Formation and Performance of Divan Beigi Post in Safavid Era

• Main Authors: Nasrollah PoormohammadiAmlashi, Somayyeh Ansari
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies 2015-03-01
• Series: تحقیقات تاریخ اجتماعی
• Subjects: Safavids; Divan Beigi; Jurisdiction; Divan Beigi duties; Decline of Divan Beigi
• Online Access: http://socialhistory.ihcs.ac.ir/article_1329_6a453135af64c421fa95cc43eee0c600.pdf
• ISSN: 2383-0484; 2383-0492

In the Safavid era, Shah Abbas, due to some socio-political requirements, made changes to the structural and operational modes of a number of posts, including Divan Beigipost. The formation of Divan Beigi dated back to pre-Safavid era. As a result a number of changes, this postdeveloped functionally and was transformed from a military system to a judicatoryone. It became in charge of settling complaints made by the public from the officials, supervising crimes and four-dimensional felonies, and legal and financial corruptions (like embezzlement and bribe). It was also responsible for establishing order in the society and pursuing satisfaction of the public. However, this post, despite playing an effective role in the society, faced turbulence after Shah Abbas, which eventually led to its functional waning. Given that, the present paper, through adopting a descriptive-analytic method and through using available documents, aims to study the reasons for the formation of Divan Beigipost in the judicial system of the Safavids, and attempts to answer these questions: What were the responsibilities of the DivanBeigi in the administrative and judicial structure of the Safavids? What events ultimately led to its positional and functional waning? The results of the study reveal that Divan Beigi, due to its extended duties, played a significant role in establishing social and legal security. However, after Shah Abbas, because of some reasons like the decline in the power of the Safavid kings, deviations from legal rules, dominance of Gorgianover Divan Beigi, and conflicts with clerical and governmental officials, it fell into a decline. As a result of this process, the social and legal structure of the Safavid dynasty weakened, and socio-political dissatisfaction of the public, particularly religious minorities, mounted.