Gokcheh Sultan Ziyadoghlu Qajar ( fa, گکچه سلطان زیاداوغلی قاجار), better known as Shahverdi Sultan (), was a

Safavid Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often consid ...

military leader of Turkoman origin, who served as the governor of

Karabakh Karabakh ( az, Qarabağ ; hy, Ղարաբաղ, Ġarabaġ ) is a geographic region in present-day southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia, extending from the highlands of the Lesser Caucasus down to the lowlands between the rivers Kura and A ...

and

Ganja Ganja (, ; ) is one of the oldest and most commonly used synonyms for marijuana. Its usage in English dates to before 1689. Etymology ''Ganja'' is borrowed from Hindi/Urdu ( hi, गांजा, links=no, ur, , links=no, IPA: �aːɲd͡� ...

during the reign of king

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after t ...

(r. 1524–1576).

Biography

Shahverdi Sultan belonged to the Ziyadoghlu family, a family which belonged to

Qajar 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� ...

tribe, and thus part of the

Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash ( az, Qızılbaş; ota, قزيل باش; fa, قزلباش, Qezelbāš; tr, Kızılbaş, lit=Red head ) were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman Shia Islam, Shia militant groups that flourished in A ...

. Shahverdi Sultan's family had originally been dispatched to govern

in southern Arran. In 1547, Shahverdi Sultan was appointed as the guardian (''

lala Lala may refer to: Geography * Lala language (disambiguation) Places * Lala (Naples Metro), an underground metro station in Naples, Italy * Lala, Assam, a town in Assam, India * Lala, Ilam, a village in Ilam Province, Iran * Lala, Lanao del N ...

'') of the Safavid prince Ismail Mirza and co-governor of

Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...

with the latter. Shahverdi Sultan, along with king (

shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

) Tahmasp I's brother-in-law, Abdollah Khan Ustajlu, organized an expedition against

Burhan Ali Burhan Ali was a self-declared Shah of Shirvan. He claimed to be son of Khalilullah II. Life His name was first recorded in 1544, when he invaded Shirvan with aid from Kaitag and was defeated by Alqas Mirza. He travelled to Istanbul after defea ...

, a nephew of Tahmasp I and pretender to the

Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, ...

crown. The following year, during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555, Shahverdi Sultan and Ismail Mirza, with an army of 7,000 soldiers, sacked the important neighboring Ottoman stronghold of

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

. In 1554, Shahverdi Sultan was appointed governor of the Karabakh beglerbeylik and of its administrative center, Ganja, by Tahmasp I. A year later, in 1555, he was immediately dispatched by Tahmasp I to secure the eastern Georgian kingdoms of

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

and

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region ( mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises e ...

, which had been recognized as Iranian domains per the ratified

Peace of Amasya The Peace of Amasya ( fa, پیمان آماسیه ("Peymān-e Amasiyeh"); tr, Amasya Antlaşması) was a treaty agreed to on May 29, 1555, between Shah Tahmasp of Safavid Iran and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire at the cit ...

with the Ottoman Empire. Head of the Iranian army as sent by Tahmasp towards Kartli, Shahverdi Sultan's army met those of the Georgian king Luarsab I and his son Simon at Garisi (present-day

Tetritsqaro Tetritskaro or Tetritsqaro ( ka, თეთრიწყარო, tr; , az, Ağbulaq) is a town in Kvemo Kartli in southern Georgia. It is the municipal center of Tetritsqaro Municipality. According to 2014 Georgian Census its population is 3,093. ...

), where a major battle culminated. Shahverdi Sultan was killed during the encounter, whilst his army were routed at Garisi. Luarsab, however, also died in battle. Shahverdi Sultan had a son named Khalil Khan Ziyadoghlu, whose son, Mohammad Khan Ziyadoghlu, also served as the governor of Ganja.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{cite encyclopedia , article = GANJA , last = Bosworth , first = C. E. , authorlink = , url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ganja- , editor-last = , editor-first = , editor-link = , encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. X, Fasc. 3 , pages = 282–283 , location = , publisher = , year = 2000 , isbn = Safavid governors of Karabakh Safavid governors of Ganja Safavid generals Iranian Turkmen people 1555 deaths Year of birth unknown Safavid governors of Shirvan Qajar tribe 16th-century people of Safavid Iran