The province of Astarabad (also called Gorgan and Jorjan; ) was a southeastern province of

Safavid Iran 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 ...

, located on the southeastern side of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

. It bordered the

Atrek River The Atrek ( fa, اترک, ku, Etrek, tk, Etrek derýasy), also known as the Attruck, Atrak, and Etrek, is a fast-moving river which begins in the mountains of north-eastern Iran (), and flows westward draining into the south-eastern corner of th ...

in the north, the

Alborz The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs nort ...

in the south, the Mazandaran province to the west, and

Jajarm Jajarm ( fa, جاجرم, also Romanized as Jājarm) is a city and capital of Jajarm County, in North Khorasan Province, Iran. Because of several historical and archeological sites, Jajarm is one of the most attractive cities in North Khorasan pro ...

to the east. The province was under Safavid control from 1510. By the end of the Safavid era, Astarabad was composed of the following administrative jurisdictions: Gira'i, Goklan, Hajjilar, Jalayer, K.ra-chupi, and Yamut. Each district name was derived from the Turkoman tribe that been enstrusted with it. Some of the Turkoman tribes (such as the Qepchaq) lived to the north of Astarabad, but were still nominal subjects of the Safavids. From 1589 to 1598, the Sa'en-khanis of the Yakka Turkoman tribe assumed control over the province as caretaker governors, due to its lack of efficient Safavid rule. Their hold over the province was ended when

Shah Abbas I 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 so ...

() marched to Astarabad and pacified the tribes. In order to develop the province and levy taxes, the Safavids continued to attract Turkoman tribes to the province. The authority of the Safavid governor of Astabarad sometimes extended over the province, such as in

Damghan Damghan ( fa, دامغان, translit=Dāmghān) is the capital of Damghan County, Semnan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 57,331, in 15,849 families. It is situated east of Tehran on the high-road to Mashad, at an elevatio ...

and

Bastam Bastam ( fa, بسطام, also romanized as Basṭām; also known as Busṭām and Bisṭām) is a city in and capital of the Bastam District of Shahrud County, Semnan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 7,382, in 1,997 families ...

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