Tahmasp II (; 1704? – 11 February 1740) was the penultimate Safavid

shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, ruling from 1722 to 1732.

Name

''Tahmasp'' () is a

New Persian New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th ...

name, ultimately derived from Old Iranian ''*'', meaning "having valiant horses." The name is one of the few instances of a name from the ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

'' being used by an Islamic-era dynasty based in Iran. In the ''Shahnameh'', Tahmasp is the father of Zaav, the penultimate shah of the Pishdadian dynasty.

Biography

Tahmasp was the son of

Soltan Hoseyn Soltan Hoseyn (; 1668 – 9 September 1727) was the Safavid shah of Iran from 1694 to 1722. He was the son and successor of Shah Suleiman (). Born and raised in the royal harem, Soltan Hoseyn ascended the throne with limited life experience a ...

, the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

of Iran at the time. When Soltan Hoseyn was forced to abdicate by the

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

in 1722, Prince Tahmasp wished to claim the throne. From the besieged Safavid capital,

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

, he fled to

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

, where he on 10 November 1722 declared himself shah and assumed the regnal name of Tahmasp II. He gained the support of the Sunni Muslims of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

(even that of the previously rebellious

Lezgins Lezgins ( or ) are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group native to southern Dagestan, a republic of Russia, and northern Azerbaijan, who speak the Lezgin language. Their social structure is firmly based on equality and deference to individuality ...

), as well as several Qizilbash tribes (including the Afshars, under the control of Iran's future ruler, Nader Shah).

Russo-Persian War

In June 1722,

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

, the then

tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

of the neighbouring

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, declared war on Safavid Iran in an attempt to expand Russian influence in the Caspian and

regions and to prevent its rival,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, from territorial gains in the region at the expense of declining Safavid Iran. The Russian victory ratified for Safavid Irans' cession of their territories in the Northern,

Southern Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

and contemporary mainland Northern Iran, comprising the cities of Derbent (southern

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

) and

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

and their nearby surrounding lands, as well as the provinces of Gilan, Shirvan,

Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...

, and Astrabad to Russia per the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1723).William Bayne Fisher, P. Avery, G. R. G. Hambly, C. Melville
''The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 7''
Cambridge University Press, 10 okt. 1991 p 319 Tahmasp also eventually gained the recognition of both the

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, each worried about the other gaining too much influence in Iran. By 1729, Tahmasp had control of most of the country. Quickly after his foolhardy Ottoman campaign of 1731, he was deposed by the future Nader Shah in 1732 in favor of his son, Abbas III; both were murdered at

Sabzevar Sabzevar (; ) is a city in northeastern Iran. It is located in the Central District (Sabzevar County), Central District of Sabzevar County, Razavi Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, serving as the capital of both the county and the ...

in 1740 by Nader Shah's eldest son Reza-qoli Mirza.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * Lawrence Lockhart, ''Nadir Shah'' (London, 1938)
The Armenian Rebellion of the 1720s and the Threat of Genocidal Reprisal
Armen Ayvazyan, Yerevan 1997 1704 births 1740 deaths Safavid monarchs Khans of Erivan People of the Russo-Persian Wars 18th-century monarchs of Persia People murdered in 1740 {{iran-royal-stub

Name

Biography

Russo-Persian War

See also

References

Sources