Safavid Lorestan Velāyat-e Lorestān
1508–1578 1587–1736
Status	Province ofSafavid Iran
Capital	Khorramabad
Succeeded by Afsharid Iran

Theprovince of Lorestan (Persian:ولایت لرستان,romanized: Velāyat-e Lorestān) was a western province ofSafavid Iran, corresponding to the present-day provinces ofIlam andLorestan. It was one of the fivevelayats (semi-autonomous provinces) of the country, and was thus ruled by avali ("viceroy", "governor").

Lorestan was one of the fivevelayats of the Safavid realm, being ruled by avali (viceroy), who was nearly an independent governor. Thevalis generally belonged to prominent local families, and were officially chosen by theshah (king) as a compromise of regional autonomy. Nevertheless, they ruled in ahereditary manner.^[1][2]

The province was composed of three lower-ranking governorships, Khaveh, Sadmareh andKhorramabad, the latter which was also controlled by thevali of Lorestan.^[3] Since the closing of the 12th-century,Little Lorestan had been ruled by theKhorshidi dynasty.^[4] The area, also known as Lorestan from the 16th-century and onwards, roughly corresponded to the present-dayIlam andLorestan provinces.^[5][6] In 1508, Lorestan acknowledged the suzerainty of the Safavid shahIsmail I (r. 1501–1524). After the latter's return fromBaghdad, he confirmed the Khorshidi ruler Shah Rostam Abbasi as the governor of Lorestan, which included the districts of Sadmareh, Harunabad and Silakhur. During the 1540s, the Safavids established more direct control in Lorestan, such as in Khorramabad. Because the governor of Lorestan resided in the latter city, he was also known as the "governor of Khorramabad and Lorestan". From 1578 till 1587, the governors of Lorestan were in league with theOttoman Empire.^[4]

Following the suppression ofShahverdi Abbasi's rebellion and his subsequent execution,Shah Abbas I (r. 1588–1629) had all male members of the Khorshidi family either blinded or jailed, thus marking their end.[7] Shahverdi Abbasi's maternal cousinHoseyn Khan Solvizi was appointed the governor of Lorestan, while Tahmaspqoli Khan Inanlu was appointed the governor of some of its parts close to Baghdad, such as Sadmareh and Hendamin. From 1603 and onwards, the Solvizi family became the hereditary governors of Lorestan. In the 1670s, however,Shah Soleyman (r. 1666–1694) gave the governorship of Lorestan to a non-Lori, who was later forced out by the locals.[8]

The governor of Lorestan, Ali Mardan Khan Feyli, played a significant role during the upheavals caused by the arrival of the Afghans to the Safavid capital ofIsfahan. He participated in the defense of Isfahan in 1722/23 with 5,000 of his soldiers. Even though he had been chosen as the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army, the otherkhans disobeyed his instructions. In 1725, the Ottoman Empire invaded Iran, seizing Khorramabad and thus forcing Ali Mardan Khan Feyli to withdraw toKhuzestan, where he launched attacks against Baghdad. The Ottoman force that crossed the Bakhtiari domain to get toFiruzan were forced to withdraw.^[9]

This is a list of the known figures who governed Lorestan or parts of it.^[10]Hakem andbeglerbegi were both administrative titles designating the governor.^[11]

• Ehlers, Eckart (2021)."Khorramabad". InYarshater, Ehsan (ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.
• Floor, Willem (2008).Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran: A Third Manual of Safavid Administration, by Mirza Naqi Nasiri. Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers.ISBN 978-1933823232.
• Matthee, Rudi (2011).Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. I.B.Tauris.ISBN 978-0857731814.
• Matthee, Rudi (2015). "Relations between the Center and the Periphery in Safavid Iran: The Western Borderlands v. the Eastern Frontier Zone".The Historian.77 (3):431–463.doi:10.1111/hisn.12068.S2CID 143393018.
• Minorsky, V. (1986)."Luristān". InBosworth, C. E.;van Donzel, E.;Lewis, B. &Pellat, Ch. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume V: Khe–Mahi. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 829–832.ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.
• Spuler, B. (1987)."Atābakān-e Lorestān". InYarshater, Ehsan (ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. II/8: Aśoka IV–Āṯār al-Wozarāʾ. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 896–898.ISBN 978-0-71009-108-6.

• 16th century in Iran
• 17th century in Iran
• 18th century in Iran
• Provinces of the Safavid dynasty
• History of Lorestan province
• States and territories disestablished in 1578
• States and territories disestablished in 1736

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Persian-language text
• CS1: long volume value