Name Farhad Cherkes | ||
Farhad Beg Cherkes, also sometimes written as Farhad Beg in the contemporary sources was a Circassian favourite at the Safavid court of shah Abbas I. Having risen through the ghulam ranks, he enjoyed a high position in the royal court, until he was eventually executed following a court intrigue in 1614.
Early life
Farhad Beg begun his career as a falconer (so called "gūščī") at the Safavid court and had later on been promoted to the office of “chief of the hunt” (amīr-e šekār) under Abbas I. Later on in his life, he was suspected of forming a subversive relationship with the shah’s eldest son Moḥammad-Baqer Safi Mirza by one of his Circassian wife's. Based on this suspicion, Abbas eventually handed Farhad Beg to the prince, who, to show his fidelity to his father and the king of the empire, gave orders for his execution immediately and for his property to be confiscated in the same year of 1614. At that time, the Royal camp was situated in Karabakh.
To the contrary of the general image presented of the ḡolāms as being faithful and loyal to the ruling shah, such occurrings of treachery were not extraordinary or uncommon, even just after the full foundation of the ḡhulam system by Shah Abbas I.