Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu
| Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Erivan Province | |
|
In office 1568–1575 | |
| Monarch | Tahmasp I |
| Preceded by | Shahqoli Soltan Ustajlu |
| Succeeded by | Abu Torab Soltan |
|
In office 1578–1583 | |
| Monarch | Mohammad Khodabanda |
| Preceded by | Khalil Khan Afshar |
| Succeeded by | Ottoman pashas |
| Personal details | |
| Occupation | Official, diplomat, military leader |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 |
| Battles/wars | |
Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu, also commonly known as Tokhmaq Khan Ustajlu, was a 16th-century Safavid official, diplomat and military leader from the Turkoman Ustajlu tribe. He was appointed as governor (beglarbeg) of Erivan Province (also known as Chokhur-e Sa'd) in 1568–1575. Thereafter, he led an embassy to the Ottoman Empire. On his return, he participated in some judicial developments, and was reappointed as governor of Erivan Province in 1578–1583. He served as main commander at the Battle of Çıldır during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590.
Biography
Embassy to the Ottomans
Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq was the son of the previous governor of Erivan Province, Shahqoli Soltan Ustajlu.[1] In 1568, king (shah) Tahmasp I (r. 1524-1576) appointed him as his father's successor.[2] Several years later, shortly before his death, Tahmasp I sent Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq as an ambassador to the neighboring Ottoman Empire to congratulate Murad III on his accession to the Ottoman throne. Tahmasp I wished to maintain the cordial relations that were initiated by the Peace of Amasya in 1555.[3][4] The embassy, comprising some 250 men and 500 camels, arrived in Scutari, adjacent to the imperial capital, Constantinople, in May 1576. They brought numerous costly gifts, including precious manuscripts and stones, as well as weapons and fine rugs.[1][4] The most costly gift of all was an imperial tent decorated with jewels.[4]
A grand reception followed, and the envoys were sent back with two "richly" harnessed horses as well as 5,000 ducats.[1] Both the ceremony and the construction of the tent are depicted in the first volume of the Shahanshah-nameh (dated 1581).[4] The tent, considered to be a "magnificent piece of art", has not survived.[4] Tahmasp I's letter of greeting, which Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq presented to Murad III, is in the archives of the Topkapı Palace.[4][lower-alpha 1]
Judicial participation
During the short reign of king Ismail II (r. 1576–1577), the king ordered Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq, Grand Vizier Mirza Shokrollah Isfahani, and Mirza Ali Qajar to function as members of the orf court within the court of justice, in order to assist the incumbent divanbegi (chancellor, chief justice) Soltan Ebrahim Mirza, in giving judgement on individual cases involving finance as well as matters "affecting the welfare of the realm as a whole".[5][lower-alpha 2] The mandates and judgements proposed by Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq and the others were eventually endorsed by the "supreme divan", with Ismail II's approval, and for a few months, they were put to practise.[5][7]
War
In 1578, king Mohammad Khodabanda (r. 1578–1587) reappointed Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq as governor of Erivan Province.[2] During the prelude to the Ottoman-Safavid of 1578-1590 the Safavids were well informed about the coming Ottoman assault but not about its magnitude. Tokhmaq Khan was ordered by the king to recruit troops from all over northwestern Iran.[8] Having assembled an army of some 15,000–30,000 men, he marched to the vicinity of Çıldır, not far from the Ottoman army, which was commanded by Lala Mustafa Pasha.[8] His spies miscalculated the size of the Ottoman army, "only counting the ones that were visible to them".[9] According to Iskander Beg Munshi and Juan Tomas Minadoi, Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq, "emboldened" by the news from his spies, decided to attack.[9] Munshi put the blame on the Qizilbash, stating that they ruined "their potential strength through disunity and internal bickering and of foolhardily rushing into war, taking on an army of 100,000 with a mere 15,000 troops rather than waiting until all reinforcements had arrived".[9]
On 9 August, Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq and his men engaged the Ottomans.[8] Heavily outnumbered, the Safavid forces were defeated, and some 5,000-7,000 were slain on the battlefield, while another 3,000 were taken captive and beheaded.[8] Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq's second tenure over the Erivan Province was brought to an end in 1583 due to Ottoman encroachment, which resulted in an Ottoman takeover of the province until 1604.[2]
A gholam (slave-soldier) of Tokhmaq Khan, Behbud Agha, was a Georgian who hailed from a Kartlian noble family (tavadi). He converted to Islam during his service to Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq.[10] Two of Behbud Agha's sons, Ali-Qoli Beg and Emamqoli Beg, together briefly served as governors of Kartli in the 1610s.[10]
Notes
- ↑ In 1568, Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq's father had also led an elaborate embassy to the Ottomans.[1] The rich gifts carried by the 1568 mission included the famed Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp.[1]
- ↑ The common law or orf court was one of two courts within the empire, and was secular in nature.[6] The other court, the shar'i court, was religious in nature and dealt with "religious and civil matters and litigation".[6] The orf court was the most important of the two, as it was headed by the most important judicial official in the empire, the divanbegi, "who was the shah's representative in all matters of common law, in particular criminal law".[6] "The orf court, in principle, dealt with all activities against the state, i.e. political (treason, oppression), fiscal (malversation, corruption), administrative (disputes between high-ranking officials), and criminal (murder, theft) crimes."[6]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Matthee 2014, p. 8.
- 1 2 3 Floor 2008, p. 171.
- ↑ Matthee 2014, pp. 7-8.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tanındı 2008.
- 1 2 Floor 2000, pp. 25-26.
- 1 2 3 4 Floor 2000, pp. 9-26.
- ↑ Floor 2001, p. 40.
- 1 2 3 4 Matthee 2014, p. 17.
- 1 2 3 Matthee 2014, pp. 17-18.
- 1 2 Maeda 2012, p. 478.
Sources
- Floor, W. (2000). "The Secular Judicial System in Safavid Persia". Studia Iranica. Peeters Publishers. 29 (1): 9–60. doi:10.2143/SI.29.1.565532.
- Floor, Willem (2001). Safavid Government Institutions. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers. pp. 1–311. ISBN 978-1568591353.
- Floor, Willem M. (2008). Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, by Mirza Naqi Nasiri. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers. ISBN 978-1933823232.
- Maeda, Hirotake (2012). "Exploitation of the Frontier: the Caucasus Policy of Shah 'Abbas I". In Floor, Willem; Herzig, Edmund. Iran and the World in the Safavid Age. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1780769905.
- Matthee, Rudi (2014). "The Ottoman-Safavid War of 986-998/1578-90: Motives and Causes". In Karpat, Kemal; Balgamış, Deniz. International Journal of Turkish Studies. 20, Nos 1& 2.
- Tanındı, Zeren (2008). "TOPKAPI PALACE". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
| Preceded by Shahqoli Soltan Ustajlu |
Governor of Erivan Province (Chokhur-e Sa'd) (1st term) 1568–1575 |
Succeeded by Abu Torab Soltan |
| Preceded by Khalil Khan Afshar |
Governor of Erivan Province (Chokhur-e Sa'd) (2nd term) 1578–1583 |
Succeeded by Ottoman pashas |