Iranian Georgians or Persian Georgians are Iranian citizens who are ethnically Georgian, and are an ethnic group living in Iran. Today's Georgia was subject to Iran in the ancient times under the Achaemenid and Sassanian empires and from the 16th century till the early 19th century, starting with the Safavids in power and later Qajars. Shah Abbas I, his predecessors, and successors, relocated by force hundreds of thousands of Christian, and Jewish Georgians as part of his programs to reduce the power of the Qizilbash, develop industrial economy, strengthen the military, and populate newly built towns in various places in Iran including the provinces of Isfahan, Mazandaran and Khuzestan. A certain number of these, among them members of the nobility, also migrated voluntarily over the centuries, as well as some that moved as muhajirs in the 19th century to Iran, following the Russian conquest of the Caucasus. The Georgian community of Fereydunshahr have retained their distinct Georgian identity to this day, despite having been obliged to adopt certain aspects of Iranian culture such as the Persian language and Twelver Shia Islam.
The Safavid dynasty was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the Persian Empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safavid order of Sufism, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Iranian Azerbaijan region. It was an Iranian dynasty of Kurdish origin, but during their rule they intermarried with Turkoman, Georgian, Circassian, and Pontic Greek dignitaries, nevertheless they were Turkic-speaking and Turkified. From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sasanian Empire to establish a national state officially known as Iran.
Abbas I, commonly known as Abbas the Great, was the fifth shah of Safavid Persia from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of Iranian history and the Safavid dynasty.
Tahmasp I was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after the death of his father on 23 May 1524, the first years of Tahmasp's reign were marked by civil wars between the Qizilbash leaders until 1532, when he asserted his authority and began an absolute monarchy. He soon faced a long-lasting war with the Ottoman Empire, which was divided into three phases. The Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, tried to install his own candidates on the Safavid throne. The war ended with the Peace of Amasya in 1555, with the Ottomans gaining sovereignty over Iraq, much of Kurdistan, and western Georgia. Tahmasp also had conflicts with the Uzbeks of Bukhara over Khorasan, with them repeatedly raiding Herat. In 1528, at the age of fourteen, he defeated the Uzbeks in the Battle of Jam by using artillery, unknown to the other side.
Qizilbash or Kizilbash were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Azerbaijan, Anatolia, the Armenian highlands, the Caucasus, and Kurdistan from the late 15th century onwards, and contributed to the foundation of the Safavid dynasty in early modern Iran.
Sam Mirza, better known by his dynastic name of Shah Safi, was the sixth Safavid shah (king) of Iran, ruling from 1629 to 1642.
Abbas II was the seventh Shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1642 to 1666. As the eldest son of Safi and his Circassian wife, Anna Khanum, he inherited the throne when he was nine, and had to rely on a regency led by Saru Taqi, the erstwhile grand vizier of his father, to govern in his place. During the regency, Abbas received formal kingly education that until then, he had been denied. In 1645, at age fifteen, he was able to remove Saru Taqi from power, and after purging the bureaucracy ranks, asserted his authority over his court and began his absolute rule.
Allahverdi Khan was an Iranian general and statesman of Georgian origin who, initially a gholām, rose to high office in the Safavid state.
The Undiladze were a Georgian noble family whose members rose in prominence in the service of Safavid Iran and dominated the Shah’s court at a certain period of the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia, also referred to as the Safavid Empire, was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam.
Ganj Ali Khan was a military officer in Safavid Iran of Kurdish origin, who served as governor in various provinces and was known for his loyal service to king (shah) Abbas I. Ganj Ali Khan continuously aided the shah on almost all of his military campaigns until his own death in 1624/5. He was also a great builder, the Ganjali Khan Complex being one of his finest achievements.
The Military of Safavid Iran covers the military history of Safavid Iran from 1501 to 1736.
Pari Khan Khanum was a Safavid princess, the daughter of the Safavid king (shah) Tahmasp I and his Circassian consort, Sultan-Agha Khanum. An influential figure in the Safavid state, Pari Khan Khanum was well educated and knowledgeable in traditional Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence, and was an accomplished poet.
Mohammad Baqer Mirza better known in the West as Safi Mirza was the oldest son of king (shah) Abbas the Great, and the crown prince of the Safavid dynasty during Abbas' reign and his own short life.
Haydar Mirza Safavi was a Safavid prince, who declared himself as the king (shah) of Iran on 15 May 1576, the following day after his father Tahmasp I had died. He was, however, during the same day killed by the Qizilbash tribes that favored his brother Ismail Mirza Safavi as the successor of their father. His mother was Sultanzadeh Khanum, a Georgian lady.
Shamkhal Sultan, also known as Shamkhal Sultan Cherkes, was an important Circassian noble of the second half of the 16th century in the Safavid Empire.
Sultan-Agha Khanum also in Western sources Corasi was a Safavid queen consort of Kumyk origin, as the second wife of Safavid king Tahmasp I.
The province of Georgia was a velayat (province) of the Safavid Empire located in the area of present-day Georgia. The territory of the province was principally made up of the two subordinate eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti and, briefly, parts of the Principality of Samtskhe. The city of Tiflis was its administrative center, the base of Safavid power in the province, and the seat of the rulers of Kartli. It also housed an important Safavid mint.
Anna Khanum was the consort of the Safavid king Safi. She was the mother of her husband's successor, King Abbas II.
Nakihat Khanum was the first wife of the Safavid king (shah) Abbas II.
