Mohammad Baqer Mirza better known in the West as Safi Mirza (15 September 1587,
Mashhad
Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...
– 2 February 1614,
Rasht
Rasht ( fa, رشت, Rašt ; glk, Rəšt, script=Latn; also romanized as Resht and Rast, and often spelt ''Recht'' in French and older German manuscripts) is the capital city of Gilan Province, Iran. Also known as the "City of Rain" (, ''Ŝahre B ...
) was the oldest son of king (
shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
)
Abbas the Great
Abbas I ( fa, ; 27 January 157119 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the 5th Safavid Shah (king) of Iran, and is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of Iranian history and the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son ...
(r. 1588-1629), and the crown prince of the
Safavid dynasty
The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of th ...
during Abbas' reign and his own short life.
Safi Mirza was caught in one of the court intrigues in which several leading
Circassians
The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia in ...
were involved, which would eventually cost him his life, and his place in the line of succession to become the next Shah. His son became the next Shah, known by his dynastic name
Safi (r. 1629-1642).
Background
Mohammed Baqer Mirza was born in September 1587 by either one of
Abbas
Abbas may refer to:
People
* Abbas (name), list of people with the name, including:
**Abbas ibn Ali, Popularly known as Hazrat-e-Abbas (brother of Imam Hussayn)
**Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of Muhammad
** Mahmoud Abbas (born 1935), Palest ...
' Christian
Circassian wives, or by Fakhr-i Jahan Begam, the daughter of
Bagrat IV,
King of Imereti
The Kingdom of Imereti ( ka, იმერეთის სამეფო, tr) was a Georgian monarchy established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagrationi when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, Im ...
. Of Abbas' five sons, three had survived past childhood, so the Safavid succession seemed secure. He was on good terms with Mohammed Baqer Mirza, his oldest son and crown prince. In 1614, however, during a
punitive campaign in Georgia against two former loyal Georgian subjects,
TeimurazI and
LuarsabII, the shah heard rumours that the prince was conspiring against his life with a leading Circassian,
Farhad Beg Cherkes
Farhad Beg Cherkes (died 1614) was a Circassians, Circassian favourite at the Safavids, Safavid court of king (''shah'') Abbas I of Persia, Abbas I (r. 1588–1629). Having risen through the ''Military of the Safavid dynasty#Gholam, gholam'' ranks, ...
. Shortly after, Mohammed Baqer broke protocol during a hunt by killing a boar before the shah had chance to put his spear in. This seemed to confirm Abbas' suspicions, causing him to sink into melancholy; he no longer trusted any of his three sons. In 1615 he decided he had no choice but to have Mohammed killed. Another Circassian, named
Behbud Beg, carried out the Shah's orders, and the prince was murdered in a
hammam
A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited f ...
in the city of
Resht
Rasht ( fa, رشت, Rašt ; glk, Rəšt, script=Latn; also romanized as Resht and Rast, and often spelt ''Recht'' in French and older German manuscripts) is the capital city of Gilan Province, Iran. Also known as the "City of Rain" (, ''Ŝahre B ...
; he was buried in
Ardabil
Ardabil (, fa, اردبیل, Ardabīl or ''Ardebīl'') is a city in northwestern Iran, and the capital of Ardabil Province. As of the 2022 census, Ardabil's population was 588,000. The dominant majority in the city are ethnic Iranian Azerbaija ...
. The shah almost immediately regretted his action and was plunged into grief.
In 1621 Abbas fell seriously ill. Thinking his father was on his deathbed, his son and heir, Khodabandeh Mirza, began to celebrate his accession to the throne with his Qizilbash supporters. But the shah recovered and proceeded to punish his son by blinding him, disqualifying him from ever taking the throne. The blinding was only partially successful, however, and the prince's followers planned to smuggle him out of the country to safety in a fabricated treason. But the plot was betrayed, the prince's followers were executed, and the prince himself imprisoned in the fortress of Alamut, where he would later be murdered by Abbas' successor,
Shah Safi
Sam Mirza ( fa, سام میرزا) (161112 May 1642), better known by his dynastic name of Shah Safi ( fa, شاه صفی), was the sixth Safavid shah (king) of Iran, ruling from 1629 to 1642.
Early life
Safi was given the name Sam Mirza when ...
.
Unexpectedly, Abbas now chose as his heir the son of Mohammed Baqer Mirza,
Sam Mirza, a cruel and introverted character who was said to loathe his grandfather because of his father's murder. It was he who succeeded Shah Abbas at the age of seventeen in 1629, taking the name Shah Safi.
Offspring
Safi married twice. His first wife was Fakhr Jahan Begum, a daughter of Shah
Ismail II
Ismail II (; Born Ismail Mirza; 31 May 1537 – 24 November 1577) was the third Shah of Safavid Iran from 1576 to 1577. He was the second son of Tahmasp I with his principal consort, Sultanum Begum. By the orders of Tahmasp, Ismail spent twent ...
. They married in November 1601 in Isfahan.
She was the mother of his son, Soltan Soleyman Mirza. He was blinded in 1621, and was killed in August 1632 at
Alamut
Alamut ( fa, الموت) is a region in Iran including western and eastern parts in the western edge of the Alborz (Elburz) range, between the dry and barren plain of Qazvin in the south and the densely forested slopes of the Mazandaran provinc ...
,
Qazvin
Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was a capital of the ...
.
His second wife was
Dilaram Khanum
Dilaram Khanum ( fa, دلارام خانم, also spelled Del Aram or Delaram; died 1647) was a Safavid Georgian concubine of Safavid crown prince Mohammad Baqer Mirza, and the mother of King Safi ( 1629–1642).
Life
According to Prof.David Blo ...
, a
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 ...
.
With her, he had a son, Soltan Abul-Naser Sam Mirza, who succeeded as
Safi.
Sources
References
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* {{cite book , last = Savory , first = Roger M. , title = Iran under the Safavids , publisher = Cambridge University Press , location = Cambridge, UK , year = 1980 , isbn = 0-521-22483-7 , lccn = 78073817
Iranian people of Circassian descent
Safavid princes
1580s births
1610s deaths
Safavid governors of Mashhad
Safavid governors of Hamadan
16th-century people of Safavid Iran
17th-century people of Safavid Iran