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

Reign of Ismail I

• Mirza Shah Hosein (1516)

Reign of Tahmasp I

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

Reign of Ismail II

• Mir Saheb-e Qoshun (1576)
•  ?

Reign of Mohammad Khodabanda

•  ?

Reign of Abbas I

• Esma'il Beg (1614-1615)
• Zaman Beg (1629)^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Reign of Shah Safi

• Rostam Beg (1630)
• Mir Fatteh Qumesheh'i (1634-1635)
• Aqa Taher (1635-1643)^{[lower-alpha 2]}

Reign of Abbas II

• Aqa Taher (1635-1643)
• Qalander Soltan Chuleh (1643-1661)^{[lower-alpha 3]}
• Budaq Soltan (1661-1668)

Reign of Suleiman I

• Budaq Soltan (1661-1668)
• Sheikh 'Ali Khan Zanganeh (1668-1669)
• Abbas Beg Zanganeh (1669-1670)^{[lower-alpha 4]}
• Kaykhosrow Khan (1670-1674)
• Hajji 'Ali Khan Zanganeh (1674-1691)
• Eshaq Khan (?)

Reign of Sultan Husayn

• Eshaq Khan (?)
• Musa Khan (1711-1715)
• Hosein Ali Khan (1717-1720)^{[lower-alpha 5]}
• Mohammad Ali Khan Mokri (1720-1722)

Reign of Tahmasp II

• Ahmad Khan (1723)
• Shahverdi Khan Cheshmkazik (1724)^{[lower-alpha 6]}

Notes

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

• 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.