Mirza Kamal al-Din Shah Hossein Isfahani ( fa, میرزا کمال الدین شاه حسین اصفهانی), better simply known as Mirza Shah Hossein (میرزا شاه حسین), was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

nobleman, who served as the ''

vakil ''Vakil'' was one of the highest positions in the hierarchy of Safavid Iran, denoting the viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term der ...

'' (

vicegerent Vicegerent is the official administrative deputy of a ruler or head of state: ''vice'' (Latin for "in place of") and ''gerere'' (Latin for "to carry on, conduct"). In Oxford colleges, a vicegerent is often someone appointed by the Master of a ...

) and ''

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...

'' of the Safavid Empire. He also briefly held the post of commander of the empire's musketeer corps ('' tofangchi-aghasi'').

Biography

A native of Isfahan, Mirza Shah originally served as an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, but was in 1503 appointed as the personal ''

'' of the powerful

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 ...

magnate

Durmish Khan Shamlu Durmish (Dormish) Khan Shamlu was a Qizilbash officer of Turkoman origin, who occupied high offices under the Safavid king (shah) Ismail I (r. 1501–1524) and the latter's son Tahmasp I (r. 1524 – 1576). Durmish Khan later died in 1525. Biogr ...

, who had recently been appointed as the governor of Mirza Shah's native city. Mirza Shah was appointed as vakil and ''vizier'' in 1514 after the

Battle of Chaldiran The Battle of Chaldiran ( fa, جنگ چالدران; tr, Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and ...

, which had a damaging impact on the health of Safavid king

Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

, who withdrew from affairs of the state and began heavily drinking. The appointment of Mirza Shah to the ''vakil'' office was because he had after the battle found Ismail's favorite wife who was lost in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

. In 1516, Ismail I also appointed Mirza Shah Hossein as commander of the musketeer corps ('' tofangchi-aghasi''). Mirza Shah used the absence of the king as an opportunity to expand his authority. Furthermore, Mirza Shah also became a close friend with Ismail and was alongside him during his period of drinking. This made Mirza Shah gain influence over the king himself. In 1521, Mirza Shah chose to confront his former master, Durmish Khan Shamlu, managing to send him far away from the Safavid court—to

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

in Khorasan, where he was forced to serve as its governor. However, Mirza Shah Hossein outsmarted himself in the end, and as a result was in 14 April 1523 murdered at the hands of furious Qizilbash members. He was succeeded by Jalal al-Din Mohammad Tabrizi.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza Shah Hossein Iranian architects Grand viziers of the Safavid Empire Politicians from Isfahan Assassinated Iranian people 16th-century Iranian politicians 15th-century births 1523 deaths Tofangchi-aghasi Vakils of Safavid Iran 16th-century people of Safavid Iran Military personnel from Isfahan