ALLAÚHVERDÈ KHAN (d.1022/1613), a Georgian g@ola@m who rose to high office in the Safavid state. In order to counterbalance the power of the qizilba@Þ Turkman tribesmen, who constituted the Safavid military aristocracy, Shah ¿Abba@s I created a standing army of Georgian, Armenian, and Circassian Christians taken prisoner in the course of campaigns in the Caucasus. These men, known as g@ola@ma@n-e kòa@sásáa-ye Þar^fa, were converted to Islam and trained for service in one of the new g@ola@m regiments or in some branch of the royal household. In 997/1589, Alla@hverd^ Khan agreed to be party to the assassination of the kingmaker and wak^l MorÞed-qol^ Khan Osta@èlu@, whose excessive power could no longer be tolerated by the shah; for this service, he was rewarded by being made governor of Ôorpa@daqa@n near Isfahan, with the rank of sultan (Eskandar Beg, I, p. 401; tr. Savory, p. 578). After this, his rise to high office was rapid. In 1004/1595-96 we find him holding the office of qu@llar-a@qa@s^, or commander of the g@ola@m regiments (ibid., I, p. 515; tr., p. 690), an office which had been created by Shah ¿Abba@s I (ibid., II, p. 1106; tr., p. 527) and was one of the five principal offices of state (see R. M. Savory, “Safavid Persia,” in Cambridge History of Islam, Cambridge, 1970, I, p. 419). In the same year, Alla@hverd^ Khan was appointed governor of Fa@rs (Eskandar Beg, I, p. 515; tr., p. 690). This appointment signaled a radical change of policy on the part of Shah ¿Abba@s. Hitherto, all important provinces had been governed by qizilba@Þ amirs; by being made governor of Fa@rs, Alla@hverd^ Khan became the first g@ola@m to attain equality of status with them. His appointment was also significant for another reason: it marked the inauguration of Shah ¿Abba@s's policy of converting mama@lek or “state” provinces into kòa@sásáa or “crown” provinces governed by intendants appointed directly by the Shah. The following year, 1005/1596-97, another governorship was granted to Alla@hverd^ khan, that of the province of Kohg^lu@ya, which was also brought under kòa@sásáa administration (ibid., I, p. 525; tr. p. 701).

Alla@hverd^ Khan distinguished himself in action in Shah ¿Abba@s's great victory over the Uzbeks at Reba@tá-e Par^a@n in Moháarram, 1007/August, 1598, a victory which led to the recovery of Herat after ten years of Uzbek occupation. Shortly after this battle, Alla@hverd^ Khan, on orders from the shah, executed the qizilba@Þ amir Farha@d Khan Qara@ma@nlu@ who, like MorÞed-qol^ Khan Osta@èlu@ before him, had grown too powerful and was suspected of plotting against the shah (ibid., I, p. 574-76; tr., p. 762). By this act, Alla@hverd^ Khan became the most powerful man in the Safavid state after the shah. From 1008-09/1600 onwards, Alla@hverd^ Khan, in conjunction with Sir Robert Sherley, undertook the reorganization of the army, which meant among other things increasing the number of g@ola@ms from 4,000 to 25,000 (L.-L. Bellan, Chah Abbas I, Paris, 1932, pp. 111ff.). In 1010/1601-02, Alla@hverd^ Khan was in charge of operations which resulted in the annexation of Bahrain to the Safavid empire (Eskandar Beg, II, pp. 614-16; tr., pp. 803-05), and from that date onwards he played a prominent part in all major campaigns on both the eastern and the western fronts. Prior to the reign of Shah ¿Abba@s I, when the qizilba@Þ constituted the greater part of the Safavid army, the commander of the qizilba@Þ troops, termed am^r al-omara@÷ or qu@r±^ba@Þ^, had been the de facto commander-in-chief of the Safavid armed forces. However, after the creation of the g@ola@m regiments, commanded by the qu@llar-a@qa@s^, it became necessary to adopt a new rank to indicate the person who held supreme command of the army as a whole. The term first adopted was sarda@r-e laÞkar, which we find applied to Alla@hverd^ Khan as early as 1006/1597-98 (ibid., I, p. 539; tr., p. 719); subsequently, the ancient title of sepahsa@la@r was revived and used for this purpose. The fact that the sarda@r-e laÞkar, and subsequently the sepahsa@la@r-e Èra@n, was superior in rank to the qu@r±^ba@Þ^, is not admitted, or even hinted at, by the Tadòkerat al-molu@k, but a close reading of the Ta@r^kò-e ¿ala@ma@ra@-ye ¿Abba@s^ shows that this was in fact the case.

Alla@hverd^ Khan died on 14 Rab^¿ II 1022/3 June 1613 (ibid., II, p. 871; tr., pp. 1083-84). In his obituary notice on Alla@hverd^ Khan, Eskandar Beg describes him as “one of the most powerful amirs to hold office under this dynasty. During his lifetime, he was responsible for the construction of many public buildings [including the bridge across the Za@yanda-ru@d at Isfahan which bears his name] and charitable foundations. He was a man of great forbearance, modest and chaste.” Shah ¿Abba@s demonstrated his genuine respect and affection for him by personally supervising the funeral arrangements, and by going to the khan's house the day after his death to offer his personal condolences to his family (ibid., II, p. 871; tr., p. 1084).

Bibliography : Given in the text.

(R. M. Savory)