Studying the role and status of the position of Sepahsalar in the Safavid government

Mehmannavaz, Mahmoud

doi:10.30466/jhf.2024.55732.1017

Studying the role and status of the position of Sepahsalar in the Safavid government

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Mahmoud Mehmannavaz

Associate Professor, Department of History, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Yasuj University, Yasuj, Iran

10.30466/jhf.2024.55732.1017

Abstract

The coming to power of Shah Abbas I (1038 - 996 AH) caused extensive changes in the structure of the Safavid government (1135 - 907 AH). One of Shah Abbas's strategies for consolidating the foundations of his power was to reduce the power of the Qizilbash forces and reform the Safavid military organization. From these reforms, Shah Abbas created some new military positions, one of which was the position of Sepahsalar. In fact, the history of the position of Sepahsalar dates back to the pre-Islamic era, and Shah Abbas somehow revived it. In the Safavid military organization, the Sepahsalar was responsible for commanding all military forces, including the Qizilbash, the Qollars, and ... Usually, this position existed during the outbreak of war, and at times when the Safavids were not involved in a specific war, this position was eliminated. However, this rule was not always observed, and in some cases, the position of Sepahsalar existed even without the country being involved in a war. The present study has been conducted with the aim of investigating and explaining the role and position of the Sepahsalar in the Safavid military and administrative organizations. The approach of the present study is descriptive-analytical based on collecting information using a library method. The research relies on the original texts from the Safavid period.

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