An inquiry about the nature and function of Chegins in the Safavid government

"Chegins" referred to a group of cannibal executioners in the court of the Safavid kings who attacked the victim like wild animals and ate him alive on the order of the king. The importance of the issue is that some researchers have considered these heinous acts to be caused by sectarian motives. The present research examines the validity and inaccuracy of these historical reports with a descriptive-analytical approach, using a library method based on historical study, and discusses the motivation of this action. The findings of the research indicate that the commission of this act was recorded at least several times during the period of the Safavid kings. Since the opinion of the Qazlbasans towards the Safavid Shah at the beginning of the Safavid period was so exaggerated that they considered him to be the embodiment of God, therefore, during the period of Shah Esmail I, the recorded cannibalism was considered to be a proof of the loyalty of the Qazlbasans to the master and the king. But during the period of Shah Abbas I, cannibalism was a political act and far from sectarian motives. It seems that the commission of such acts is the result of personal and political biased thoughts of some Safavid kings, as well as the motivations of this act were also analyzed as a foolish behavior combined with the ignorance of a group of Safavid supporters. Of course, new research approaches regarding the political-religious tendencies of Qazlbashan during the Safavid period can be obtained for the researcher by reflecting on the religious rituals of Qazlbashan and also the motivation of the Safavid kings in ordering this action.