Yusuf Agha (Circassian)

Yusuf Agha (fl. 17th century) was a Safavid ghulam of Circassian origin. An eunuch,^[1] he enjoyed great prestige in the harem of king Abbas I.^[1] Apart from being the "master of the hunt" (amir-mirshikar-bashi), and the representative of the interests of the Armenian community of Isfahan,^[1] he was in fact the most powerful person in the Safavid harem until the reign of king Safi I, when his family was purged.^[2]

References

1. Matthee 2012, p. 37.
2. Maeda, Hirotake (2006). "The forced migrations and reorganisation of the regional order in the Caucasus by Safavid Iran: Preconditions and developments described by Fazli Khuzani". In Ieda, Osamu; Uyama, Tomohiko. Reconstruction and interaction of Slavic Eurasia and its neighbouring worlds (PDF). Slavic Eurasian Studies, No.10. Sapporo: Slavic Research Centre, Hokkaido University. p. 251. ISBN 4938637391.

Sources

• Matthee, Rudi (2012). Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-745-0.