The Reflection of the Religious Orientation of the Safavid Kings in the Developments of the Institution of Hasba

During the Safavid era, some of the structural and functional aspects of government positions underwent transformations, and in the course of it, some institutions were developed and evolved in order to implement Sharia laws, and some were separated by the Safavid kings and assigned to different institutions due to the multiplicity of duties. Among them, Hasba institution, which was one of the institutions related to the judicial system and based on the religious and customary rulings of the society, had continued with ups and downs during the Islamic era. Many of its functions were assigned to other newly established institutions. In this article, based on historical sources and descriptive-analytical method, the developments of one of the most important governmental institutions have been investigated at the same time as the establishment of the Shiite government of the Safavid religion and the impact of the religious orientation of the kings of this dynasty on the duties and functions of this institution. The most important findings of the current research show that the Safavid kings performed some of the functions of the Hasba institution and delegated its extensive functions(unlike in the past periods) to other institutions. The result of these developments at the end of the period was the limitation of the powers of this institution along with fundamental changes in its functions