Rostam Khan () or Rostom-Khan Saakadze ( ka, როსტომ-ხან სააკაძე) (c. 1588 – 1 March 1643) was a high-ranking

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 ...

military commander and official of Georgian origin. He held the position of commander-in-chief (''

sepahsalar () or (; ), in Arabic rendered as () or (), was a title used in much of the Islamic world during the 10th–15th centuries, to denote the senior-most military commanders, but also as a generic general officer rank. Islamic East and Persia Th ...

'') under the Safavid shahs, Abbas I and Safi. In 1643, he was accused of treason and executed under king Abbas II. He features in the contemporary Persian and Georgian chronicles and is also a subject of the 17th-century Persian biography written by a certain Bijan for Rostam Khan's grandson, his namesake and a high-ranking officer in Iran.

Career

Rostam Khan was a son of the Georgian nobleman Bijan Beg (Bezhan), of the Saakadze family, who attended the Georgian prince Bagrat Khan of Kartli in his exile to the

court after the Ottoman invasion of the Georgian lands in 1578. He had two younger brothers named Aliqoli and Isa. Rostam Khan was brought up Muslim and entered the court service under king Abbas I at the age of 11 in 1599. Having distinguished himself in the campaigns against the Ottoman armies and rising through the ranks, he became ''yasavol-e sohbat'' (personal attendant or senior squire) to the shah in 1603–4, ''sardar'' (general) in 1623–4, '' Divan-beigi'' (chancellor) in 1626–7, ''

tofangchi-aghasi The Military of the Safavid dynasty#Tofangchi-aghasi, Tofangchi-aghasi, also spelled Tufangchi-aqasi, and otherwise known as the Tofangchi-bashi, was the commander of the Safavid dynasty, Safavid Empire's musketeer corps. The ''tofangchi-aghasi'' ...

'' (commander of the musketeer corps) in 1630, ''

'' (commander-in-chief) in 1631, and ''

beglarbegi ''Beylerbey'' (, meaning the 'commander of commanders' or 'lord of lords’, sometimes rendered governor-general) was a high rank in the western Islamic world in the late Middle Ages and early modern period, from the Anatolian Seljuks and the Il ...

'' (governor) of

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 ...

in 1635.Storey 1927-39, p. 319 Among his achievements of this period was the recapture of the holy

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

site of

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

in Iraq during the war against the Ottomans in 1631.

Involvement in Georgia and last years

At the head of an Iranian army, Rostam Khan helped a fellow Muslim Georgian in the Safavid service and a younger brother of his father's suzerain Bagrat Khan,

Khosrow Mirza Prince Khosrow Mirza Qajar (; 1813 – 21 October 1875) was the seventh son of Abbas Mirza and grandson of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar, shah of Iran. After the death of Alexander Griboyedov, Russian diplomat in Tehran, by the hands of Iranian culprits, ...

, secure the throne of Kartli, which Khosrow Mirza officially acceded to under the name of Rostam on 18 February 1633. However, Rostam Khan Saakadze's excesses in dealing with the Georgian opposition, especially his devastating raid into the

Tsitsishvili The House of Tsitsishvili ( ka, ციციშვილი) is an ancient Georgian noble family, with several notable members from the 15th century through the 20th. History The Tsitsishvili family was a continuation of the medieval House of ...

family estates, occasioned the split between the two. The contemporary Georgian accounts attribute Rostam Khan's relentlessness to his painful childhood memories associated with the persecution of his family. Recalled from Kartli by the Iranian government, Rostam Khan Saakadze was commander in

Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and no ...

at the accession of king Abbas II in 1642. In early 1643, he was based in

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

to organize an effort to retake

Qandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

from the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

. The new king's vizier

Saru Taqi Mirza Mohammad Taqi (; – 11 October 1645), better known as Saru Taqi (, meaning "Taqi the blond") was a eunuch in Safavid Iran, who served as the Grand Vizier of the Safavid king (''shah'') Safi () and the latter's son Abbas II () until h ...

considered him a personal rival and secured a decree to put him to death for having refused to obey an order from the capital. Rostam was executed in Mashhad, while his brother, the ''divan-begi'' Aliqoli, was dismissed from his post. Nevertheless, even after Rostam Khan's downfall, his offspring continued to hold prominent positions in the Safavid Empire. His son Safiqoli (d. 1679) served as a governor and ''divanbegi'', whereas his other son Bijan, namesake to Rostam Khan's father, served as governor (''beglarbeg'') of the Azerbaijan province.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{Authority control 1580s births 1643 deaths People executed by Safavid Iran Iranian people of Georgian descent Executed Iranian people Shia Muslims from Georgia (country) Executed people from Georgia (country) Safavid governors of Azerbaijan Tofangchi-aghasi Commanders-in-chief of Safavid Iran Ghilman 16th-century people from Safavid Iran 17th-century people from Safavid Iran Divan-beigi Safavid slaves Safavid ghilman