Fereydun Khan Cherkes (died 1620/21) was a

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

official and military commander of Circassian origin, who served as the governor (''beglarbeg'') of

Astarabad Gorgan (; ) is a city in the Central District of Gorgan County, Golestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It lies approximately to the northeast of the national capital Tehran, and some a ...

in 1605/06–1620, during the reign of king Abbas I (r. 1588–1629).

Biography

Fereydun was kidnapped at a young age, and spent more than seven years in captivity. Finally, he was bought as a ''

gholam Ghulam (, ) is an Arabic word meaning ''servant'', ''assistant'', ''boy'', or ''youth''. It is used to describe young servants in Jannah. It is also used to refer to slave-soldiers in the Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid and to a lesser extent, Mughal e ...

'' by merchants acting on behalf of the Safavid royal court. Afterwards, he was promoted to the position of the keeper of the king's armor ('' qurchi-e zereh''), and by that became part of the expanding number of ''gholams'' within the royal household (). In late October 1605, during the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1603-1618, amidst a period of heavy fighting in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

against the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

, a

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

prisoner from the Mokri tribe attempted to murder king Abbas I. However, Fereydun Khan Cherkes managed to save his life. As a reward for his bravery, Abbas I appointed him in either December 1605 or November 1606 as the governor of the

province. During a part of the Safavid era, including Fereydun Khan Cherkes' tenure, the Astarabad province encompassed most of today's provinces of Golestan, Semnan, and North Khorasan. Fereydun's main task as a governor was to ensure the safety and protection of the Astarabad province from the various

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

nomads of

Khwarezm Khwarazm (; ; , ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by ...

, as well as from those indigenous Turkmens of the northern fringes of the Astarabad province. They were keen on expanding their territory and to carry out raids often — the latter which caused major problems for the rural and urban people who were living close to these border regions of the Safavid realm. As a result, he had to conduct several wars against these nomads on the northern fringes of the province. These successful wars led by Fereydun (as well as a brief coverage of his early life) were described by Moḥammad Ṭāher b. Ḥasan (''Ḵādem-e Besṭāmi’'') in his short history entitled ''Fotuḥāt-e Fereyduniyeh''. He was succeeded as governor by Behbud Khan Cherkes.

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Biography

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Further reading