Shahrokh Shah

Shahrokh Shah
شاهرخ‌شاه
Shah
Detail of Shahrokh Mirza, 18th century, by Ali Ashraf
Ruler of Khorasan
1st Reign1 October 1748 – 14 January 1750
PredecessorAdel Shah
SuccessorSuleiman II (Safavid dynasty)
2nd Reign20 March 1750 – 1796
PredecessorSuleiman II
SuccessorAgha Mohammad Khan Qajar (Qajar dynasty)
BornMarch 1734
Died1796 (aged 62)
Damghan
SpouseUnnamed Jalayir wife
IssueNasrollah Mirza
Nader Mirza
DynastyAfsharid dynasty
FatherReza Qoli Mirza Afshar
MotherFatemeh Soltan Begom
ReligionTwelver Shia Islam

Shahrokh Mirza (Persian: شاهرخ‌میرزا‎; 1734–1796), better known by his dynastic title of Shahrokh Shah (شاهرخ‌ شاه‎) was the Afsharid king (shah) of the western part of Khorasan (corresponding to the present-day Khorasan Province)[1] from 1748 to 1796, with a two-month interruption. A grandson of the Iranian conqueror Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747), Shahrokh was the son of Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar and his Safavid wife Fatemeh Soltan Begom, who was the sister of Tahmasp II, the penultimate Safavid shah of Iran. Shahrokh's half-Safavid descent made him stand out amongst his Afsharid relatives, and was used to bolster the legitimacy of his grandfather. After the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747, his nephew Ali-qoli Khan (who assumed the regnal name Adel Shah), ascended the throne in Mashhad and had all of Nader Shah's descendants in fortress of Kalat massacred. Shahrokh was spared in case his Safavid lineage would come to use, and was instead kept in the fortress as a prisoner. While Adel Shah was battling his rebellious younger brother Ebrahim Mirza, a party of Turkic, Kurdish, and Arab tribal leaders took advantage of his absence and installed Shahrokh on the throne. Both Adel Shah and Ebrahim were eventually defeated and killed, but Shahrokh was not long afterwards overthrown by a party of dissident tribal leaders, who installed the Safavid pretender Mir Sayyed Mohammad (who assumed the regnal name of Suleiman II) on the throne. Shahrokh was soon blinded at the instigation of Mir Alam Khan Khuzayma and other leading nobles, much against Suleiman II's will.

A group of conspirators led by the Turkic tribal leader Yusuf Ali Khan Jalayir eventually deposed Suleiman II and restored Shahrokh to the throne.

  1. ^ Perry 1991, p. 71.