Afshār, a large Turkish-speaking tribe, mainly inhabiting Iran. The name Afshār is found in early sources in these forms: Awshār (Badr al-Dīn, 20; Abū al-Ghāzī, 27), Awshar (Rashīd al-Dīn, 1/40), Awshariyya and Afshāriyya (Ibn Taghrībirdī, 14/48; al-Maqrīzī, 4(1)/86, 126 et passim; al-Qalqashandī, 7/282).

The Afshār are regarded as one of the most powerful Turkish-speaking tribes in Iranian history (Field, 46). Their name occasio…