The Tabriz khanate was one of the Azerbaijani khanates, located in Azerbaijan which became for nearly fifty years semi-independent from the Iranian mothercountry.Until the end of the Safavid dynasty the city of Tabriz and the surrounding regions belonged to Iran and was the capital of the province (beylik) of Azerbaijan. After the death of Nader Shah Afshar his empire was divided among his heirs and grandees, and Azod Khan Afghan, a Pashtun warlord got Azerbaijan.