page_title: Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu
section_title: Embassy to the Ottomans
hierarchical_section_title: Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu / Biography / Embassy to the Ottomans
caption_attribution_description: English: Tahmasb 1 - safavid king - Chehelsoton painting - Isfahan فارسی: تصویر شاه طهماسب اول صفوی - نگاره دیواری در چهلستون اصفهان
context_page_description: Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu, also commonly known as Tokhmaq Khan Ustajlu, was a 16th-century Safavid official, diplomat and military leader from the Turkoman Ustajlu tribe. He was appointed as governor of Erivan Province in 1568–1575. Thereafter, he led an embassy to the Ottoman Empire. On his return, he participated in some judicial developments, and was reappointed as governor of Erivan Province in 1578. In the same year, he served as main commander at the Battle of Çıldır during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590, where his army was routed. A few years later, in 1583, Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq's second tenure over the Erivan Province was brought to an end due to encroachments by the Ottomans, who controlled the province until 1604.
context_section_description: Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq was the son of the previous governor of Erivan Province, Shahqoli Soltan Ustajlu, and was thus a member of the Turkoman Ustajlu tribe. The Erivan Province was centered on present-day Armenia, its provincial capital being Erivan (Yerevan). In 1568, king (shah) Tahmasp I (r. 1524-1576) appointed him as his father's successor. Several years later, shortly before his death, Tahmasp I sent Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq as an ambassador to the neighboring Ottoman Empire to congratulate Murad III on his accession to the Ottoman throne. Tahmasp I wished to maintain the cordial relations that were initiated by the Peace of Amasya in 1555. The embassy, comprising some 250 men and 500 camels, arrived in Scutari, adjacent to the imperial capital, Constantinople, in May 1576. They brought numerous costly gifts, including precious manuscripts  and stones, as well as weapons and fine rugs. The most costly gift of all was an imperial tent decorated with jewels.
  A grand reception followed, and the envoys were sent back with two luxuriously harnessed horses as well as 5,000 ducats. Both the ceremony and the construction of the tent are depicted in the first volume of the Shahanshah-nameh (dated 1581). The tent, considered to be a "magnificent piece of art" according to Zeren Tanındı, has not survived. Tahmasp I's letter of greeting, which Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq presented to Murad III, is in the archives of the Topkapı Palace.
caption: Painting of Tahmasp I at the Chehel Sotoun palace
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