Investigating the Role of Influential Courtiers in Choosing the King's Successor in the Safavid Era

In Iran's history, king succession has been marked an important issue. Often when a king was weak or dead, contenders emerged for taking power. Occasionally, despite the powerful king, there were conspiracies among the influential courtiers. In the Safavid era, the lack of a codified law caused various forces, especially the Ghezelbash heads and court women, to be involved in the succession process; they were trying to choose the king in their own interests. The question of this study is what role did the influential courtiers play in selecting the king's successor? Before Shah Abbas I, the Ghezelbash played large-scale roles in the succession issue. In post-Shah Abbas I reign, however, influential women played the most important role. This descriptive-analytical study examines the role of influential courtiers in the king succession. Findings showed that the Ghezelbash and court women played large-scale roles in the king succession in the Safavid era.