Karabakh Beylarbeylik

Karabakh Beylerbeylik
Qarabağ Bəylərbəyliyi
← 1540–1747 →
Flag of beylerbeylik during Shah Tahmasib I
Capital		Ganja
Religion		Islam Shiite
Government		Absolute monarchy
amir al-umara
•	1540-????	Shahverdi Sultan Ziyadoglu
History
•	Safavid Shah Tahmasib I appointed Shahverdi Sultant from the Ziyadoglu clan of the turkoman Kajars tribe	1540
•	End of Safavid Empire	1737
•	Disestablished	1747
Today part of		Azerbaijan
Warning: Value not specified for "continent"

Karabakh Beylerbeylik was an administrative region within the Safavid dynasty of Iran.^[1] At the time of the Safavid Iran state, the entire territory of Arran was made up of three regions beylerbeydoms: Shirvan, Karabakh (or Ganja), Chukhursaad (or Iravan).^[2] These regions were headed by the shah’s governors-general who were called beylerbeys.

The first Beylerbey of Karabakh was Shahverdi-Sultan from the Ziyad-oglu clan of the Turkic Qajar tribe, who was appointed by Shah Tahmasp I in the 1540s. The nobility of the tribe was granted pastures and land plots in Karabakh.^[3] The power of the Karabakh beylerbey covered a vast territory – from the Georgian border near “Sinig Korpu” Bridge (currently “Red Bridge”) to Khudafarin Bridges on the Araz river.^[4] The descendants of Shahverdi-Sultan were khans of Karabakh until 1736 when Nader Shah took Karabakh from Ziyad-oglu, leaving him with Ganja and a county, which he and his heirs owned until 1804.^[5]

References

1. Jackson, Peter. "Beglerbegī". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
2. Rahmani A. A. Azerbaijan in the late 16th and 17th centuries (1590–1700). Baku, 1981, pp. 87–89
3. A collection of articles on the history of Azerbaijan, edition 1, Baku, 1949, p. 250
4. Mirza Adigozal-bey, Karabakh-nameh, Baku, 1950, p. 47
5. A collection of articles on the history of Azerbaijan, edition 1, Baku, 1949, p. 250