Qarachaqay Khan

Qarachaqay Khan (died 1625) was a military commander in Safavid Iran of Armenian origin. He was known for his great collection of porcelain items and loyal service to Shah Abbas I. Qarachaqay Khan was killed while commanding an expedition against the Georgian rebels.

Born as a Christian Armenian in Erivan, Qarachaqay was enslaved in childhood and brought to the Safavid court to be raised as a ghulam. He began his career in a royal tailoring workshop and was soon distinguished in the Safavid army as an artillery officer. In 1605, Qarachaqay Beg, being in charge of a musketeer regiment, under the command of Allahverdi Khan—also originally a ghulam of Georgian origin—contributed to Abbas I's victory over the Ottoman forces at Sufiyan near Tabriz.

During his career in the Safavid army and administration, Qarachaqay amassed a valuable collection of Chinese porcelain which he presented to Shah Abbas around 1610. Shortly afterwards, Qarachaqay was bestowed with the title of muqarab al-hazrat ("intimate of the illustrious"), reserved for the Shah’s close companions. In 1616, he received the title of khan and was appointed commander-in-chief (sipahsalar) of the Safavid army. A year after the defeat of the Ottoman troops led by Khalil Pasha, he became governor of Tabriz and all of Azerbaijan, but was soon recalled by the shah to continue his service as governor of Mashhad in northeastern Khurasan in 1618. When Abbas I decided to marry his granddaughter to Semayun Khan of Kartli (Simon II) in 1624, Qarachaqai Khan ordered Yusuf Khan, likewise of Christian Armenian origin and a childhood friend, to host the banquet in the first term. In the same year, Qarachaqay Khan, accompanied by the Safavid Georgian officer Murav-Beg (Giorgi Saakadze), captained a punitive expedition against the rebels in Georgia. Murav-Beg conspired with the insurgents, who unexpectedly attacked and destroyed the Iranian camp at Martqopi, killing Qarachaqay Khan and one of his sons, Imam Verdi Khan. Both were buried within a family shrine complex in Iran.

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