He spent many years far from his homeland as a member of the Safavid élite to which he was also related by kinship: he was married to a daughter of Fath 'Ali Khan Daghestani, who served as grand vizier (chief minister) of Iran from 1716 to 1720.
[1] Rostom's appointments in the Safavid service included being darugha (prefect) of the capital city of Isfahan in 1709, khan (governor) of Kerman in 1717, and qullar-aqasi (commander) of the shah's élite ghulam regiments in 1717.
In this latter capacity he served through the Afghan revolts, which had taken lives of Rostom's uncle, George XI (Gurgin Khan), his half-brother, Kaikhosro, and a cousin, Alexander.
The grand vizier, Muhammad-Quli-Khan Shamlu, urged patience and avoidance of a pitched battle before putting the capital's defences in a state of proper readiness.
In the meantime, the Arab cavalry of the Safavid army, tempted into looting the Afghan baggage train, detached from the fighting and the grand vizier also failed to advance with his main troops.