- 27 - 2004
- 4. Histoire, Période Musulmane
- 4.2. Histoire du XVe au XIXe siècle
- 4.2.1. Safavides et Qâjârs
183
Maeda, Hirotake
« Shāh ‘Abbās I’s Policy towards the Caucasus; The Rise of a Foreign Elite ». Shigaku-Zasshi, 113-9 (2004), pp.1-37 [in Japanese].
In past years, Maeda has published a series of well-documented papers on the Safavid Èolāms. His arguments are consistent: contrary to common belief, the Èolāms were not always slave soldiers whose ethnic identities were lost, but faithful servants to the Safavid shahs, allowed to retain ties with their own relatives and native countries. In this stimulating paper, relying mainly on the recently discovered third volume of the Afḍal al-tavārīḫ of Faḍlī Ḫūzānī al-Eṣfahānī, the author examines in detail the Èolāms’ role in Šāh ‘Abbās’ policy toward the Caucasus. He points out that the Šāh did not only manage to counterbalance them against the powerful Qizilbāš tribes in the Safavid political system, but also actively employed them in his conquest of the Caucasus, manipulating their ethnic identities and family ties in their native countries.

