Pretenders of the Safavid government after the fall of Isfahan A case study: Safi Mirza’s rebellion

With the influx of Afghans and the fall of Isfahan, people from across Iran, pretending to be the descendants of the Safavid dynasty, claimed the prince and tried to revive the rule of dying Safavid dynasty. Many false Safi known Mirzas were among the claimants of prince in Iran after the fall of the Safavids. The main and most well Safi Mirza was the person who reclaimed the throne in the Sothern parts of Iran including Bakhtiari, Shoshtar, Kohgiluyeh, and Behbahan. He, who lingered longer than other claimants, formed a government and issued coins, slecting Kohgiluyeh and Behbahan as the center of his government. This province was always considered as one of the important Biglarbig of the Safavid empire, and at times it triggered crises during the Safavid era. The rebellion of Ismail, the false, and Mullah Hedayat Allah Arandi, both of whom were Shahi›s claimants in Kohgiluyeh, occurred years before the fall of the Safavids. But then, after the decline of the Safavids, Safi Mirza’s uprising once again turned Biglerbigi of Kohgiluyeh and its related areas into a focal crisis point. This analytical method relying on original documents paper, which was developed through ahistorical and descriptive and texts, investigated the rebellion of Safi Mirza as one of the claimants of the government after the fall of Isfahan by the Afghans. It also strived to explore what gave rise to this pretender of the throne and what were the consequences at the local and national level. The findings indicate that the surrender of the official king of the kingdom and the lack of a powerful ruler, as well as turmoil and chaos throughout Iran, opened up a suitable opportunity for rebellion, seizing power, and the claim of the throne.