Abd-ol-Ghaffar Amilakhori ( fa, عبدالقفار امیلخوری, translit=Abd-ol-Qaffār Amilakhori, ka, ანდუყაფარ ამილახორი, tr; died ) was an early 17th-century noble from the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

Amilakhori family of

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

, prominent in the Safavid Iranian service.

Biography

Abd-ol-Ghaffar Amilakhori was raised at the Safavid court in Isfahan and was a "typical member of the new Georgian converted elite". Abd-ol-Ghaffar was a son of Faramarz Amilakhori by his wife Tamar, a great-grandson of King

Luarsab I of Kartli Luarsab I ( ka, ლუარსაბ I) ( – ), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a king of the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli from 1527 to 1556 or from 1534 to 1558. Persistent in his resistance against Safavid Persian aggression, he was killed i ...

. His sister Tamar was a favourite concubine of the Safavid shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629). When in 1624, Abbas I married off his granddaughter to the ruler of Kartli, Semayun Khan (Simon II), Abd-ol-Ghaffar's wife was a companion to the bride. Amilakhori and another leading Georgian noble,

Zurab Zurab ( Georgian: ზურაბ) is a Georgian masculine given name. It derives from the Persian Sohrab, a name of the legendary warrior from Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh''. It may refer to: *Zurab Adeishvili (born 1972), Georgian jurist and politicia ...

, ''

eristavi ''Eristavi'' (; literally, "head of the nation") was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine '' strategos'' and normally translated into English as "prince" or less commonly as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarch ...

'' of

Aragvi The Aragvi ( ka, არაგვი) and its basin are in Georgia on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The river is long, and its basin covers an area of . The ground strata are mostly sandstone, slate, and limestone. The Zhinv ...

, entertained the guests of the wedding party on the orders of the Safavid-Georgian officer Murav Beg (Giorgi Saakadze). Around the same time, the Shah arranged the marriage of Abd-ol-Ghaffar Amilakhori to a daughter of Imam-Quli Khan, a prominent Safavid military and political leader of Georgian descent. According to the contemporary Safavid historian Fazli Khuzani, Amilakhori was 22-years old at the time of his marriage. While in Kartli, Amilakhori was known as a champion of the Safavid interests in the country. He further expanded his estates at the expense of the neighbouring noble families, exterminated the Ghazneli and had the area around Mtskheta ravaged. In 1625/26, Amilakhori and his wife were captured by the rebellious Georgians and imprisoned in the fortress of Arshi. After the rebels' defeat at the

battle of Marabda The Battle of Marabda took place on 30 June 1625, or July 1, 1625, "Marabda, Battle of (1625)", in ''Historical Dictionary of Georgia'', by Alexander Mikaberidze (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) p. 454 "Iranian Conflict 1609-25", in ''Early Modern War ...

, Abbas I sent a force to rescue them. According to Fazli Khuzani, upon being informed of this, the rebels sent the Amilakhori and his wife to Amilakhori's relatives, as well as those of Allahverdi Khan (the father of Imam-Quli Khan). Amilakhori, thereafter, disappears from historical records.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amilakhori, Abd-ol-Ghaffar 1620s deaths People from Isfahan Iranian people of Georgian descent Shia Muslims from Georgia (country) Converts to Shia Islam from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Georgian Orthodox Christians Nobility of Georgia (country) 17th-century people of Safavid Iran 17th-century people from Georgia (country)