Qadi Jahan Qazvini (1483 – 1552/3) was a
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
bureaucrat who served as
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
of the
Safavid 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 ...
(king)
Tahmasp I
Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after ...
() from 1535 to 1551/1.
Biography
Qadi Jahan was born in February 1483; he belonged to a well-known family of
sayyid
''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, sons of Muhamma ...
s native to the city of
Qazvin
Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanization, Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Qazvin Province, Province of Qazvin in Iran. ...
, located in
Persian Iraq
Persian Iraq, also uncommonly spelled Persian Irak ( fa, عراقِ عجم ''Erāq-e Ajam(i)''; ar, عراق العجم Irāq al-'Ajam'' or Irāq 'Ajami''), is a historical region of the western parts of Iran.
The region, originally known ...
(''Erāq-e Ajam''), a region corresponding to western part of
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. He was educated by the prominent philosopher
Jalal al-Din Davani (died 1502) at the Madrasah-yi Mansuriyya in the southern city of
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
, and thus considered himself part of the Shirazi philosophical tradition.
In his early career, Qadi Jahan served as the ''
qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
'' (chief judge) of his home city, and later as the
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
of the ''
vakil
''Vakil'' was one of the highest positions in the hierarchy of Safavid Iran, denoting the viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term der ...
'' (viceroy)
Mirza Shah Hossein during the last years of the
Safavid 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 ...
(king)
Ismail I
Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...
(). As a part of his plan to keep the Turkmen
Qizilbash
Qizilbash or Kizilbash ( az, Qızılbaş; ota, قزيل باش; fa, قزلباش, Qezelbāš; tr, Kızılbaş, lit=Red head ) were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Iranian Azerbaijan, Anatolia, t ...
from the ''
divan
A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan'').
Etymology
The word, recorded in English since 1586, meanin ...
'', shah
Tahmasp I
Tahmasp I ( fa, طهماسب, translit=Ṭahmāsb or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 to 1576. He was the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Ascending the throne after ...
() appointed Qadi Jahan as the new co-vizier together with Mir Enayat Allah Khuzani Isfahani in 1535. However, the two viziers were unable to cooperate, with Mir Enayat being executed a few months later. Qadi Jahan later retired in 1550 or 1551, and died a few years later, in 1552 or 1553.
References
Sources
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{{Grand Viziers of the Safavid Empire
16th-century Iranian politicians
1483 births
1550s deaths
People from Qazvin
Grand viziers of the Safavid Empire
16th-century people of Safavid Iran