Osmanlı Ülkesinde Son Safevî Şehzâdeleri: Sam Mirzâlar

Abstract

After the turmoil in Iran at the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Safavid dynasty ended and as a result there were certain intervals when some members of the dynasty took refuge in the Ottoman State. The Ottoman Empire initially wanted to take advantage of them politically and, with this aim in mind, an attempt was made to set Safî Mirzâ, the first asylum seeker, on a throne declaring him to be a shah. However, the opportunity to fulfill this desire was not found. Although the Ottoman State could not find what it hoped for Safî Mirzâ, it did not hesitate to accept the asylum of the two Safavid princes, who later came to claim that they were the sons of Shah Hüseyin and Tahmasb. These princes, both of whom were called Sam, were first settled in Sinop. Later Sam Mirza, the son of Shah Huseyin, moved to Limnos Island, and Sam Mirza, the son of Tahmasb, settled on Rodos Island shortly after leaving Sinop, and he finally moved to Gallipoli. The Safavid princes had many family members and a considerable amount of employees. Wherever they resided, they were given customs or ‘jizya’ to ensure their daily livelihoods. However, the movements of the princes were kept under constant surveillance, and they were never allowed to move from one place to another without permission. Sam Mirzâ, Shah Huseyin’s son, died on Limnos Island, and Tahmasb's son died in Gallipoli, and both were buried where they died. After their death, the allocation assigned to them was allocated to their spouses, children and the people of the family, and when the family passed away, the salary was not given to the treasury but shared among the surviving members of the family. Neither the children nor the descendants of the two Sam Mirzas chose to return to Iran after their father's death, and they continued their lives in Ottoman lands. It is understood from related documents that they remained in these lands until the collapse of the Ottoman State.