The Tabriz beylerbeylik was created in the first half of the 16th century. The beylerbeylik included such regions as Maragheh, Urmia, Mahabad, Khoy, Salmas, Marand, Talish (between 1592 and 1610), Arasbar, Sultaniya, Zanjan, etc. The agriculture, cattle breeding, and handicrafts were developed in the Tabriz beylerbeylik. Despite the transfer of the capital of the Safavid state to Qazvin (1555), and later to Isfakhan (1598), the Tabriz beylerbeylik, being from a strategic and socio-economic point of view one of the richest and most important regions of the Safavid state, played a large role in the political and economic life of the country. One fifth of the personnel of the Safavid army (about 11 to 12 thousand people out of 60 000) accounted for the Tabriz beylerbeylik. The most influential Kyzylbash emirs (mainly the heads of the Tekeli and Turkman tribes) were appointed rulers of the Tabriz beylerbeylik.
