Gholaman-e khasseh-ye sharifeh

Prominent families across the Islamic world frequently utilized domestic slavery. Both Shah Ismail I (r. 1501–1524) and Shah Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576) employed household slaves as evidenced by early mentions of slaves attached to the Safavid family in historical chronicles.^[10] The concept of the gholams was first introduced during the reign of Tahmasp I.^[11]

To address the risk of uprisings by his family members, Tahmasp I frequently rotated his brothers and sons among various provincial governorships throughout the realm. However, in order to have enduring stability he needed to curb the overall military and political power of the Qizilbash. This strategy followed the precedent set by his father who placed distinguished Persians as Najm-e Sani into high ranking bureaucratic offices. Tahmasp I maintained this approach through his close friendship with the grand vizier and vakil Qadi Jahan Qazvini from 1535 onward. Although Persians successfully maintained their positions as the state's administrators and religious authorities, the military influence of the Qizilbash remained strong.^[12]

To address this, Tahmasp I began the first of several organized incursions into the Caucasus which resulted in the acquisition of vast wealth and a large population of Christian captives. Following the fourth incursion in 1553 he demonstrated that he intended to annex territory and resettle the conquered locals. He successfully incorporated the Kingdom of Kartli and the city of Tbilisi into his realm and had more than 30,000 of its residents (mostly women and children) resettled to the central Iranian plateau. This marked the beginning of the gholam corps who would later establish their supremacy over the Safavid military throughout the late 16th and early 17th centuries.^[12]

Due to an upbringing marred by Qizilbash power struggles, Tahmasp I preferred the gholams because of their lack of tribal ties and family responsibilities. Numerous women from these displaced populations were integrated into the royal household as the wives and concubines of Tahmasp I. Their arrival turned the Safavid harem into a competitive environment fueled by ethnic power struggles. Groups of Turkmen, Circassian, and Georgian women and courtiers frequently attempted to win the favor of the shah.^[12] Tahmasp I had four known Georgian wives; Soltanzadeh Khanum,^[13] Zahra Baji,^[14] Huri Khan Khanum^[15] and a sister of Waraza Shalikashvili.^[16]

The gholam Farhad Beg served as the main administrator of the imperial household during the final years of Tahmasp I's reign. In 1585, he was appointed as the main deputy for Hamza Mirza, a son of Mohammad Khodabanda (r. 1578–1587). Using material salvaged from a palace belonging to Ismail I, Farhad Beg established a large personal mansion within the Naqsh-e Jahan Square of Isfahan.^[17]

The gholam was first established in its definitive form by Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629).^[3] According to the Iranologist Abbas Amanat; "Similar to the Ottoman Janissaries, the introduction of the gholam recruits injected fresh blood into the Safavid army, with more loyalty to the person of the shah. It can even be argued that the gholam element made it possible for the Safavids to recapture their lost western provinces."^[18]

The evolution of the Safavid royal household coincided with the transformation of state lands (mamalek) into crown property (khasseh). Previously, Qizilbash governors exercised significant authority over the financial and military affairs of their governed provinces. These officials remained financially independent of the royal treasury because they were given land (toyul). In exchange for this, they provided the shah with military forces and supplies for warfare. Abbas I started to alter this structure by appointing gholams to replace Qizilbash governors. This change enabled the shah to transform state lands into crown property.^[19]

The governorship of Lar and Kong (from 1640), as well as Bandar Abbas (from 1668) was more or less held by the gholam family of Evaz Beg until the fall of the Safavid dynasty.^[20]

• Amanat, Abbas (2017). Iran: A Modern History. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300112542.
• Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1988). "Barda and Barda-Dāri v. Military slavery in Islamic Iran". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. ISBN 978-0710091215.
• Babaie, Sussan; Babayan, Kathryn; Baghdiantz-McCabe, Ina; Farhad, Massumeh (2004). Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1860647215.
• Floor, Willem (2001). Safavid Government Institutions. Mazda Publishers. ISBN 978-1568591353.
• Floor, Willem (2021). "The Safavid court and government". In Matthee, Rudi (ed.). The Safavid World. Routledge. pp. 203–223. ISBN 978-1138944060.
• Maeda, Maeda (2021). "Against all odds: the Safavids and the Georgians". In Matthee, Rudi (ed.). The Safavid World. Routledge. pp. 125–143. ISBN 978-1138944060.
• Mitchell, Colin Paul (2009). "Ṭahmāsp I". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. ISBN 978-1934283288.
• Mitchell, Colin P. (2011). New Perspectives on Safavid Iran: Empire and Society. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415774628.
• Mitchell, Colin (2021). "Custodial politics and princely governance in sixteenth-century Safavid Iran". In Matthee, Rudi (ed.). The Safavid World. Routledge. pp. 79–110. ISBN 978-1138944060.
• Newman, Andrew J. (2008). Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0857716613.
• Savory, Roger M. (2007). Iran Under the Safavids. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521042512.
• Szuppe, Maria (2003). "Status, knowledge, and politics : women in Sixteenth-Century Safavid Iran". In Nashat, Guity (ed.). Women in Iran from the Rise of Islam to 1800. University of Illinois Press. pp. 140–170. ISBN 978-0252071218.