Bektash Khan Mirimanidze

Bektash Khan, also known as Bektash Khan Gorji (d. 1639), was the Safavid governor (beglarbeg) of Baghdad between 1631-1638 during the reign of king Safi (r. 1629-1642). His tenure was brought to an end in 1638 after the Ottomans captured the city during the ongoing Ottoman-Safavid War of 1623-39.

Biography

Bektash was a member of the Mirimanidze clan, whose members had steadily risen through the Safavid ranks with the advent of the reign of king Abbas I (1588-1629), but had held influential positions priorly as well. After the death of his nephew Safiqoli Khan (Mirman Mirimanidze), Bektash succeeded him to the governorship of Baghdad.^[1] Following the successful recapture of Baghdad in 1624, the Iranians subsequently defended it against several Ottoman attacks, and, prior to the 1638 siege, Bektash had made extensive repairs to the fortifications that were damaged in the previous sieges.^[2] He also built extensive outworks to prevent the enemy from approaching the walls as well.^[2] During the Ottoman siege of 1638, Bektash offered tough resistance, and it took them almost six weeks to take the city.^[3] Bektash died a year after the fall of Baghdad.^[4]

References

Sources

• Bengio, O.; Litvak, Meir (2014). The Sunna and Shi'a in History: Division and Ecumenism in the Muslim Middle East. Springer. ISBN 978-1137495068. 
• Floor, Willem (1997). "The Rise and Fall of Mirza Taqi, The Eunuch Grand Vizier (1043-55/1633-45)". Studia Iranica. 26 (2): 247. doi:10.2143/SI.26.2.2003944. Retrieved 3 July 2016. 
• Maeda, Hirotake (2003). "On the Ethno-Social Background of Four Gholām Families from Georgia in Safavid Iran". Studia Iranica (32): 1–278. 
• Mikaberidze, Alexander (2011). Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1598843378.