{{short description|Iranian general and statesman (c.1560–1613)}} {{other uses}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Allahverdi Khan | office = Governor of [[Safavid Fars|Fars]] | term_start = 1595–6 | term_end = 1613 | successor = [[Emamqoli Khan]] | predecessor = [[Farhad Khan Qaramanlu]] | monarch = [[Abbas the Great|Abbas I]] | allegiance = [[File:Safavid Flag.svg|22px|border]] [[Safavid Iran]] | image = Allah Virdī Khān, from a Jarūnnāmah by Qadrī. Isfahan - Safavid style, dated 1697.jpg | image_size = 170px | caption = Allahverdi Khan. From a ''Jarunnameh'' of Qadri. [[Isfahan]] style, dated 1697 | death_date = 3 June 1613 | blank2 = Clan | data2 = [[Undiladze]] | relatives = [[Daud Khan Undiladze]] (son)<br> [[Emamqoli Khan]] (son)<br> [[Safiqoli Khan Undiladze]] (grandson)<br> [[Jafarqoli Khan]] (great-grandson) | battles = *[[Safavid conquest of Bahrain]] *[[Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618)]] | birth_date = {{circa}} 1560 | service_years = 1570s(?)–1613 }} '''Allahverdi Khan''' ({{langx|fa|اللهوردی خان}}, {{lang-ka|ალავერდი-ხანი}}; {{circa}} 1560 – 3 June 1613) was a Safavid general and statesman of [[Georgians in Iran|Georgian]] origin who, initially a ''[[Gholaman-e khasseh-ye sharifeh|gholam]]'' ("military slave"), rose to high office in the [[Safavid Iran|Safavid state]].
[[Iskandar Beg Munshi]], the Safavid court historian at the time, describes him as "one of the most powerful statesman to hold office under this dynasty", and a "man of great forbearance, modest and chaste".{{sfn|Savory|1985|pp=891–892}} [[Shah]] [[Abbas the Great|Abbas I]] demonstrated his genuine respect and affection for him by personally supervising the funeral arrangements, and by going to his house the day after his death to offer his personal condolences to his family.{{sfn|Savory|1985|pp=891–892}}
== Biography ==
===Background=== Allahverdi was born a [[Christians|Christian]] [[Georgians|Georgia]]n, surnamed [[Undiladze]]. Like many of his compatriots and fellow Christian [[Georgians]], [[Armenians]] and [[Circassians]], he was taken prisoner in the course of one of the [[Caucasus|Caucasian]] campaigns of [[shah]] [[Tahmasp I]] of Persia and converted to [[Islam]] to be trained for service in the ''[[Military of the Safavid dynasty#Gholam|gholam]]'' army, a special military structure consisting of Christian captives that was created later by [[Abbas I of Persia|Abbas I]] to counterpoise the power of the [[Qizilbash]], which constituted the nucleus of the Safavid military aristocracy.<ref>Shah ʹAbbas & the arts of Isfahan, by Anthony Welch, pg. 17</ref>
===Service under Shah Abbas I=== In 1589, he took part in the assassination of the powerful minister (''vakil'') and kingmaker Morshed-Kholi Khan Ostaglu, who was secretly condemned to death by Shah Abbas I. As a result, he was made [[sultan]] and a governor of [[Golpayegan|Jorpadagan]] near [[Isfahan]], the Safavid capital. He then rapidly rose to higher offices and was appointed commander of the ''gholam'' army (''[[qollar-aghasi]]''), thus becoming one of the five principal officers in the Safavid administration by 1595/6. In the same year, Shah Abbas I appointed him the governor of [[Safavid Fars|Fars]], a move that made him the first ''gholam'' to attain equal status with the Qizilbash [[emir]]s. This act also meant that the large provinces would no longer be administered by semi-autonomous and frequently self-minded Qizilbash emirs, but by officers appointed directly by the Shah.
[[File:Imām Qulī Khān with Allah Virdī Khān, from a Jarūnnāmah by Qadrī. Isfahan - Safavid style, dated 1697.jpg|thumb|left|Allahverdi Khan (seated center right) with his son [[Emamqoli Khan]] (seated center left). From a ''Jarunnameh'' of Qadri. [[Isfahan]] style, dated 1697]] In 1596/7, he was transferred to the governorship of [[Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province|Kohgiluyeh]]. In 1597, two clans of the [[Afshar tribe]], the Arsahlu and Gundzulu, together with some [[Lurs|Lur]] and [[Arabs|Arab]] tribes, rebelled at [[Ramhormoz]]. However, it was shortly suppressed by Allahverdi Khan.{{sfn|Potts|2014|p=233}}
In August 1598, Allahverdi Khan, as a ''[[sardar]]-e-lashkar'' (commander-in-chief), was instrumental in recovering [[Herat]] from the [[uzbeks|Uzbek]] tribes and shortly after this victory was ordered by the shah to put a powerful Qizilbash emir [[Farhad Khan Qaramanlu]] to death. This act turned Allahverdi Khan into the most powerful man in the Safavid Empire after the shah. From 1600 onwards, counseled by the English gentleman of fortune, Sir [[Robert Sherley]], he reorganized the army and strengthened it by increasing the number of ''gholam'' troops from 4,000 to 25,000.{{sfn|Savory|1985|pp=891–892}}
Allahverdi Khan led the Persian armies in a number of successful campaigns on both the eastern and the western frontiers of the Safavid empire, including the 1601–2 conquest of [[Bahrain]]. In 1605, during the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–18)|Ottoman–Safavid War of 1603–1618]], Allahverdi Khan besieged the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] city of [[Van, Turkey|Van]]. During the siege, he was informed of Ottoman reinforcements under Mehmed Pasha marching towards the city. He then sent an army under [[Qarachaqay Khan]] to stop the reinforcements from arriving, which he successfully accomplished.{{sfn|Floor|Herzig|2015|p=95}} However, Allahverdi Khan later lifted the siege, and returned to Abbas I, who was in [[Khoy]].{{sfn|Floor|Herzig|2015|p=95}} On 6 November, Allahverdi Khan took part in the [[battle of Sufiyan]], where the Safavids decisively defeated the Ottomans.{{sfn|Floor|Herzig|2015|pp=98–100}}
=== Death and burial === Allahverdi Khan died on 3 June 1613, during a visit at [[Isfahan]]. His death greatly saddened Abbas I, who accompanied his [[bier]] to a place where the corpses of the deceased were ritually washed and prepared for the burial.{{sfn|Blow|2009|p=102}} Abbas I also visited the house of Allahverdi Khan's family in Isfahan, where he offered his condolences. He thereafter appointed Allahverdi Khan's son [[Emamqoli Khan]] as the governor of Fars, thus succeeding his deceased father. Allahverdi Khan was buried in an exquisite tomb at Mashhad. His tomb was built next to the [[Imam Reza shrine]] as a unique way of respect,{{sfn|Blow|2009|p=102}} which reflects his standing and status in the Safavid empire. The tomb still stands to this day; it is an elegant two-storied octagonal structure with marble slabs and tiles sheathing the interior.{{sfn|Babaie|2004|pp=92–94}}
Allahverdi also had another son named [[Daud Khan Undiladze|Daud Khan]], who would later serve as the governor of [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]] and [[Karabakh]].
==Legacy== [[File:Si-o-se-Pol.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Si-o-se-pol]], also known as the "Allahverdi Khan Bridge"]] [[File:Mig 0013.jpg|thumb|300px|[[:Commons:Category:Khan Madrasa (Shiraz)|Madrasa Khan]], in [[Shiraz]]]] Allahverdi Khan presided over construction of several public buildings and charitable foundations. The [[Si-o-se-pol]] bridge across the [[Zayandeh River]] built by the architect Mir Jamal al-Din Muhammad Jabiri in Isfahan under Allahverdi Khan's patronage still bears the general's name. Allahverdi Khan is furthermore credited with several other building works, such as a large double dam near Sarab; a fortification around a village in Fars; a large ''qaysariyya'', or royal market, in [[Lar, Iran|Lar]], which impressed the Spanish envoy [[García de Silva Figueroa]]; and a stately house near [[Nahavand]] for Abbas I. Allahverdi Khan also initiated the construction of a large [[madrasa|theological college]], [[:Commons:Category:Khan Madrasa (Shiraz)|Madrasa Khan]], in [[Shiraz]] as a teaching base for the Islamic scholar [[Mulla Sadra]]. The project would be completed by his son Emamqoli Khan.{{sfn|Babaie|2004|pp=92–94}}
== See also == *[[Iranian Georgians]]
== References == {{reflist}}
== Sources == {{refbegin|2}} * {{cite book | title = Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran | year = 2004 | publisher = I.B.Tauris | last = Babaie | first = Sussan | pages = 1–218 | isbn = 9781860647215 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2BMVnw9JQh8C}} * {{cite book | last = Blow | first = David | title = Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who became an Iranian Legend | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-1-84511-989-8 | publisher = I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. | location = London, UK | lccn = 2009464064 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=K_kBAwAAQBAJ }} * {{cite book|editor-last1=Floor|editor-first1=Willem|editor-last2=Herzig|editor-first2=Edmund|editor-link2=Edmund Herzig|title=Iran and the World in the Safavid Age|date=2015|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1780769905}} * {{cite encyclopedia | article = FARHĀD KHAN QARAMĀNLŪ, ROKN-AL-SALṬANA | last = Matthee | first = Rudi | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farhad-khan-qaramanlu-rokn-al-saltana | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica | year = 1999 }} * {{cite book | title = Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan | year = 2011 | publisher = I.B.Tauris | last = Matthee | first = Rudi | pages = 1–371 | isbn = 978-0857731814 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fFaw4od7nfUC }} * Mikaberidze, Alexander (ed., 2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20090215065027/http://georgianbiography.com/bios/a/allahverdikhan.htm Allahverdi Khan]. ''Dictionary of Georgian National Biography''. * {{cite book | title = Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire | year = 2008 | publisher = I.B.Tauris | last = Newman | first = Andrew J. | pages = 1–281 | isbn = 9780857716613 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KPgBAwAAQBAJ&q=false}} * {{cite book|last=Potts|first=Daniel T.|title=Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era|location=London and New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=9780199330799|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ }} * {{cite book | title = The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Timurid and Safavid periods | year = 1986 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | last = Roemer | first = H.R. | chapter = The Safavid period | pages = 189–351 | isbn = 9780521200943 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LZ0-2BIR8BQC&q=The+Cambridge+History+of+Iran+safavid}} * {{cite encyclopedia | article = ALLĀHVERDĪ KHAN (1) | last = Savory | first = R. M. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/allahverdi-khan-d-1 | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 8 | pages = 891–892 | year = 1985 }} * {{cite book | title = Iran under the Safavids | year = 2007 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | last = Savory | first = Roger | author-link = Roger Savory | pages = 1–288 | isbn = 978-0521042512 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v4Yr4foWFFgC&q=false }} {{refend|2}}
{{s-start}} {{s-bef|before=[[Farhad Khan Qaramanlu]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Governor of [[Safavid Fars|Fars]]|years=1595/6 – 1613}} {{s-aft|after=[[Emamqoli Khan]]}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allahverdi Khan}} [[Category:1613 deaths]] [[Category:16th-century people from Georgia (country)]] [[Category:17th-century people from Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Safavid generals]] [[Category:Iranian military commanders]] [[Category:Iranian people of Georgian descent]] [[Category:Converts to Shia Islam from Christianity]] [[Category:Safavid ghilman]] [[Category:1560s births]] [[Category:Shia Muslims from Georgia (country)]] [[Category:Safavid governors of Fars]] [[Category:Undiladze family]] [[Category:Qollar-aghasi]] [[Category:16th-century people from Safavid Iran]] [[Category:16th-century Iranian military personnel]] [[Category:16th-century generals]] [[Category:17th-century people from Safavid Iran]] [[Category:Burials at Imam Reza Shrine]]