The Sarab Khanate () was a Kurdish

khanate A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. Mong ...

centered around Sarab after 1747 and ruled by the Shaqaqi tribe.

History

Rise of the Khanate

With the collapse of the

Safavid Empire 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 ...

in 1722, the Caucasian provinces were thrown into chaos. The

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

and Russians seized this opportunity to invade, with

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

invading in the summer of 1722 and capturing Derbent. The Ottomans

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

in the summer of 1723, and had taken all of Persia's caucasian provinces by 1725. However, the tribal groups of Azerbaijan resisted heavily. In the spring of 1726 the Shahsevan of Moghan and Shaqaqi of Meshkin rose against the Ottomans in anger at their occupation of Ardabil under the leadership of 'Abd ar-Razzaq Khan, the governor of Karadagh. In May, an Ottoman force left Ardabil under the command of 'Abd ar-Rahman Pasha and defeated the tribesmen in Arshaq. In October 1728, the governor of Diyarbakir defeated the Shaqaqi in Meshkin and took their women and children captive. The Ottomans eventually crushed the rebels by January 1729. However, the Safavid Restoration and

Tahmasp Qoli Khan Tahmasp Quli Khan ( fa, ; died 1626) was an aristocrat, who served as the Safavid governor of Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Ca ...

's campaign left them no room to consolidate their hold on Azerbaijan. By 1732 Moghan was back under Iranian control. During the reign of the Afsharids,

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...

deported many of the Shaqaqi to

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

; however upon his assassination in June 1747, the Shaqaqi migrated back to Azerbaijan. Instead of resettling at Meshkin they chose to settle at Sarab and Mianeh, as during their absence Meshkin was taken by the Shahsevan.

Reign of Ali Khan Shaqaqi

The Khanate was founded by Ali Khan, the leader of the Kurdish Shaqaqi tribe, after 1747. In 1750, Ali Khan was defeated by

Azad Khan Afghan Azād Khān Afghān (Persian, ps, آزاد خان افغان), or Azād Shāh Afghān () (died 1781), was a Pashtun military commander and a major contender for supremacy in western Iran after the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747.Perry, J. R. ( ...

and forced to submit. In the spring of 1762, Karim Khan Zand invaded Azerbaijan to force

Fath-Ali Khan Afshar Fath-Ali Khan Afshar ( fa, فتحعلی خان افشار), was a chieftain from the Afshars of Urmia, Afshar tribe of Urmia, and one of the four contenders for supremacy in Iran between 1751–1763. He was ultimately defeated and captured in Februa ...

and his

Urmia Khanate The Afshars of Urmia (also spelled Urmiya; fa, افشارهای ارومیه) are a branch of the Afshar tribe centered in the Iranian city of Urmia. From 1624/25 to 1820/21, the governorship of Urmia was mainly in the hands of the Urmia Afshars. ...

to submit. Ali Khan Shaqaqi submitted and supplied the Zand army. Karim Khan would capture Tabriz and capture Urmia on February 20, 1763 after a seven month siege. Under Ali Khan's rule, the khanate had an alliance with the neighboring

Ardabil Khanate Ardabil Khanate () was an 18th-19th century khanate based in Ardabil. It was established by Badr Khan in 1736, who attended the coronation of Nader Shah in January 1736. The khanate was ruled by Sarikhanbayli clan of Shahsevan tribal alliance. It ...

and the Karabakh Khanate.

Reign of Sadiq Khan Shaqaqi

When Ali Khan Shaqaqi died in 1786, he was succeeded by

Sadiq Khan Shaqaqi Sadeq Khan Shaqaqi ( fa, صادق خان شقاقی) was the chief of the Shaqaqi tribe and khan of Sarab from 1786 to 1800. He was the eldest son and successor of Ali Khan Shaqaqi. The Shaqaqi were Kurds who had become Turkified and converted t ...

. In 1787, Sadiq took Tabriz and killed the governor, Khoda-dad Khan Donboli. His followers also launched raids in Gilan. When

Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ( fa, آقا محمد خان قاجار, translit=Âqâ Mohammad Xân-e Qâjâr; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (, ), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, rul ...

invaded Azerbaijan in early 1791, Sadiq retreated from Tabriz to defend Sarab, but he was defeated and the Iranian armies ravaged Sarab and the surrounding countryside. Sadiq was then taken hostage, along with some Shahsevan chiefs of Ardabil.

Revolt against Iran

When

Agha Mohammad Shah Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ( fa, آقا محمد خان قاجار, translit=Âqâ Mohammad Xân-e Qâjâr; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (, ), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, rul ...

invaded Karabakh in June 1797, he crossed the Aras River with Sadiq Khan Shaqaqi and entered Shusha, where the Qajar was assassinated on June 16. Sadiq was suspected of being involved in the plot, as the assassins handed the crown jewels and royal insignia to him. The camp at the city was broken up and Sadiq quickly moved to cross the Aras River and secured his control over most of Iranian Azerbaijan. He attacked Qazvin with an army of 15,000 tribesmen. In the chaos that ensued,

Baba Khan Baba Khan ( fa, باباخان, also Romanized as Bābā Khān) is a village in Korani Rural District, Korani District, Bijar County, Kurdistan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 84, in 16 families. The village is populated b ...

, the governor of Shiraz, marched to Tehran and secured the city. He marched against the Shaqaqis and forced him to retreat to Sarab, where Sadiq surrendered. He was pardoned and reappointed as governor of Sarab. Fath-Ali Shah Qajar married Sadeq Khan's daughter as his 13th wife. However, in 1798 he revolted again. The rebellion was suppressed and in 1800 he was taken to Tehran and imprisoned in the Golestan palace. His brother San Khan succeeded him as governor of Sarab.

Khans of Sarab

* ''

Ali Khan Shaqaqi Ali Khan Shaqaqi was the first khan of the Sarab Khanate The Sarab Khanate () was a Kurdish khanate centered around Sarab after 1747 and ruled by the Shaqaqi tribe. History Rise of the Khanate With the collapse of the Safavid Empire i ...

'' 1747—1786 * ''

'' 1786—1800 *''San Khan'' 1800-?

References

Sources

* * * {{coord missing, Azerbaijan, Iran Former Kurdish states in Iran History of East Azerbaijan Province