Emamqoli Khan
Iranian military and political leader and governor (died 1632)
Emamqoli Khan (Persian: امامقلی خان, romanized: Emāmqolī Khān; 1582–1632) was a Safavid military and political leader of Georgian origin who served as a governor of Fars, Lar and Bahrain for the shahs Abbas the Great and Safi.
Biography
Emamqoli Khan was the son of Allahverdi Khan (Undiladze), the celebrated Georgian general in the service of Iran's Safavid dynasty. Emamqoli Khanis first mentioned as governor of Lar in Fars in 1610. He succeeded his father as governor-general (beglarbeg) of Fars in 1613, but retained his position at Lar and was granted the rank of an amir of the divan by Shah Abbas I. In 1619–20, Emamqoli Khan oversaw Abbas's project to link the headwaters of the Karun and Zayandarud rivers in order to enhance the water supply of his capital, Isfahan. Shah Abbas placed complete trust in Emamqoli Khan who grew in influence and prestige and became one of the wealthiest khans of the Safavid empire. One day, Shah Abbas even jokingly said to Imam-Quli: "I request, Imam-Quli, that you will spend one dirham less per day, that there may exist some slight difference between the disbursements of a khan and a king!"
Imam-Quli built a madrasa and many palaces in Shiraz and the still standing bridge Pol-e Khan over the Kor at Marvdasht.
Being in charge of the Safavids' southern possessions, Emamqoli Khan continued his father's policy of undermining the Portuguese positions in the Persian Gulf. In 1621, he persuaded the English East India Company to cooperate with the Persians by threatening to cancel the trading privileges that had been granted to the company by the shah in 1615. As a result, Emamqoli Khan's army aided by the English navy captured the strategic Portuguese fort on the island of Qeshm and laid a siege to Hormuz, which surrendered after a defence of ten weeks on 22 April 1622. The khan's military exploits are commemorated in the works by the poet Qadri from Fars.
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