The province of Fars () was a southwestern province of Safavid Iran. Like today, Shiraz also served as the capital of Fars. The terms "governor of Shiraz" and "governor of Fars" were used interchangeably, as they described the same position.

History On the coastal region, the jurisdiction of Fars stretched from Bushehr to the Shatt al-Arab, while the rest of the coast was mostly ruled by the Kingdom of Hormuz. Lar was an autonomous principality that minted its own coins, but still acknowledged the authority of the Safavids.

Fars was conquered in 1503 by Shah Ismail I (). With the exception of two short periods in 1505 and 1509, Fars was always governed by a member of the Dhu'l-Qadr tribe until 1590. The vizier of the first Dhu'l-Qadr governor was a member of the Jaberi Ansari family from Isfahan, which remained influential in the administration of Fars until the 18th century. In 1602, Lar and Bahrain was incorporated into Fars. After the execution of Emamqoli Khan in 1632, Fars became a khasseh (crown land) under the jurisdiction of a vizier. Compared to the earlier governors, these viziers were far less powerful.

The shah now had direct control over the dependencies of Fars, transitioning them from sub-provinces into independent administrative units reporting to the central government. Because of this, appointments now heavily relied on court connections. Lar subsequently became its own province, separate from Fars. In 1696, Fars experienced a drought and famine. In 1712, Fars was no longer a crown domain and had a governor again. From 1724 to early 1730, Fars was occupied by the Afghan Hotak dynasty.

In March 1734, Mohammad Taqi Khan Shirazi was installed as the governor of Fars by Nader, an Iranian military commander who later ousted the Safavid dynasty and crowned himself shah in 1736.

Economy

Fars was one of Iran's highest-revenue provinces. Travelers generally described it as a prosperous region, using Shiraz as their primary example. However, the 17th century travelers Jean Chardin and Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, along with sources in Persian, provide a contrasting depiction of Fars. According to Chardin, the conversion of Fars to crown land and its reduction in size in 1632 caused it to shift from a prospering province to one in rapid decline.

Population and religion

Shiraz was seemingly inhabited by 75,000 people under Ismail I, a figure that appears to have stayed nearly the same until its decline in the late 17th century.

Under the Safavids, Fars underwent a mass conversion to Shia Islam but Sunni Islam persisted in Lar and some coastal settlements. The rate at which Shia Islam was adopted in the urban and rural areas of Fars is uncertain. During the early Safavid era in Fars, as in other parts of Iran, Sunnis faced persecution, most notably in a massacre at Kazerun.

The Jewish community in Shiraz was one of the oldest in Iran and made up a sizable portion of the city's non-Muslim population.

List of governors This is a list of the known figures who governed Fars.

Date Governor 1503–1505 Elyas Beg aka Kachal Beg Dhu'l-Qadr 1506 Mansur Beg Afshar 1506–1520 Ommat Beg Sarusheykhlu Dhu'l-Qadr ?–1510 Qadi Mohammad Kashi 1520–1524 Ali Beg Soltan Dhu'l-Qadr Chichkelu 1525 Morad Soltan Dhu'l-Qadr 1525–1533 Hamzeh Beg Jameselu Dhu'l-Qadr 1533–1540 Ghazi Khan Dhu'l-Qadr 1540–1555 Ebrahim Khan Dhu'l-Qadr 1555–1558 Ali Soltan Tati-oghlu Dhu'l-Qadr 1558–1566 Shahvali Soltan Tati-oghlu Dhu'l-Qadr 1566–? Mohammad Khan Beg Dhu'l-Qadr 1571 Shahqoli Khalifeh Mohrdar Dhu'l-Qadr 1571–1576 Vali Soltan Khan Qalkhanji-oghlu Dhu'l-Qadr 1577–? Aliqoli Khan Dhu'l-Qadr 1580 Khalil Khan Dhu'l-Qadr 1581–1586 Ommat Beg Dhu'l-Qadr 1586 Ali Khan Shadi Begluy Dhu'l-Qadr 1586–1588 Mehdiqoli Soltan Sheikh Dhu'l-Qadr 1587 Shahqoli Khalifeh Dhu'l-Qadr 1588–1590 Ya'qub Beg Dhu'l-Qadr ibn Ebrahim Khan October 1590 Bonyad Beg Dhu'l-Qadr 1592–1593 Hoseyn Khan Mosaheb Qajar 1594 Unnamed Dhu'l-Qadr member 1595 Allahqoli Beg 1595–1596 Farhad Khan Qaramanlu 1596–1613 Allahverdi Khan 1613–1632 Emamqoli Khan 1632–? Mirza Mo'en 1642–? Mir Mohammad Ahmad 1644–? Badadeh Arestu Beg ?–1651–1656 Mirza Hadi ibn Mirza Mo'en 1656–? Babunah Beg 1696 Shahverdi Khan Seyl-Sopor 1698 Mohammad Ali Beg ?–1712 Mohammad Baqer Beg April 1714 Kalb Ali Khan April 1714–? Mirza Mohammad Hoseyn January 1717 Safiqoli Beg January 1717 Mortezaqoli Khan 22 October 1717 – December 1720 Lotf-Ali Khan Daghestani 1722 Mohammad Ali Jaberi Ansari 1723 Nurollah Khan Farahani 1724–1730 Afghan occupation 1734–1736 Mohammad Taqi Khan Shirazi

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Further reading