Tajlu Khanum
Tajlu Khanum (Persian: تاجلو خانم), also known by her title of Shah-Begi Khanum (شاه بگی خانم), was a Turkoman princess from the Mawsillu tribe and principal consort of Ismail I.
| Tajlu Khanum | |
|---|---|
 Modern painting of Tajlu Khanum. | |
| Queen consort of the Safavid Empire | |
| Tenure | 1504–1524 |
| Successor | Sultanum Begum |
| Born | c. 1485 |
| Died | 1540 (aged 54–55) Shiraz |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Ismail I |
| Issue | Tahmasp I Bahram Mirza Safavi Parikhan Khanum Mahinbanu Khanum |
| Tribe | Mawsillu |
| Father | Mihmad beg Mawsillu |
Family
While Italian writer Angiolello and Iranian historian Manuchihr Parsaʹdust agree that she was a granddaughter of the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Yaqub (r. 1478–1490) via a daughter, John Woods proposed his paternal lineage as Mihmad Beg being his father, while Amir Hamza being his grandfather.[1] Jean Aubin on the other hand, proposed Bakr beg Mawsillu as her maternal grandfather.[2] She also had a sister named Beksi Khanum.[3]
Marriage
According to Angiolello and Ramusio, the Safavid shah Ismail I (r. 1501–1524) married Tajlu Khanum after defeating the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Murad ibn Ya'qub in 1503, but according to the Safavid-period historians such as Budaq Monshi Qazvini, she was the wife of the Afrasiyabid ruler Kiya Husayn II, who had during the dissolution of the Aq Qoyunlu confederation expanded his rule from western Mazandaran into parts of Persian Iraq. Ismail I invaded the latters territories and put an end to his rule in 1504, where he afterwards took Tajlu Khanum into his harem. She thereafter become Ismail's most beloved wife, and bore him Tahmasp Mirza and Bahram Mirza Safavi.
Life in Safavid court
Her supposed capture at Battle of Chaldiran was a major source of controversy among historians of Iran and Ottoman Empire.[4] While Ottoman sources wrote that she was captured during battle and even conversed with Selim I, according to Safavid sources she was lost but found by Mirza Shah Hossein, who because of this rose to the rank of wakil in Safavid court.[5] According to Roger Savory, it was Behruza Khanum, another wife of Ismail I who was captured and apparently later remarried.
Tajlu financed shrine of Fatima al-Masuma in Qom in 1519, supported Tahmasp Mirza's elevation to throne in 1524. But was banished to Shiraz in 1540 because of treason by his son. She later died and buried in Bibi Dokhtaran mausoleum.
References
- Woods, John E. (1999). The Aqquyunlu : clan, confederation, empire (Rev. and expanded ed.). Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. pp. 192–193. ISBN 0-585-12956-8. OCLC 44966081.
- Aubin, Jean (1988). "L'avènement des Safavides reconsideré". Moyen-Orient & Océan Indien. 5. ISSN 0764-5562.
- Ruggles, D. Fairchild (2000-08-03). Women, Patronage, and Self-Representation in Islamic Societies. SUNY Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-7914-4469-6.
- Savory, Roger (2003). Tajlu Khanum: Was She Captured by the Ottomans at the Battle of Chaldiran?. Jeremiás, Éva M. Piliscsaba: The Avicenna Institute of Middle Eastern Studies. pp. 217–232. ISBN 963-86359-0-8. OCLC 59719983.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
- Roemer, H.R. (1986). "The Safavid period". The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 5: The Timurid and Safavid periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 231. ISBN 9780521200943.
Sources
- Bosworth, C. E. (1984). "ĀL-E AFRĀSĪĀB". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 7. London u.a.: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 742–743. Archived from the original on 2014-02-20.
- Savory, Roger (1998). "ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6. pp. 628–636.
- Newman, Andrew J. (2008). Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. I.B. Tauris. pp. 1–281. ISBN 9780857716613.