Robert Shirley

Robert Shirley (c. 1581–1628) was an English traveller and adventurer, third son of Thomas Shirley. In 1598 he went with his brother Anthony to Safavid Persia, where he trained Shah Abbas I's army and reorganized its artillery on the English model, helping Persia match the Ottomans in the war of 1603–1612. In 1607 he married the Circassian Sampsonia.

In 1608 Abbas sent him to seek a European alliance against the Ottomans. He visited Poland-Lithuania and Rome, and the emperor and pope made him a count. He returned to Persia in 1613 and died at Qazvin in 1628, soon after returning again with the English embassy.