«ARMY iii. Safavid Period». ص. The shah had a royal bodyguard of qūṛčīs (Mongolian “archer”) whose origin goes back to the Mongol period٫ The qūṛčīs were, in theory, recruited from among the principal gezelbāš tribes and received their pay directly from the royal treasury٫ Although the qūṛčīs had been recruited from the qezelbāš tribes and in that sense had constituted an indispensable element of the tribal confederation which characterized Safavid society in the period preceding the reign of Shah ʿAbbās, one should not confuse that regular corps with the qezelbāš.
