The Shirley Brothers' Journey to Persia

Name: The Shirley Brothers' Journey to Persia
Start: 1598
End: 1600

Type Event Region West Asia Time 1598–1600

Around 1598 English adventurers Anthony and Robert Shirley arrived in Safavid Persia, offering Shah Abbas I military training, diplomatic contacts, a…

Timeline

1598Qazvin · IranAnthony Shirley entered Persia by land from the Ottoman border regions, bringing European military experience to an audience with Abbas I, proposing to help train firearms troops and make contact with Western powers against the Ottomans.
1598–1600Isfahan · IranRobert Shirley subsequently also entered the Persian court, serving Abbas for a long period, responsible for training artillery and ghulam troops, and traveling to Europe as a Persian envoy seeking allies and arms.

Sources

Encyclopaedia Iranica: Shirley Brothers — R. M. Savory https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shirley-brothers
The Sherley Brothers and the First Persian Embassy to England — E. Denison Ross (1930)