Editing Tahmasp I (section)

== Regency ==
[[File:Accession of Shah Tahmasp I to the throne.jpg|alt=A feast for young Tahmasp who is standing before the throne, surrounded by noblemen|thumb|''Accession of Shah Tahmasp I to the throne'', folio from ''Kholassat ot-Tavarikh'' by [[Ahmad Monshi Ghomi]]]]
The ten-year-old Tahmasp ascended the throne after his father's death under the guardianship of Div Sultan Rumlu, his {{Transliteration|Fa|lala}}, the ''[[de facto]]'' ruler of the realm.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} Rule by a member of the Rumlu tribe was unacceptable to the other Turkoman tribes of the Qizilbash, especially the Ostajlu and Takkalu.{{Sfn|Roemer|2008|p=234}} Kopek Sultan, governor of Tabriz and leader of Ostajlu, along with Chuha Sultan, leader of the Takkalu tribe, were Div Sultan Rumlu's strongest opponents.{{Sfn|Roemer|2008|p=234}} The Takkalu were powerful in Isfahan and [[Hamadan]], and the Ostajlu held Khorasan and the Safavid capital, Tabriz.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} Rumlu proposed a [[triumvirate]] to the two leaders which was accepted, the terms were for sharing the office of {{Transliteration|Ar|amir al-umara}}.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} The triumvirate proved unsustainable, since all sides were dissatisfied with their share of power. In the spring of 1526, a series of battles in northwest Iran between these tribes expanded into Khorasan and became a civil war.<ref>{{harvnb|Savory|Bosworth|2012}}; {{harvnb|Roemer|2008|pages=234}}.</ref> The Ostajlu faction was quickly excluded and their leader, Kopek Sultan, was killed by order of Chuha Sultan.{{Sfn|Newman|2008|p=26}} During the civil war, the Uzbeks raiders temporarily seized [[Tus, Iran|Tus]] and [[Gorgan|Astarabad]]. Div Sultan Rumlu was blamed for the raids and was executed.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} His execution was performed by Tahmasp himself.{{Sfn|Roemer|2008|p=234}}

At the behest of the young king, Chuha Sultan, the sole remaining member of the triumvirate, became ''de facto'' ruler of the realm from 1527 to 1530.{{Sfn|Newman|2008|p=26}} Chuha tried to remove Herat from Shamlu dominance, which led to a conflict between the two tribes. In early 1530, the Herat governor, Hossein Khan Shamlu, and his men killed Chuha and executed every Takkalu in the retinue of the shah in the royal camp.{{Sfn|Roemer|2008|p=234}} This provoked the Takkalu tribe to rebellion, and a few days later, in an act of retaliation, they attacked the shah's retinue in Hamadan. One of the tribesman attempted to abduct the young Tahmasp, who had him put to death. Then Tahmasp ordered the general slaughter of the Takkalu tribe; many were killed, and many fled to Baghdad, where the governor, himself a Takkalu, put some to death to prove his loyalty. Eventually, the remaining Takkalu managed to flee to the Ottoman Empire.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|p=55}} In the contemporary chronicles, the downfall of Chuha Sultan and the massacre of his tribe is dubbed "the Takkalu pestilence".{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} Hossein Khan Shamlu thereafter assumed Chuha Sultan's position with the consent of the Qizilbash leaders.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|p=55}}
[[File:Battle between Shah Tahmasp I and the Uzbeks led by ʽUbaid Khān near Sarikamish on 24 September 1524.jpg|left|thumb|Battle between Tahmasp I and Ubayd Allah Khan on 24 September 1524, folio from ''Kholassat ot-Tavarikh'' by Ahmad Monshi Ghomi]]
While the civil war was ongoing among the Qizilbash, the Uzbeks under [[Ubayd Allah Khan]] conquered the borderlands.{{Sfn|Savory|Bosworth|2012}} In 1528, Ubayd reconquered Astarabad and Tus and besieged Herat. Fourteen-year-old Tahmasp commanded the army and defeated the Uzbeks, distinguishing himself at the Battle of Jam.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009b}} Safavid superiority in the battle was due to many different factors, one of them being their use of artillery, which they had learned from the Ottomans.{{Sfn|Roemer|2008|p=236}} The then governor of Herat and Tahmasp's regent, Hossein Khan Shamlu, distinguished himself during the battle and earned the respect of the shah.{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=59}} The victory, however, reduced neither the Uzbek threat nor the realm's internal chaos, since Tahmasp had to return to the west to suppress a rebellion in Baghdad.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2009b}}; {{harvnb|Savory|Bosworth|2012}}.</ref> That year, the Uzbeks captured Herat; however, they allowed Sam Mirza to return to Tabriz. Their occupation did not last long, and Tahmasp drove them out in the summer of 1530. He appointed his brother, Bahram Mirza, governor of Khorasan and Ghazi Khan Takkalu, as Bahram's tutor.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2009b}}; {{harvnb|Roemer|2008|pages=236}}.</ref>

By this point, Tahmasp had turned seventeen, and thus no longer needed a regent. Hossein Khan Shamlu circumvented this challenge by having himself named as the steward to Tahmasp's newborn son, [[Mohammad Khodabanda|Mohammad Mirza]].{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=60}} Hossein Khan constantly undermined the shah's power and had angered Tahmasp many times. His confidence in his power, combined with the rumours that Hossein Khan intended to depose Tahmasp and place his brother, Sam Mirza, on the throne, finally led Tahmasp to rid himself of the powerful Shamlu amir.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|p=56}} Thus Hossein Khan was overthrown and executed in 1533.{{Sfn|Roemer|2008|p=234}} His fall was a turning point for Tahmasp, who now knew that each Turkoman leader would favour his tribe. He reduced the influence of the Qizilbash and gave the "men of the pen" bureaucracy greater power, ending the regency.{{Sfn|Savory|Bosworth|2012}}{{Sfn|Roemer|2008|p=235}}