Qāsem Sultan Afshar or Qāsem Sultan Imānlū Afshar, was a Safavid military leader and official during the reign of King (Shah) Abbas I (r. 1588–1629).
Qāsem Sultan was a member of the Imānlū branch of the Afshar tribe, one of the original Qizilbash tribes that had supplied power to the Safavids since its earliest days.[1][2] During King Abbas I's early reign, Qāsem Sultan became the head of a group of Afshars whose duty it was to protect the marshes surrounding the city of Kermanshah.[1] In the early 17th century, marked by wars against the archrivals of the Safavids — the Ottomans — Qāsem Sultan fought with great distinction, which earned him the governorshop of Mosul in 1622.[3][1][4] However, shortly after, following the outbreak of a plague, he moved towards the western part of Azerbaijan with the rest of his tribe.[1] He became the founder of the Afshar community of the city of Urmia.[1] His son Kalb-e ʿAlī Beg (or Kalb' Ali Sultan Afshar) was appointed governor of Urmia in 1627-28,[1] or 1630,[5] until 1648.[5] The descendants of both formed the Qāsemlū clan — named in honor of Qāsem Sultan.[1]