Qazaq Khan Cherkes
Safavid military commander and governor
Qazaq Khan Cherkes (Persian: قزاق خان چرکس) was a military commander in Safavid Iran of Circassian origin, who also served as the governor (beglarbeg) of Shirvan (1624–1633) and Astarabad (1639–1640).
A high-ranking member of the gholam military corps, he was furthermore appointed head of the Qaramanlu and Keneslu Qizilbash troops by then incumbent Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629) as part of the latter's policy to diminish the political influence of the Qizilbash. In 1632, during Shah Safi's (r. 1629–42) bloody purges, his relative, the prominent Circassian courtier Yusuf Agha was murdered, while Qazaq Khan Cherkes was deposed and imprisoned in 1633. He nevertheless later returned on the political scene in the last years of Safi's reign, when he was given a new governorship in 1639. His son Najafqoli Khan Cherkes would hold several influential positions as well.
Sources
Floor, Willem M. (2008). Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, by Mirza Naqi Nasiri. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers.
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