Tahmasp I

| dynasty = [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]]

| dynasty = [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]]

}}

}}

'''Tahmasp I''' ({{langx|fa|طهماسب یکم|translit=Ṭahmāsb}} or {{lang|fa|تهماسب یکم}} {{transliteration|fa|Tahmâsb}}; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second [[shah]] of [[Safavid Iran]] from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of [[Shah Ismail I]] and his principal consort, the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] princess [[Tajlu Khanum]].

'''Tahmasp I''' ({{langx|fa|طهماسب یکم|translit=Ṭahmāsb}} or {{lang|fa|تهماسب یکم}} {{transliteration|fa|Tahmâsb}}; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second [[shah]] of [[Safavid Iran]] from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of [[Shah Ismail I]] and his principal consort, the [[Mawsillu]] princess [[Tajlu Khanum]].

Tahmasp ascended the throne after the death of his father on 23 May 1524. The first years of Tahmasp's reign were marked by civil wars between the [[Qizilbash]] leaders until 1532, when he asserted his authority and began an [[absolute monarchy]]. He soon faced a [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555)|long-lasting war]] with the [[Ottoman Empire]], which was divided into three phases. The Ottoman sultan, [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], tried to install his own candidates on the Safavid throne. The war ended with the [[Peace of Amasya]] in 1555, with the Ottomans gaining sovereignty over [[Ottoman Iraq|Iraq]], much of [[Safavid Kurdistan|Kurdistan]], and western [[Safavid Georgia|Georgia]]. Tahmasp also had conflicts with the [[Uzbeks]] of [[Khanate of Bukhara|Bukhara]] over [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], with them repeatedly raiding [[Herat]]. In 1528, at the age of fourteen, he defeated the Uzbeks in the [[Battle of Jam]] by using [[artillery]].

Tahmasp ascended the throne after the death of his father on 23 May 1524. The first years of Tahmasp's reign were marked by civil wars between the [[Qizilbash]] leaders until 1532, when he asserted his authority and began an [[absolute monarchy]]. He soon faced a [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555)|long-lasting war]] with the [[Ottoman Empire]], which was divided into three phases. The Ottoman sultan, [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], tried to install his own candidates on the Safavid throne. The war ended with the [[Peace of Amasya]] in 1555, with the Ottomans gaining sovereignty over [[Ottoman Iraq|Iraq]], much of [[Safavid Kurdistan|Kurdistan]], and western [[Safavid Georgia|Georgia]]. Tahmasp also had conflicts with the [[Uzbeks]] of [[Khanate of Bukhara|Bukhara]] over [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], with them repeatedly raiding [[Herat]]. In 1528, at the age of fourteen, he defeated the Uzbeks in the [[Battle of Jam]] by using [[artillery]].

== Early life ==

== Early life ==

[[File:Shah Tahmasp I seated on rock, Safavid period, 17th century (Freer Gallery of Art, F1968.11a).jpg|thumb|upright|Shah Tahmasp I as a young prince, seated on a rock.{{sfn|Smithsonian|2025}} Safavid period, 17th century copy of a 16th century model (Freer Gallery of Art, F1968.11a).{{sfn|Atıl|1978|p=[https://archive.org/details/brushofmastersdr00atle/page/60/mode/2up 60, fig.23]}}]]

[[File:Shah Tahmasp I seated on rock, Safavid period, 17th century (Freer Gallery of Art, F1968.11a).jpg|thumb|upright|Shah Tahmasp I as a young prince, seated on a rock.{{sfn|Smithsonian|2025}} Safavid period, 17th century copy of a 16th century model (Freer Gallery of Art, F1968.11a).{{sfn|Atıl|1978|p=[https://archive.org/details/brushofmastersdr00atle/page/60/mode/2up 60, fig.23]}}]]

Abu'l-Fath Tahmasp Mirza{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=58}}{{Efn|In the Safavid society, when the term [[Mirza (noble)|Mirza]] (the equivalent of Prince) was used after a name, e.g. Tahmasp Mirza, it was referring to a prince, while if it was used before a name, like Mirza Ebrahim, Mirza Taqi, it meant that the man belonged to the bureaucratic class and the literati.{{sfn|Maeda|2021|p=130}}}} was born on 22 February 1514 in [[Shahabad, Isfahan|Shahabad]], a village near [[Isfahan]], as the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] princess [[Tajlu Khanum]].{{sfn|Ze’evi|2024|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ji82EQAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 100]}}{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} According to the narrative told by Iranian {{transliteration|fa|naqqal}}''s'' ([[coffeehouse]] storytellers), on the night of Tahmasp's birth, a storm erupted, with wind, rain, and lightning. Tajlu Khanum, feeling her labour pains beginning, suggested that the royal caravan camp in some village. The royal caravan thus headed to Shahabad. The {{transliteration|fa|kadkhoda}} (warden) of the village was a Sunni and did not let Tajlu Khanum enter his house, but a Shia resident of the village welcomed her into his modest house.{{Sfn|Wood|2018|p=69}} By then, Tajlu Begum's pain had made her faint, and shortly after entering the house gave birth to a son.{{Sfn|Wood|2018|p=70}} When the news reached Ismail, he was reportedly "heaped" with utmost joy and happiness, but refrained from seeing his son until his astrologers gave him an auspicious date to do so. When the auspicious hour arrived, the young boy was presented to Ismail and astrologers foresaw his future to be one entwisted with war and peace and that he would have many sons.{{Sfn|Wood|2018|p=78}} Ismail named the boy Tahmasp after Ali, the first [[Imamate in Twelver doctrine|Imam]], told him to do so in his dream.{{Sfn|Wood|2018|p=79}}

Abu'l-Fath Tahmasp Mirza{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=58}}{{Efn|In the Safavid society, when the term [[Mirza (noble)|Mirza]] (the equivalent of Prince) was used after a name, e.g. Tahmasp Mirza, it was referring to a prince, while if it was used before a name, like Mirza Ebrahim, Mirza Taqi, it meant that the man belonged to the bureaucratic class and the literati.{{sfn|Maeda|2021|p=130}}}} was born on 22 February 1514 in [[Shahabad, Isfahan|Shahabad]], a village near [[Isfahan]], as the eldest son of Ismail I and his principal consort, the [[Mawsillu]] princess [[Tajlu Khanum]].{{sfn|Ze’evi|2024|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ji82EQAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 100]}}{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} According to the narrative told by Iranian {{transliteration|fa|naqqal}}''s'' ([[coffeehouse]] storytellers), on the night of Tahmasp's birth, a storm erupted, with wind, rain, and lightning. Tajlu Khanum, feeling her labour pains beginning, suggested that the royal caravan camp in some village. The royal caravan thus headed to Shahabad. The {{transliteration|fa|kadkhoda}} (warden) of the village was a Sunni and did not let Tajlu Khanum enter his house, but a Shia resident of the village welcomed her into his modest house.{{Sfn|Wood|2018|p=69}} By then, Tajlu Begum's pain had made her faint, and shortly after entering the house gave birth to a son.{{Sfn|Wood|2018|p=70}} When the news reached Ismail, he was reportedly "heaped" with utmost joy and happiness, but refrained from seeing his son until his astrologers gave him an auspicious date to do so. When the auspicious hour arrived, the young boy was presented to Ismail and astrologers foresaw his future to be one entwisted with war and peace and that he would have many sons.{{Sfn|Wood|2018|p=78}} Ismail named the boy Tahmasp after Ali, the first [[Imamate in Twelver doctrine|Imam]], told him to do so in his dream.{{Sfn|Wood|2018|p=79}}

In 1516, when Tahmasp Mirza was two years old, the province of Khorasan became his [[fief]] by Ismail's order.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=58}} This appointment was specially done to emulate the [[Timurid dynasty]], that followed the [[Turco-Mongol tradition]] of appointing the eldest son of a sovereign to govern a prominent province like Khorasan. The centre of this major province, the city of Herat, would go on to be the city where Safavid crown princes were raised, trained, and educated throughout the sixteenth century.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=59}} In 1517, Ismail appointed the [[Safavid Diyarbakr|Diyarbakr]] governor Amir Soltan Mawsillu as Tahmasp's {{transliteration|fa|[[Lala (title)|lala]]}} (tutor) and governor of [[Balkh]], a city in Khorasan.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2009b}}; {{harvnb|Newman|2008|pages=21}}.</ref> He replaced the [[Shamlu]] and [[Mawsillu]] governors of Khorasan, who did not join his army during the Battle of Chaldiran for fear of famine.{{Sfn|Newman|2008|p=21}} Placing Tahmasp in Herat was an attempt to reduce the growing influence of the Shamlu tribe, which dominated Safavid court politics and held a number of powerful governorships.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} Ismail also appointed Amir Ghiyath al-Din Mohammad, a prominent Herat figure, as Tahmasp's religious tutor.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}}

In 1516, when Tahmasp Mirza was two years old, the province of Khorasan became his [[fief]] by Ismail's order.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=58}} This appointment was specially done to emulate the [[Timurid dynasty]], that followed the [[Turco-Mongol tradition]] of appointing the eldest son of a sovereign to govern a prominent province like Khorasan. The centre of this major province, the city of Herat, would go on to be the city where Safavid crown princes were raised, trained, and educated throughout the sixteenth century.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=59}} In 1517, Ismail appointed the [[Safavid Diyarbakr|Diyarbakr]] governor Amir Soltan Mawsillu as Tahmasp's {{transliteration|fa|[[Lala (title)|lala]]}} (tutor) and governor of [[Balkh]], a city in Khorasan.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2009b}}; {{harvnb|Newman|2008|pages=21}}.</ref> He replaced the [[Shamlu]] and [[Mawsillu]] governors of Khorasan, who did not join his army during the Battle of Chaldiran for fear of famine.{{Sfn|Newman|2008|p=21}} Placing Tahmasp in Herat was an attempt to reduce the growing influence of the Shamlu tribe, which dominated Safavid court politics and held a number of powerful governorships.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} Ismail also appointed Amir Ghiyath al-Din Mohammad, a prominent Herat figure, as Tahmasp's religious tutor.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}}