Afshar people

Afshar (Əfşar افشار; Avşar, Afşar; Owşar اوْوشار; Afshār) is a tribe of Oghuz Turkic origin, that split into several groups in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan. During the Seljuk conquests of the 11th century, they moved from Central Asia into the Middle East. They are noted in history for being one of the Qizilbash tribes that helped establish the Safavid dynasty of Iran, and for being the source of descent of Iran's Afsharid dynasty. Nader Shah, who became the monarch of Iran in 1736, was from the Qereklu clan (قرخلو) of Afshars. Afshars mainly inhabit Iran, where they remain a largely nomadic group. Today, the Afshars are variously grouped as a branch of the Azerbaijanis and Turkmens or Turkomans (a common general term used for people of Oghuz Turkic origin). The founders of the Germiyanids, Zanjan Khanate, Khalkhal Khanate, and Urmia Khanate were also of Afshar descent. The founder of the Karamanids may have also been of Afshar descent. According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Afshar, the eponymous founder of the tribe, was a son of Yildiz Khan, the third son of Oghuz Khan. Afshar means "obedient". The earliest mention of the Afshar tribe can be found in the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk by Mahmud Kashgari, who flourished in 1075. Kashgari mentioned the Afshar tribe sixth in his list of 22 Oghuz Turkic sub-tribes, and pointed out that the sub-tribal names are those of their ancestors "who gave birth to them in older times". In the 11th century, the first Afshar tribesmen entered Iran and Anatolia from Transoxania along with other Oghuz invaders. More members of the Afshar tribe may have arrived during the Mongol conquests during the second half of the 13th century. For a period afterwards, the Afshar tribe is untraceable in historic records as a distinct group, for they are subsumed under label of Turkoman. Furthermore, it seems that the different Turkoman elements were subject to diverse re-grouping processes, insofar that when new "tribes" came into existence, only some were able to maintain traditional Oghuz tribal names, such as "Afshar".

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Related concepts (7)

Safavid Iran

Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia ('sæfəvɪd,_ˈsɑː-), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam.

Nader Shah

Nader Shah Afshar (نادر شاه افشار; also known as Nāder Qoli Beyg نادر قلی بیگ or Tahmāsb Qoli Khan تهماسب قلی خان) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was assassinated during a rebellion. He fought numerous campaigns throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia, such as the battles of Herat, Mihmandust, Murche-Khort, Kirkuk, Yeghevārd, Khyber Pass, Karnal, and Kars.

Turkoman (ethnonym)

Turkoman, also known as Turcoman, ('tərkəmən) was a term for the people of Oghuz Turkic origin, widely used during the Middle Ages. Oghuz Turks were a western Turkic people that, in the 8th century A.D, formed a tribal confederation in an area between the Aral and Caspian seas in Central Asia, and spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. Turkmen, originally an exonym, dates from the High Middle Ages, along with the ancient and familiar name "Turk" (türk), and tribal names such as "Bayat", "Bayandur", "Afshar", and "Kayi".