A velayat (also spelled vilayat; fa, ولایت) was a type of administrative division within

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 ...

, which functioned as a semi-autonomous province. The velayats were situated in the frontier of the country, mainly in its mountainous areas. In order of ranking, the five velayats were: Arabestan, Lorestan, Georgia,

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

, and Bakhtiyari lands. A velayat was governed by a ''vali'' ("viceroy", "governor"), who was nearly an independent governor. The ''valis'' generally belonged to prominent local families, and were officially chosen by the

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 ...

as a compromise of regional autonomy. Nevertheless, they ruled in a

hereditary Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic inform ...

manner. In rare occasions a ''vali'' was appointed to a velayat he had no connection to. This could possibly cause issues, such as in the 1680s Kurdistan, where a non-Kurdish ''vali'' chosen by Shah Soleyman () was chased out by the locals. In order to keep the chieftains under good behaviour, one of their family members (often a son) was kept as a hostage in

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

. The ''valis'' officially showed their fealty to the shah and minted coins in his name. The ''valis'' enjoyed rights that an ordinary governor did not have, which included: absolute supervision over the administration of their region, having their own budgets and militia, and handling their own vassal relations. The shah seldom involved himself in these matters. The tributes that the ''valis'' had to pay to the shah varied based on the situation. The demands were typically small, such as in the late Safavid era, where Lorestan provided twenty

Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( ar, الحصان العربي , DIN 31635, DMG ''ḥiṣān ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is ...

s, 200 mules and a number of valuables. During wartime, however, Lorestan was expected to provide up to 12,000 cavalrymen and the equal amount of foot-soldiers.

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