The Roles and Actions of Qarachaghay Khan and His Family During the Safavid Period

A score of people were captured and brought to Iran in the wake of the battles of the Safavid kings in Armenia and Georgia, some of whom managed to gain senior positions in the political, military, social and economic structure of Iran. One of the most renown figures is Qarachaghay, who along with his descendants were promoted to higher ranks during the Safavid period. The goal of the present research is to introduce Qarachaghay and his family, discuss the process of his rise to power along with his progenies, describe the way they climbed the social latter from the lowest to the highest levels of society and the measures they took. In this regard, it should be noted that Qarachaghay, who was brought to Iran as an Armenian slave, was educated in the Safavid court after converting to Islam and the Shia. By demonstrating his competence and allegiance to the Shah, he was promoted to positions as high as the generalissimo of Iran and the ruler of two important and strategic states of that time, Azerbaijan and Khorasan. His son Manouchehr and his grandson, Qarachaghay II, ruled over the city of Mashhad half a century later. Other members of his family came to the forefront of perfection, producing prominent artistic works in addition to holding positions such as the custodian of the Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh (AS) for two generations.