Hamza Mirza (; 4 September 1568 – 6 December 1586) was the Safavid dynasty crown prince of Safavid Iran during the reign of his father Mohammad Khodabanda (). His mother was Khayr al-Nisa Begum, a Mar'ashi princess from Mazandaran.
Ismail II ordered the executions of his brother and nephews in 1577, but died before the order could be carried out, after which his brother Mohammad Khodabanda ascended the throne. Hamza was officially created crown prince, at the behest of his mother in February 1578. Turkmen and Takalu emirs played a significant role on his appointment and became his main supporters. He followed his mother to Karabakh after the battle of Çıldır in 1578.
Following his mother's murder on 26 July 1579, Hamza became a central figure in the conflict between Ali-Qoli Khan Shamlu and his Shamlu–Ustajlu coalition, who favoured young Abbas against the reigning shah, Mohammad Khodabanda. Mirza Salman Jaberi, his mother's supporter, managed to have Hamza Mirza's vizier Hossein Beg Shamlu dismissed and took over the office himself in August 1580. Meanwhile, the sides came to an understanding only after 1581 and accepted Hamza as crown prince.
Hamza Mirza was part of the Safavid army when Ottomans attacked Tabriz in 1585. However, the assassination of Amir Khan Mawsillu-Turkman, the governor of Azerbaijan, allegedly on the orders of Hamza Mirza caused a rift among the Qizilbash tribes. According to Hamza, Amir Khan obstructed his efforts to identify those responsible for his mother’s murder. Upon learning of the Ottoman forces nearing Tabriz, Hamza Mirza requested help from the Takalu and Turkman tribes. However, many of the prominent commanders, such as Mohammad Khan Turkoman (governor of Kashan), Vali Khan Takalu (governor of Hamadan), and Masib Khan Sharaf al-Din Oghli Takalu (governor of Ray), who were resentful over the killing of Amir Khan, refused to obey his command and entered open rebellion in support of his younger brother Tahmasp Mirza on 21 February 1586. However, the rebellion was suppressed and Tahmasp Mirza was imprisoned in Alamut Castle on 23 May 1586.Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh, vol 2, p. 828 (in Persian)
According to Antonio de Gouvea, who quoted Simão de Moraes, Augustinian missionary stationed in Hormuz Island, Tinatina once convinced Hamza to convert to Christianity when he was gravely ill. However, according to Gouvea, this story was forged by an Armenian priest who met de Moraes. De Gouvea further claimed that Abbas told him that Hamza greatly favoured Christianity.
His son Ismail Mirza was sent to Alamut upon Abbas's accession to the throne and was blinded in 1591. His younger son Haydar Mirza was sent as a hostage to Ottoman court in 1590 and died there in 1596.
|
|