List of Tofangchi-aghasis

The Tofangchi-aghasi, also spelled Tufangchi-aqasi, and otherwise known as the Tofangchi-bashi, was the commander of the Safavid Empire's musketeer corps. The tofangchi-aghasi was assisted by numerous officers, i.e. minbashis, yuzbashis, dahbashis, as well as an administrative staff (i.e. vizier, mostoufi). Though the tofangchi-aghasi was considered to be a high-ranking office on paper, de facto, it was one of the lowest on the "military totem-pole" compared to the other commanding offices. Nevertheless, the post was generally held by scions of noble families.

List of Tofangchi-aghasis

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  • Kur Hasan (1529)
  • ?
  • Mir Saheb-e Qoshun (1576)
  • Mir Saheb-e Qoshun (1576)
  • ?
  • ?

Reign of Abbas I

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  • Esma'il Beg (1614-1615)
  • Zaman Beg (1629)[a]
  • Rostam Beg (1630)
  • Mir Fatteh Qumesheh'i (1634-1635)
  • Aqa Taher (1635-1643)[b]
  • Aqa Taher (1635-1643)
  • Qalander Soltan Chuleh (1643-1661)[c]
  • Budaq Soltan (1661-1668)
  • Eshaq Khan (?)
  • Musa Khan (1711-1715)
  • Hosein Ali Khan (1717-1720)[e]
  • Mohammad Ali Khan Mokri (1720-1722)
  • Ahmad Khan (1723)
  • Shahverdi Khan Cheshmkazik (1724)[f]

Notes

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  1. ^ Held the posts of nazer and tofangchi-aghasi.
  2. ^ Brother of his predecessor. Also known as Mir Fattah-e Thani.
  3. ^ Tofangchi-aghasi and tupchi-bashi in 1660-1661. "He also received Aberqu as a teyul, which, since then, always has been bestowed on the tofangchi-aghasi."
  4. ^ Eldest son of his predecessor, Sheikh 'Ali Khan Zanganeh. Later became mīr shekār-bāshi ("master of the hunt") as well.
  5. ^ Appointed on 27 September 1715. Was disgraced in the "alleged conspiracy" of 1720.
  6. ^ Also referred to as Shahverdi Khan Kivanlu by Mostoufi.

Sources

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  • Floor, Willem (2001). Safavid Government Institutions. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers. pp. 176–188. ISBN 978-1568591353.
  • Matthee, Rudi (2012). Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. I.B.Tauris. p. 258. ISBN 978-1845117450.