Qurchi (royal bodyguard)

The qurchis or qorchis^[a] (Persian: قورچی‎, romanized: qūṛčī) were the royal bodyguard of the Safavid shah. The head of the qurchis was known as the qurchi-bashi.

Qurchi
17th-century illustration of a qurchi.
Active	1501-1736
Allegiance	Persia
Type	Royal bodyguard
Size	c. 1,000-3,000 (under Ismail I)[1] 5,000 (under Tahmasp I) c. 6,000 (under Ismail II)[1] < 3,000 (under Mohammad Khodabanda)[2]^[b] 10,000-15,000 (under Abbas I) 20,000 (course of the 17th century)[3]
Commanders
First	Abdal Beg Talish
Last	Qasem Beg Qajar

History

The qurchis were theoretically enlisted from the Qizilbash tribes and were paid by money taken from the royal treasury. The qurchis lived off the land handouts and fees that were given to them by the shah.[4] During the early Safavid period, the qurchis were all from the same tribe, but that later changed. They numbered 3,000 under the Ismail I at the Battle of Chaldiran, but were reduced to 1,700 after the battle, and then later to 1,000, after Ismail had "done away with 700 of them."[5] They numbered 5,000 under Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576).[6][7]

Under Abbas I, the qurchis had become much more important and numbered 10,000-15,000. Abbas I gave several of qurchis governorship of large provinces, which decreased the power of the Qizilbash commanders, who were used to govern large provinces. During the late reign of Abbas' reign, the qurchi-bashi was the most powerful office of the empire.[6]

There were also qurchis who were assigned to some of the provinces and cities, headed by officers who were also referred to as qurchi-bashi, but who were subordinate to the supreme qurchi-bashi.[8] These qurchis were identified by the city or province they served in; for example, a qurchi stationed in Derbent, was referred to as a Qurchi-e Darband.[8]

Local rulers also had qurchis at their disposal, though they were limited in number.[9] The vali (governor, viceroy) of Georgia had a qurchi corps to serve him, including a qurchi-bashi, and a legion of specialized qurchis for his "accoutrements" (i.e. qurchi-e zereh, qurchi-e kafsh, qurchi-e tarkesh, etc.).[9]

Notes

^ a: The word is derived from Mongolian, which means "archer"[6]
^ b: Due to internal issues among the Qizilbash[2]

References

1. Floor 2001, p. 159.
2. Floor 2001, p. 160.
3. Floor 2001, p. 161.
4. Haneda 1989, p. 75.
5. Haneda 1989, p. 67.
6. Haneda 1986, pp. 503-506.
7. Blow 2009, pp. 6, 37.
8. Floor 2001, p. 148-149.
9. Floor 2001, p. 149.

Sources

• Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who became an Iranian Legend. London, UK: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84511-989-8. LCCN 2009464064.
• Floor, Willem (2001). Safavid Government Institutions. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers. ISBN 978-1568591353.
• Matthee, Rudi (2011). Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–371. ISBN 978-0857731814.
• Haneda, M. (1986). "ARMY iii. Safavid Period". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 5. pp. 503–506.
• Babaie, Sussan (2004). Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–218. ISBN 9781860647215.
• Newman, Andrew J. (2008). Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–281. ISBN 9780857716613.
• Savory, Roger (2007). Iran under the Safavids. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–288. ISBN 978-0521042512.
• Roemer, H.R. (1986). "The Safavid period". The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Timurid and Safavid periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 189–351. ISBN 9780521200943.
• Haneda, Masashi (1989). The Evolution of the Safavid Royal Guard. Iranian Studies. 22. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 22, no. 2/3. pp. 57–85. doi:10.1080/00210868908701731. ISBN 0857731815. JSTOR 4310668.