Zeynab Begum facts for kids

Zeynab Begum (Persian: زینب بیگم; died May 31, 1640) was a very important and powerful princess in the Safavid Empire. She was the fourth daughter of King Tahmasp I (who ruled from 1524 to 1576). Zeynab Begum lived through the reigns of five different Safavid kings.

She held many important jobs, even at the top of the government. For many years, she was also the main female leader in the royal harem (the private living area for the king's family). Sometimes, she even helped decide who would become the next king. She was most powerful when King Safi ruled (1629–1642). Many people at the time said she was a "mainstay of political moderation and wisdom," meaning she was wise and helped keep things calm in the court. However, King Safi removed her from power in 1632.

Early Life and Family

Painting of Tahmasp I at the Chehel Sotoun palace

Zeynab Begum was born to one of King Tahmasp's wives, a princess from Georgia named Huri-Khan Khanum. We don't know her exact birth date. When she was young, she was given a special guardian called a laleh, Shah-Qoli Beg. He was a high-ranking member of the Shamlu Qizilbash group, which was a powerful military and political group.

After her father, King Tahmasp, died in 1576, his son Ismail II became king. Zeynab Begum was then married to Ali-Qoli Khan Shamlu. This marriage happened around late 1577. However, she continued to live in the royal harem in the Safavid capital city of Qazvin.

Zeynab Begum played a key role by supporting her nephew, Hamzeh Mirza, who was next in line for the throne. During a difficult civil war in the late 1580s, she was in charge of the royal harem. This was happening during a war between the Ottomans and Safavids (1578–1590). After Hamzeh Mirza was killed in 1586, her personal helper, Mirza Lotfollah Shirazi, assisted her. He later became the most important minister in the entire government. After this, she became one of the main supporters of the young prince Abbas. He later became the famous King Abbas I (who ruled from 1588 to 1629). She helped him during the fight to become king that happened in the last years of King Mohammad Khodabanda's rule (1578–1587).

A Powerful Princess

Painting of Abbas I at the Chehel Sotoun palace

In the first years of King Abbas's rule, Zeynab Begum remained a close friend and advisor. An Italian traveler named Pietro Della Valle even said she was like a foster mother to him. For the first twenty years of his reign, Zeynab Begum was one of Abbas's "key counselors." She continued to be the main female leader in the harem. She also supervised the raising of Abbas's sons. It seems that local governors and military leaders often asked her to speak to King Abbas I on their behalf.

During Abbas's reign, Zeynab Begum was deeply involved in how the royal lands and money were managed. Between 1592 and 1614, she was the governor of the royal lands in Kashan. She had two officials who worked as her assistants. During these years, she owned several villages near the city of Yazd. This allowed her to collect a special tax from the Zoroastrian people living there and keep the money for herself. With this money, she built at least one caravanserai (a roadside inn for travelers) on the road between Isfahan and Kashan in 1601–1602. A year later, she was given the important job of keeping the official seal used for all royal orders.

In 1605, during another war with the Ottomans, she advised King Abbas to attack the Ottomans at Sufian. This advice led to one of his greatest military victories. She was sometimes included in the highest advisory group, the "Council of State." In 1606, she was the only woman at a special meeting. A Portuguese diplomat named Antonio de Gouvea said, "She made it very apparent that she deserved the honour." Several years later, in 1611–1612, she was in charge of a royal dinner held for Wali-Mohammad Khan. He was an Uzbek ruler who had come to the Safavid Empire after a civil war in his own land.

Challenges and Return to Power

Zeynab's will, written in 1629

In 1613–1614, Zeynab Begum faced a difficult time. She was sent away from the harem, and all her important jobs were taken from her. She was then sent to Qazvin, where she lived under house arrest. These events happened at the same time as other important Safavid officials and military leaders were also removed from the court in Isfahan. According to a historian named Fazli Khuzani, this happened because of actions taken by the main religious leader at the Safavid court, Mir Mohammad Baqer Damad.

About four years later, Zeynab Begum was allowed to return to the royal court. Pietro Della Valle, the Italian traveler, wrote that he saw her in Isfahan in 1617 with the royal harem. King Abbas brought her back as the head of the royal harem in Farahabad and Isfahan in the spring of 1627. When Abbas was very sick, Zeynab Begum was in close contact with the royal doctors. She was responsible for making sure he received his treatment in Farahabad. When King Abbas died on January 19, 1629, she personally managed the moving of his body from Farahabad to Kashan. She also handled the moving of the royal harem from Farahabad to Isfahan.

Even though Zeynab Begum had a lot of power and respect under King Abbas, she became even more influential during the first few years of his successor, King Safi (who ruled from 1629 to 1642). Old court records say she played an important role in convincing Abbas, while he was dying, to choose his grandson Sam Mirza (who became King Safi) as the next king. In the first few months of Safi's rule, Zeynab Begum was in charge of the entire government every day. She had complete control over how the empire was managed. Later that same year, she joined King Safi during the Ottoman-Safavid War. On May 28, 1630, she led the royal harem to Golpayegan before an important battle.

On February 12, 1632, King Safi started a series of bloody purges, removing many important people from power. He ordered Zeynab Begum to move from Isfahan to Qazvin, sending her away from the court. This marked the end of Zeynab Begum's very powerful and special position. According to a report from that time, she spent her last days in Isfahan. She had a lot of money and lived a peaceful life away from the dangerous political events until she died. Dilaram Khanum, who was the widow of Mohammad Baqer Mirza, took over as the main female leader in the royal harem. Zeynab Begum died on May 31, 1640, in Qazvin. She was buried in the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad.