The province of Astarabad (also called Gorgan and Jorjan; ) was a northeastern province of

Safavid Iran 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 ...

, located on the southeastern side of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. It bordered the

Atrek River The Atrek (, , ), also known as the Attrack, Atrak, and Etrek, is a fast-moving river which begins in the mountains of north-eastern Iran () and flows westward, draining into the south-eastern corner of the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan. Because o ...

in the north, the

Alborz The Alborz ( ) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs northeast and merge ...

in the south, the

Mazandaran province Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is bordered clockw ...

to the west, and

Jajarm Jajrom () is a city in the Central District (Jajrom County), Central District of Jajrom County, North Khorasan province, North Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Demographics Population At the t ...

to the east. The province was under Safavid control from 1510. By the end of the Safavid era, Astarabad was composed of the following administrative jurisdictions: Gira'i, Goklan, Hajjilar, Jalayer, K.ra-chupi, and Yamut. Each district name was derived from the Turkoman tribe that been enstrusted with it. Some of the Turkoman tribes (such as the Qepchaq) lived to the north of Astarabad, but were still nominal subjects of the Safavids. From 1589 to 1598, the Sa'en-khanis of the Yakka Turkoman tribe assumed control over the province as caretaker governors, due to its lack of efficient Safavid rule. Their hold over the province was ended when

Shah Abbas I Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers ...

() marched to Astarabad and pacified the tribes. In order to develop the province and levy taxes, the Safavids continued to attract Turkoman tribes to the province. The authority of the Safavid governor of Astarabad sometimes extended over the province, such as in

Damghan Damghan () is a city in the Central District (Damghan County), Central District of Damghan County, Semnan province, Semnan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is east of Tehran on the high-road to Mash ...

and Bastam.

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