AḤMAD SOLṬĀN AFŠĀR

 

AḤMAD SOLṬĀN AFŠĀR, Qizilbāš amir in the Safavid service. He is first mentioned under the orders of Amir Khan Mawṣellū, governor of Herat (Ḥabīb al-sīar [Tehran] IV, p. 403); he was in action against the Timurid prince, Moḥammad Zamān Mīrzā Bāyqarā, who had seized Balḵ in 922/1516 (see Riazul Islam, Indo-Persian Relations, Karachi, 1970, pp. 13-14). He was governor of Ṭūs and Mašhad in 927/1520-21 (Ḥabīb al-sīar IV, p. 585), but shortly afterwards he was replaced by Būrūn Solṭān. In 929/1522 the new governor of Khorasan, Dūrmīš Khan Šāmlū, appointed him governor of the following districts: Herāt Rūd; Langar-e Ḡīāṯīya (i.e., Langar-e Amir Ḡīāṯ-al-dīn in Bādḡīs; see Moʿīn-al-dīn Moḥammad Zemičī Esfezārī, Rawżāt al-ǰannāt fī awṣāf madīna Harāt, ed. S. M. Kāẓem Emām, I, Tehran, 1338 Š./1959, p. 136); Sāḵar and Tūlak (mountain regions east of Herat, see Joḡrāfīā-ye Ḥāfeẓ Abrū, ed. M. Heravī, Tehran, 1349 Š./1970, p. 28); Farāh; “Sabzavār” (i.e., Esfezār, south of Herat); Ūk and Qaḷʿa-gāh (forts between Farāh and Sīstān proper, see Esfezārī, I, p. 145, n. 1 ). Aḥmad Solṭān was present at the battle of Jām (935/1528), in which Shah Esmāʿīl I defeated the Uzbeks.

(R. M. Savory)

Originally Published: December 15, 1984

Last Updated: July 28, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 6, p. 661

Cite this entry:

R. M. Savory, “AḤMAD SOLṬĀN AFŠĀR,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/6, p. 661; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ahmad-soltan-afsar-qizilbas-amir-in-the-safavid-service (accessed on 19 March 2014).