Qazaq Khan Cherkes was a military commander in Safavid Iran of Circassian origin, who also served as the governor (''beglarbeg'') of

Shirvan Shirvan (from fa, شروان, translit=Shirvān; az, Şirvan; Tat: ''Şirvan''), also spelled as Sharvān, Shirwan, Shervan, Sherwan and Šervān, is a historical Iranian region in the eastern Caucasus, known by this name in both pre-Islam ...

(1624–1633) and

Astarabad Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies app ...

(1639–1640). A high-ranking member of the ''

gholam Ghulam ( ar, غلام, ) is an Arabic word meaning ''servant'', ''assistant'', ''boy'', or ''youth''. It is used to describe young servants in paradise. It is also used to refer to slave-soldiers in the Abbasid, Ottoman, Safavid and to a lesse ...

'' military corps, he was furthermore appointed head of the Qaramanlu and Keneslu

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 ...

troops by then incumbent king Abbas I (r. 1588–1629) as part of the latter's policy to diminish the political influence of the Qizilbash. In 1632, during king Safi's (r. 1629–42) bloody purges, his relative, the prominent Circassian

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...

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

* * * {{s-end Safavid governors of Shirvan Iranian people of Circassian descent Safavid ghilman Safavid generals Prisoners and detainees of Safavid Iran Safavid governors of Astarabad 17th-century people of Safavid Iran Safavid slaves