The Shirvan province () was a province founded by the

Safavid Empire 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 ...

on the territory of modern

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 ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

) between 1501 and 1736 with its capital in the town of Shamakhi. The province had six administrative jurisdictions; Alpa'ur, Arash— Shaki,

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Chemeshgazak— Agdash,

Derbent Derbent, also historically known as Darband, or Derbend, is the southernmost city in Russia. It is situated along the southeastern coast of the Dagestan, Republic of Dagestan, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucas ...

(Darband),

Quba Quba () is a city and the administrative centre of the Quba District (Azerbaijan), Quba District of Azerbaijan. The city lies on the north-eastern slopes of Mount Shahdagh, Shahdag mountain, at an altitude of 600 metres above sea level, on the ...

—Qolhan, and Saliyan. The capital of Shamakhi had a separate governor, but is not mentioned by the then contemporary historians and geographers to have formed a separate administrative jurisdiction. Control over Shirvan was firmly held by the Safavids from the time of the subjugation of Shirvan (except for several brief Ottoman intermissions) when eventually the Afsharid ruler of Iran,

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar (; 6 August 1698 or 22 October 1688 – 20 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was a ...

established firm rule over the area until the area. After his death, the area was divided into various subordinate various khanates, before they were conquered by the Russian Empire from

Qajar Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, alternatively the Sublime State of Iran and commonly called Qajar Iran, Qajar Persia or the Qajar Empire, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which was of Turkic peoples, Turkic origin,Cyrus G ...

in the course of the 19th century.

History

Having ended the rule of the

Shirvanshah The Shirvanshahs (Arabic/) were the rulers of Shirvan (in present-day Azerbaijan) from 861 to 1538. The first ruling line were the Yazidids, an originally Arab and later Persianized dynasty, who became known as the Kasranids (also referred t ...

s in 1538,

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the ...

established Shirvan as an administrative unit of the empire. At the end of the 16th century, the Ottoman General Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha briefly captured Shirvan during the

Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590) The Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590 was one of the many wars between the neighboring arch rivals of Safavid Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Starting with several years prior to the war and up to including most of the war itself, the Safavi ...

and appointed

Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha Özdemiroğlu Osman Pasha (; ; 1526 – 29 October 1585) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman statesman and military commander who also held the office of Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, grand vizier for one year. Origin Osman's father, Özdemir ...

as its governor. In 1607,

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 ...

invaded Shirvan again and instituted

Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash (Latin script: ) ; ; (modern Iranian reading: ); were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman "The Qizilbash, composed mainly of Turkman tribesmen, were the military force introduced by the conquering Safavis to the Irani ...

rule over the province. After several interstate wars, Shirvan was eventually captured by Nader Shah in 1734 to establish Safavid rule over the province again.

List of governors

References

Sources

* * History of Dagestan 16th century in Azerbaijan 17th century in Azerbaijan 18th century in Azerbaijan Provinces of the Safavid dynasty History of Tats {{Iran-hist-stub

History

List of governors

See also

References

Sources