.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Matthee 2011, p. 46.
  2. ^ Matthee 1991, p. 20.
  3. ^ Matthee 2011, p. 51.
  4. ^ Newman 2008, p. 71.
  5. ^ Newman 2008, p. 85.
  6. ^ Matthee 2011, p. 50.
  7. ^ Babaie 2004, p. 71.
  8. ^ Matthee 2011, p. 47.
  9. ^ Newman 2008, p. 213.
  10. ^ a b Babaie 2004, p. 72.
  11. ^ Matthee 2011, p. 52.
  12. ^ a b c Matthee 2011, pp. 48–49.

Sources

  • Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who became an Iranian Legend. London, UK:
    LCCN 2009464064
    .
  • Matthee, Rudi (2011). Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–371.
    ISBN 978-0857731814
    .
  • Babaie, Sussan (2004). Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–218.
    ISBN 9781860647215
    .
  • Matthee, Rudi (2010). "ḴALIFA SOLṬĀN".
    Encyclopaedia Iranica
    , Vol. XV, Fasc. 4    . pp. 382–384.
  • Matthee, Rudi (1991), "The Career of Mohammad Beg, Grand Vizier of Shah 'Abbas II (r. 1642-1666)",
    JSTOR 4310753
  • Newman, Andrew J. (2008). Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–281.
    ISBN 9780857716613
    .
  • ISBN 978-0521042512
    .
  • Roemer, H.R. (1986). "The Safavid period".
    ISBN 9780521200943
    .
Government offices
Preceded by
Unknown
 Controller of assay
(Mu'ayyir al-Mamalik)
1648–1654 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Steward of the royal household
(Nazer-e Boyutat)
1651–1654 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Khalifeh Sultan
Safavid Empire

1654–1661 		Succeeded by
Mirza Mohammad Mahdi Karaki
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