Yusef Khan-e Gorji (also spelled Yūsof; fa, یوسف خان گرجی; died 1824) was a

Qajar Iran Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

ian military leader and official of Georgian origin. Born in Tbilisi, An influential figure, he founded the Iranian city of Arak.

Biography

Yusof Khan Gorji was given refuge by the Iranian king

Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ( fa, آقا محمد خان قاجار, translit=Âqâ Mohammad Xân-e Qâjâr; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (, ), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, rul ...

(r. 1742–1797) following a territorial dispute with his cousins who were supported by Imperial Russian Empress

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

. In the period between 1795 and 1797, Yusef Khan-e Gorji, renamed ''Yusef Khan-e Sepahdar'' by the king, settled his army in the fertile though poorly controlled territory that would become modern Arak. Hostile tribes in this region had operated autonomously from Qajar rule. With the Iranian king

Fat'h Ali Shah Qajar Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, فتحعلى‌شاه قاجار, Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the ir ...

's approval, Yusef Khan diverted the main river to drive out the hostiles and built the Soltan Abad fortress, or Baladeh, a war fortress to serve as the foundation of what would become modern Arak. Yusef Khan's organized military force was established in this region aptly named (or more accurately, renamed) "Persian Iraq" (ʿEraq-e Ajam) (عراق عجم) from ancient times meaning 'smooth land'. According to historians, Yusef Khan built Arak from his own personal income and with the aid of affluents. Some time before 1824, he was appointed by the same aforementioned Qajar ruler Fath-Ali Shah Qajar as the personal vizier of the latters son,

Sayf ol-Dowleh Soltan Mohammad Mirza (; 7 June 1812 – 1899) better known by his honorific title Sayf ol-Dowleh () was an Iranian prince of the Qajar dynasty and thirty-ninth son of Fath-Ali Shah, king of Qajar Iran. He was the governor of Isfahan between 1 ...

. Upon his death in 1824, he was succeeded on this post by

Khosrow Khan Gorji Andre Ghaytmazeants, better known as Khosrow Khan Gorji ( fa, خسرو خان گرجی; b. Tbilisi, 1785/6 – d. Tehran, 1857), was a eunuch of Armenian origin, who became an influential figure in Qajar Iran. Biography Born as a son of a Chr ...

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* {{cite web, url=http://www.chn.ir/news/?Section=2&id=48576 , title=Chn | News , publisher=Chn.ir , access-date=19 October 2011 1824 deaths Iranian people of Georgian descent 19th-century Iranian military personnel Shia Muslims from Georgia (country) Iranian military commanders Georgian emigrants to Iran City founders People of Qajar Iran

Biography

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