Durmish (Dormish) Khan Shamlu was a Qizilbash officer of Turkoman origin, who occupied high offices under the Safavid king (shah) Ismail I (r. 1501–1524) and the latter's son Tahmasp I (r. 1524 – 1576). Durmish Khan later died in 1525.
Durmish Khan was the son of Abdi Beg Shamlu, while his mother was a sister of shah Ismail I. Furthermore, Durmish Khan had a brother named Husayn Khan Shamlu. In 1503, Durmish Khan was appointed as the governor of Isfahan, but chose to stay in the Safavid capital of Tabriz and appointed Mirza Shah Husayn as his vizier .
In 1514, while the Safavid forces were at Chaldiran and planning on how to confront the Ottomans, who had declared war against the Safavid Empire. Mohammad Khan Ustajlu, who served as the governor of Diyarbakır, and Nur-Ali Khalifa, a commander who knew how the Ottomans fought, proposed that they should attack as quickly as possible. [1] However, this proposal was rejected by Durmish Khan, who rudely said that Muhammad Khan Ustajlu was only interested in the province which he governed. The proposal was also rejected by Ismail himself, who said; "I am not a caravan-thief, whatever is decreed by God, will occur." [1] A battle shortly ensured, which, however, resulted in an absolute disaster for the Safavids, who lost most of their troops and commanders.
In 1518/9, Durmish Khan suppressed several rebellions in Mazandaran, and later in 1520 he was sent to Baghdad to defend the city against the Ottoman sultan Selim I, who, however, died of sickness before he managed to reach the city. In 1521, Mirza Shah Husayn, who now served as Ismail's vizier and had become so powerful that he chose to send Durmish Khan far away from the Safavid court—to Herat in Khorasan, where he was forced to serve as its governor. [2] When Durmish Khan arrived to the city, he appointed Ahmad Sultan Afshar as the governor of several districts of the province. [3] In May 1522, the Mughal ruler Babur seized Qandahar from Durmish Khan. In 1523/4, Herat was attacked a by a group of Uzbeks, which Durmish Khan managed to repel.
Durmish Khan later died in 1525 and was succeeded by his brother Husayn Khan Shamlu.
Abbas I, commonly known as Abbas the Great, was the fifth shah of Safavid Iran 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.
Ismail I, also known as Shah Ismail, was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (Shahanshah) from 1501 to 1524. His reign is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires.
Mohammad Khodabanda, was the fourth Safavid shah of Iran from 1578 until his overthrow in 1587 by his son Abbas I. Khodabanda had succeeded his brother, Ismail II. Khodabanda was the son of Shah Tahmasp I by a Turcoman mother, Sultanum Begum Mawsillu, and grandson of Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty.
Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, commonly known as Khvandamir was a Persian historian who was active in the Timurid, Safavid and Mughal empires. He is principally known for his Persian universal history, the Habib al-siyar, which was regarded by both the Safavids and Mughals as their first official court account.
The Shamlu tribe, also known as the Shamli tribe, was one of the seven original and the most powerful Qizilbash tribes of Turcoman origin in Iran.
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia, also referred to as the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and long-standing 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.
Mirza Kamal al-Din Shah Hossein Isfahani, better simply known as Mirza Shah Hossein, was an Iranian nobleman, who served as the vakil (vicegerent) and vizier of the Safavid Empire. He also briefly held the post of commander of the empire's musketeer corps (tofangchi-aghasi).
Mirza Taleb Khan Ordubadi was an Iranian aristocrat from the Ordubadi family, who served as the grand vizier of the Safavid king (shah) Abbas I from to 1610/1 to 1621, and later as grand vizier of his grandson and successor Safi from 1632 to 1633.
Farhād Khān Qarāmānlu, also known by his honorific title of Rokn al-Saltana, was a Turkoman military officer from the Qaramanlu family, and was the last member of the Qizilbash to serve as commander-in-chief (sipah-salar) of the Safavid Empire.
Fath-Ali Khan Daghestani, was a Lezgian nobleman, who served as the Grand Vizier of the Safavid shah (king) Soltan Hoseyn from 1716 to 1720.
The Military of Safavid Iran covers the military history of Safavid Iran from 1501 to 1736.
Shahqoli Khan Zanganeh, was a Kurdish nobleman, who served as the vizier of the Safavid king (shah) Sultan Husayn from 1707 to 1716.
Zeynab Begum was the fourth daughter of Safavid king (shah) Tahmasp I, is considered to be one of the most influential and powerful princesses of the Safavid era. She lived during the reigns of five successive Safavid monarchs, and apart from holding diverse functions, including at the top of the empire's bureaucratic system, she was also the leading matriarch in the royal harem for many years, and acted on occasion as kingmaker. She reached the apex of her influence during the reign of King Safi. In numerous contemporaneous sources, she was praised as a "mainstay of political moderation and wisdom in Safavid court politics". She was eventually removed from power by Safi in 1632.
Mohammad Khan Ustajlu was an Iranian military commander and official from the Turkoman Ustajlu tribe, who served during the reign of Safavid Shah Ismail I. He played a pivotal role in Ismail I's conquests and expansion in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, and functioned as governor of the Diyarbakr Province from 1506 to 1514. Mohammad Khan was killed while serving as a commander at the Battle of Chaldiran.
Nur-Ali Khalifa, also known as Nur-Ali Khalifa Rumlu, was an early 16th-century Iranian military leader and official from the Turkoman Rumlu tribe. He served as the governor of Erzincan from c. 1511 to 1515 during the reign of Safavid Shah Ismail I.
Mirza Salman Jaberi Isfahani was a prominent Persian statesman in Safavid Iran, who served as the grand vizier of Ismail II and Mohammad Khodabanda.
Abdollah Khan Ustajlu was a high-ranking Iranian dignitary of Turkoman origin, who served during the reign of king (shah) Tahmasp I (1524-1576). He successively held the posts of amir al-omarāʾ (commander-in-chief) and divanbegi, before becoming the governor of Shirvan from 1549 until 1565 or 1566.
Ali-Qoli Khan Shamlu was a Safavid officer of Turkoman origin. He is mostly remembered for leading a rebellious coalition against then-incumbent kings (shahs) Ismail II and Mohammad Khodabanda. This rebellion guaranteed the survival of the young prince Abbas, for whom he was guardian (laleh).
The Divan-begi was a high-ranking official in Judicial system of Safavid Iran (1501–1736), who acted as chief justice of Safavid capital and all over the kingdom's courts. It was the Persian form of Turkic Diwan-begi office, also known as the Imperial Chief Justice or Lord High Justice. Divan-begis presided over an appeals court for the kingdom, except for cases involving military officers or religious officials. Divan-begis had deputies to assist them.