Royal isolation , circa. 1670-85 It was soon proven that a repeated coronation and a new name was not a step closer to the improvement of the state. Suleiman, after his coronation, retreated into the depths of the harem and began a policy of royal isolation. He would not appear in public and often preferred to stay in Isfahan rather than travel throughout the country. He only went out of the palace in form of a
quruq, meaning he would order the people of a neighbourhood to vacate their district and move away to a different one so that Suleiman and the women of the harem as his entourage, could ride freely in that district. No male older than six was allowed to be in that district when the shah and his companions came riding, if a man was caught, he would be executed. Suleiman, unlike his father, no longer allowed his subjects to enter his palace and petition him. In fact, he would not emerge from the inner palace for periods of up to twelve days, during which he would not accept anyone outside the harem to disturb him. For the first fifteen years of his reign, women were still allowed to accost him during his
quruqs: in 1683, this access was formally abolished altogether. Contemporary observers often considered Suleiman's reign after his second coronation to be devoid of any notable events, and who refrained from recording the period in chronicle form. Mohammad Shafi Tehrani, the Qajar historian, claims that the Uzbek and
Kalmyk raids of
Astarabad were the only significant events of his reign. Modern historians, however, argue otherwise. It has been suggested that Suleiman may have had greater control over the state than its generally assumed: out of eleven
firmans collected in a
compendium by Heribert Busse, seven were directly issued by Suleiman, and three of them are of his own wording while four were clearly worded by his grand vizier. Suleiman was self-aware enough to choose a competent grand vizier who would rule in his stead while Suleiman enjoyed his lavish lifestyle. His choice was
Shaykh Ali Khan Zanganeh, a statesman who served as his grand vizier for twenty years.
Grand Vizierate of Shaykh Ali Khan Shaykh Ali Khan was the Amir of the
Zanganeh tribe and succeeded Mirza Mohammad Karaki (who had maintained his position after Suleiman's ascension) as the grand vizier in 1669. Faced with an empty treasury after a series of misfortunes, Shaykh Ali immediately commenced a financial policy that combined cutting expenses with increasing revenue. He sought a stricter observation on the annual silk supply to the
VOC, who, using the chaos in the capital, took a greater supply of silk than had initially been agreed upon. Moreover, he attempted to take control of the monopoly of sugar and instituted a five-percent tax on the merchants who shipped sugar to
India. Shaykh Ali imposed new taxes on the
New Julfa churches and the
Armenians who lived in the villages around Isfahan. Through all of his projects, Shaykh Ali showed diligence, and, in contrast to many of his colleagues, refused to accept bribery, and soon became known for his incorruptibility. It is true that few of his projects were completely successful, nevertheless, Shaykh Ali was highly effective in collecting revenue for the royal treasury. Shaykh Ali Khan's policies made him enemies amongst the courtiers, who disliked his attempts to curb the lavish lifestyle of the court. He also urged Suleiman to follow a path of frugality, which further infuriated his adversaries who were dependent on the shah's generosity. Shaykh Ali's fall from the shah's grace took place in early 1672, when the shah ordered his grand vizier to drink wine: when he refused, Suleiman forced him to drink and spent hours humiliating him. Shaykh Ali Khan was soon arrested, and the realm fell into turmoil. In the same year, one of his sons took refuge with the Ottomans, raising fears of a potential war. Fourteen months after his removal, Suleiman reappointed Shaykh Ali as his grand vizier to quiet the rumours of the war. Having resumed his position, Shaykh Ali started to curb the military outlay and sent tax-collectors to the provinces, demanding taxes and imposing fines for unpaid obligations. Shaykh Ali decided to no longer inform the shah about state affairs, and he started shunning his own responsibilities, handing requests to Suleiman and urging him to ratify them without first reading them. Shaykh Ali still provoked Suleiman's wrath from time to time by refusing drinks from him: the shah's outbursts would always result in humiliation of the grand vizier, but normally, Suleiman would feel remorse for his mockery and would send the grand vizier a
robe of honour as a token of appreciation for his efforts. As the years went by, Suleiman showed less and less desire to partake in the frequent meetings with his grand vizier regarding state affairs. Hence, the grand vizier was left on his own when important decisions were to be made, while Suleiman would discuss the state affairs with his wives and the eunuchs, who were his confidants. His wives and eunuchs thus exercised a dominant influence upon the shah, and guarded their influence and were keen to prevent the shah from communicating with anyone but themselves. Suleiman even set up a privy council in the harem, to which the most important eunuchs belonged. Even when the shah would discuss the state affairs with his grand vizier, it was impossible to discuss them in detail because Suleiman was impatient and resentful of the problems that had risen throughout the realm.
The vacant court positions , Isfahan, 1670.After Shaykh Ali's reappointment, the shah's court grew intimated and afraid of him. Suleiman showed extreme cruelty towards his courtiers: in 1679, he forced Shaykh Ali to shave his beard (so that he would look like Georgians, whom he despised for their Christianity), and because the beard was not cleanly shaven, he had the barber executed as well; in 1680, he blinded the
divan-begi, Zaynal Khan; and, he had Shaykh Ali and one of his royal secretariats
bastinadoed; in 1681, he killed one of his sons, who was fourteen years old at the time. The boy had spent his whole life in the harem wearing women’s clothes at the prompting of astrologers, who had seen a prophesy that he would depose Suleiman. Many of the courtiers were so afraid of the shah that they would leave the court with the excuse of undertaking
hajj. In early 1681, Shaykh Ali made a request to make a hajj that was rejected for an unknown reason. The shah’s erratic and unpredictable behavior encouraged
sycophantic behavior by the courtiers, flattering the shah and hiding unpleasant news from him, while also forsaking their duties and embracing corruption. The army, in general, became undisciplined and its military standards fell, as soldiers came to regard their pay as little more than a gratuity. Some military formations existed only on paper. Despite his continued insecurity and his limited contact with the shah, Shaykh Ali Khan maintained his position even during 1680s, when most of the court positions were vacant and unfilled. In 1680, the shah took the position of
sadr-i mamalik (minister of religion) for himself; the royal secretariat were all dismissed in 1682. In the same year, the position of
sepahsalar became vacant after the death of its holder, and remained as much until the end of Suleiman's reign. In addition, the positions of
divan-begi,
qurchi-bashi,
shaykh al-Islam, and
mirshekar-bashi (master of the hunt), all became vacant in the same year. Shaykh Ali Khan died in 1689 while still occupying the grand vizier position. Saddened by his death, Suleiman, who had mistreated his grand vizier for twenty years, did not leave the inner palace for a full year and did not choose a successor for two years. In 1691,
Mohammad Taher Vahid Qazvini, a poet and court historian, was chosen as the grand vizier.
Later years and death The new grand vizier was given full and unprecedented executive powers to overcome the realm's most urgent needs and problems. However, Vahid Qazvini proved to be a venal and ineffective grand vizier: He was extremely old, being seventy years old at the time, and lacked the energy to administrate. Moreover, he freely took bribes. Vahid also made many enemies in the court: his main rival was
Saru Khan Sahandlu, the new
qurchi-bashi. Saru Khan was from the Zanganeh tribe and was Suleiman's absolute favourite. In 1691, he killed forty members of his tribe, but the shah's favor meant that his crime was overlooked. However, he incurred Suleiman's wrath when it was discovered that he had started an affair with Maryam Begum, the shah's aunt. Suleiman ordered his death during an assembly in late 1691, during which he had offered wine to all the members presented except Saru Khan, and had him executed shortly after. During his later years, Suleiman became more and more reclusive and his drinking finally made him infirm. In 1691, per the suggestions of the astrologers, he did not leave the palace for nine months. Simultaneously, the realm saw much unrest: in 1689, the Uzbeks raided along the Khorasan borderline and rebellions broke out in
Balochistan. In 1692, Suleiman Baba took up arms against the Safavids in
Kurdistan and rebellions are recorded in
Kerman, Kandahar,
Lar, and
Georgia. Meanwhile, Suleiman was suffering from foot pain and in August 1692 it was rumoured that he had not left the palace for more than eighteen months. He did not appear in the hall of the
Ali Qapu palace for the Nowruz festivities on 20 March 1694, and even declined to accept the customary gifts from governors and other grandees. The last time he was seen was on 24 March, when he presided over a very brief meeting, after which he returned to his harem. He did not leave the inner palace again before his death on 29 July. Many reasons have been suggested for his death, among them being having a stroke during a carousing session, dying from
gout or from the decades of debauchery. According to the French cleric, Martin Gaudereau, his last words were: "Bring me wine." He was buried in
Qom, like many of his ancestors, and was succeeded by his eldest son,
Soltan Hoseyn, the third to the last Safavid Monarch. == Policies ==