The qurchis or qorchis ( fa, قورچی, qūṛčī) were the royal bodyguard of the
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
shah. The head of the ''qurchis'' was known as the ''
qurchi-bashi
The Qurchi-bashi ( fa, قورچیباشی), also spelled Qorchi-bashi (), was the head of the '' qurchis'', the royal bodyguard of the Safavid shah. There were also ''qurch-bashis'' who were stationed in some of the provinces and cities. T ...
''.
History
The ''qurchis'' were theoretically enlisted from the
Qizilbash tribes and were paid by money taken from the
royal treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
. The ''qurchis'' lived off the land handouts and fees that were given to them by the shah. During the early Safavid period, the ''qurchis'' were all from the same tribe, but that later changed. They numbered 3,000 under the
Ismail I at the
Battle of Chaldiran, but were reduced to 1,700 after the battle, and then later to 1,000, after Ismail had "done away with 700 of them." They numbered 5,000 under
Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576).
Under
Abbas I, the ''qurchis'' had become much more important and numbered 10,000-15,000. Abbas I gave several of ''qurchis'' governorship of large provinces, which decreased the power of the Qizilbash commanders, who were used to govern large provinces. During the late reign of Abbas' reign, the ''qurchi-bashi'' was the most powerful office of the empire.
There were also ''qurchis'' who were assigned to some of the provinces and cities, headed by officers who were also referred to as ''qurchi-bashi'', but who were subordinate to
the supreme qurchi-bashi. These ''qurchis'' were identified by the city or province they served in; for example, a ''qurchi'' stationed in
Derbent, was referred to as a ''Qurchi-e Darband''.
Local rulers also had ''qurchis'' at their disposal, though they were limited in number. The ''
vali'' (governor, viceroy) of
Georgia had a ''qurchi'' corps to serve him, including a ''qurchi-bashi'', and a legion of specialized qurchis for his "
accoutrements" (i.e. ''qurchi-e zereh'', ''qurchi-e kafsh'', ''qurchi-e tarkesh'', etc.).
Notes
References
Sources
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* {{cite book , title = The Evolution of the Safavid Royal Guard , year = 1989 , publisher = Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 22, no. 2/3 , last = Haneda , first = Masashi , journal = Iranian Studies , volume = 22 , issue = 2/3 , pages = 57–85 , doi = 10.1080/00210868908701731 , isbn = 0857731815 , jstor = 4310668
Medieval bodyguards
Military units and formations of the Early Modern period
Military history of Safavid Iran
Military units and formations of the Persian Empire