Soltan Hoseyn
Soltan Hoseyn 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 and more or less no expertise in the affairs of the country. He was installed on the throne through the efforts of his powerful great-aunt, Maryam Begum, as well as the court eunuchs, who wanted to increase their authority by taking advantage of a weak and impressionable ruler. Throughout his reign, Soltan Hoseyn became known for his extreme devotion, which had blended with his superstition, impressionable personality, excessive pursuit of pleasure, debauchery, and wastefulness, all of which have been considered by both contemporary and later writers as elements that played a part in the decline of the country.
The last decade of Soltan Hoseyn's reign was marked by urban dissension, tribal uprisings, and encroachment by the country's neighbours. The biggest threat came from the east, where the Afghans had rebelled under the leadership of the warlord Mirwais Hotak. The latter's son and successor, Mahmud Hotak, made an incursion into the country's centre, eventually reaching the capital Isfahan in 1722, which was put under siege. The city was soon struck by famine, which forced Soltan Hoseyn to surrender on 21 October 1722. He relinquished his regalia to Mahmud Hotak, who subsequently had him imprisoned, and became the new ruler of the city. In November, Soltan Hoseyn's third son and heir apparent declared himself as Tahmasp II in the city of Qazvin.
Soltan Hoseyn was beheaded on 9 September 1727 under the orders of Mahmud Hotak's successor Ashraf Hotak, due to an insulting letter sent by the Ottoman commander-in-chief Ahmad Pasha, who claimed that he had marched into Iran in order to restore Soltan Hoseyn to the throne.
Background
Soltan Hoseyn was born in 1668 in the royal harem. He was the eldest son of Shah Solayman and a Circassian woman. He had the same upbringing as his father, being raised in the royal harem, and thus having limited life experience and more or less no expertise in the affairs of the country. At best, Soltan Hoseyn is known to have read the Quran under the guidance of Mir Mohammad-Baqer Khatunabadi. Although Soltan Hoseyn seems to have been able to speak Persian, he preferred to speak in Azeri Turkish, similar to the majority of Safavid shahs.When Shah Solayman was on deathbed, he reportedly told his courters, that if they wanted fame for the royal family and the country, then they should choose the younger son Sultan Tahmasp. However, if they sought peace and calmness, they should choose the elder son, Soltan Hoseyn. The French missionary priest Père Martin Gaudereau, who was in the capital of Isfahan during this period, reports that Shah Solayman was more inclined towards Sultan Tahmasp as his successor. Nevertheless, Soltan Hoseyn's succession to the throne was secured by his powerful great-aunt, Maryam Begum, as well as the court eunuchs, who wanted to increase their authority by taking advantage of a weak and impressionable ruler.
Enthronement
Due to disagreements between the palace ranks and the desire to have the enthronement take place at a well-timed moment, Soltan Hoseyn was first enthroned on 7 August 1694, a week after his father's death. Several preparations were made before the enthronement. To assure stability amongst the populace, the whole city was stationed with troops. In order to make the shah's soul gain tranquility, an abundance of food was made accessible, including to the poor. The merchants in the bazaar were instructed to place lights in front of their stores. On the day of the inauguration, at 4 o'clock, trumpets were blown after having been unused for fifteen days. During that night, the Royal Square and the surrounding bazaars were lit with bright lights, and all types of animals were shown off in the square. However, Soltan Hoseyn was himself enthroned in the Ayena-khana palace on the southern bank of the Zayanderud, thus foreshadowing his provincialism and detachment.Unlike his predecessors, Soltan Hoseyn rejected the custom of having the leader of the Sufis to equip him with a sword during the ceremony. Instead, he asked the shaykh al-Islam of Isfahan and leading cleric, Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi, to carry out this responsibility. Maljesi assembled a different type of gathering, where he granted Soltan Hoseyn the title of dinparvar. When Soltan Hoseyn asked Majlesi what he wanted in return, he asked for the implementation of Sharia law. Subsequently, 6,000 bottles of wine from the royal cellars were said to have been poured out on the square in a pompous manner. A decree was declared which prohibited all types of "unislamic" actions, such as the manufacture and drinking of alcohol, youngsters visiting coffeehouses, and women going out without male company. Leisure activities such as pigeon-flying and playing games were also banned. This was made public in the provinces and engraved in stone friezes above mosques.
The fluid transition of power to Soltan Hoseyn demonstrates that the realm's numerous leading factions were still working more together than clashing.
However, authority soon shifted away from Muhammad Baqer Majlesi to Soltan Hoseyn's great aunt, Maryam Begum. Under her influence, Hosein became an alcoholic and paid less and less attention to political affairs, devoting his time to his harem and his pleasure gardens.
Major events and developments
The North
Azerbaijan
, possibly the leading province concerning income and army recruitment, was in a state of chaos by 1711. During the early part of that year, a vague and violent conflict took place in Tabriz, allegedly resulting in the death of 3,000. In the ensuing years, the inhabitants of the city greatly suffered due to high prices and oppressive management. During the early part of 1719, they revolted against the city's cruel governor, Mohammad-Ali Khan, who fled as a result. The government in Isfahan subsequently punished the inhabitants of Tabriz with a heavy fine. In 1721, Tabriz was affected by a deadly earthquake, causing the destruction of 75% of the city and the death of over 40,000 inhabitants.Shirvan
In 1702, Shirvan was described by the Dutch traveler Cornelis de Bruijn as one of the key provinces of the Safavid realm, admiring it for its fertility, high agricultural yield and cheap prices. The province was then controlled by Allahverdi Khan, known for his assertive and fair rule. However, when de Bruijin returned to Shirvan in 1707, the province was in disarray due to the mismanagement of Allahverdi Khan's son and successor, who was more interested in women and wine. de Bruijin spoke with locals who stated that they would rather live under Russian rule and would not oppose an invasion by them. In 1709, Lezghi mountaineers capitalized on the power vacuum in Shirvan by launching raids into the province.Russo-Persian War
In June 1722, Peter the Great, the then tsar of the neighbouring Russian Empire, declared war on Safavid Iran in an attempt to expand Russian influence in the Caspian and Caucasus regions and to prevent its rival, Ottoman Empire, from territorial gains in the region at the expense of declining Safavid Iran.The Russian victory ratified for Iran's cession of their territories in the Northern, Southern Caucasus and contemporary mainland Northern Iran, comprising the cities of Derbent and Baku and their nearby surrounding lands, as well as the provinces of Gilan, Shirvan, Mazandaran, and Astrabad to Russia per the Treaty of Saint Petersburg.
The East
Balochi raids
The most exposed part of Iran's frontier was located in the extensive arid lands to the east. The area was populated by tribes that neither the Safavids nor the Mughals were ever successful in pacifying. In 1699, the Kerman province was overwhelmed by a Balochi invasion.In response, Soltan Hoseyn appointed the Georgian prince Gorgin Khan as beglerbeg of Kerman. The latter had previously served as the vali of Georgia, but had been dismissed in 1688 for helping rebel forces against the Safavid governor of Kakheti. Brave and strong-willed during warfare, Gorgin Khan preferred to use as the solution to any problem. With the help of his brother Shahqoli Khan, he routed the numerically superior Balochis in various encounters. In 1703, as a result of incursions by the Afghans, Soltan Hoseyn appointed Gorgin Khan as the sepahsalar and governor of Qandahar, as well as the vali of Georgia.
Gorgin Khan's governorship of Qandahar
At Qandahar, Gorgin Khan soon competed against Mirwais Hotak, a chief of the Hotaki clan of the Afghan Ghilzai tribe, who also served as the kalantar of the city. An affluent man from prominent family, Mirwais was charitable towards his supporters and the poor. He had been under service of the Safavids for a long time, serving as the qafilah-salar, whose function was to patrol the caravan passage between Iran and India. However, he was dismissed as qafilah-salar in 1706, apparently due to his poor service and negligence of his responsibility in collecting fees and taxes. Meanwhile, the Afghan relations with Gorgin Khan had become uneasy due to his oppressive rule. Most sources agree that his rule started to become oppressive quickly after his assumption of power in Qandahar.The Georgian soldiers of Gorgin Khan concealed goods, seized Afghan girls and women, and increased taxes. They also disregarded the religious freedom that the Sunni Afghans had been guaranteed as a condition for accepting Safavid rule. They were said to have defiled Sunni mosques by bringing pigs and wine inside, as well as taking advantage of underaged girls and 9-10 year old boys, with some of them ending up being killed, and their corpses thrown in front of their parents' homes.
The Afghans, aggrieved by this treatment, sent complaints to Isfahan, but they were seized by Gorgin Khan's men at the court and thus never reached Soltan Hoseyn. Mirwais planned to rebel against the Georgians, but was soon arrested and brought to Isfahan under the orders of Gorgin Khan, who was suspicious of him. The latter urged Soltan Hoseyn to eliminate him, or at least prohibit him from going back to Qandahar. During his stay at Isfahan, Mirwais observed the fragility of the Iranian regime, as well as the possibility to benefit from the factional strife there. Through proficient flattery and bribery, he successfully reintegrated himself. He persuaded Soltan Hoseyn that Gorgin Khan was not trustworthy, as he planned to make his rule in Qandahar autonomous, and also planned a Russo-Georgian alliance against Iran.