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{{short description|Twelver Shīʿa ruling dynasty of Iran (1501–1736)}} | |||
{{Infobox Former Country | |||
{{Distinguish|Saffarid dynasty}} | |||
|native_name = سلسلۀ صفویۀ ایران | |||
{{pp-protect|small=yes}} | |||
|conventional_long_name = Safavid Royal Dynasty of Iran<ref>{{citation | url = http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/516019/Safavid-dynasty | publisher = Britannica | title = Safavid dynasty}}.</ref><ref>Alireza Shapur Shahbazi (2005), "The History of the Idea of Iran”, in Vesta Curtis ed., Birth of the Persian Empire, IB Tauris, London, p. 108: "Similarly the collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea.The name "Iran" disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr, and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or "Iranian lands", which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand, when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman empire and even Iran itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations".</ref><ref name="IIMP">"Iranian identity iii. Medieval Islamic period" in : "The Safavid kings called themselves, among other appellations, the “heart of the shrine of ʿAli” (''kalb-e āstān-e ʿAli''), while assuming the title of ''Šāhanšāh'' (the king of kings) of ]/]". Quote 2: "Even Ottoman sultans, when addressing the Āq Quyunlu and Safavid kings, used such titles as the “king of Iranian lands” or the “sultan of the lands of Iran” or “the king of kings of Iran, the lord of the Persians” or the “holders of the glory of Jamšid and the vision of Faridun and the wisdom of Dārā.” They addressed Shah Esmaʿil as: “the king of Persian lands and the heir to Jamšid and Kay-ḵosrow” (Navāʾi, pp. 578, 700–2, 707). During Shah ʿAbbās’s reign (q.v.) the transformation is complete and Shiʿite Iran comes to face the two adjacent Sunni powers: the Ottoman Empire to the west and the Kingdom of Uzbeks to the east."</ref><ref name = "gBooks">{{citation | title = Safavid Persia | publisher = Google | series = Books | url = http://books.google.com/books?q=%22Safavid+Persia%22}}.</ref> | |||
{{Infobox royal house | |||
|common_name = Safavid dynasty | |||
|image=Safavid Flag.svg | |||
| | |||
|image_caption=Safavid flag after 1576 | |||
|continent = Asia | |||
|surname=Safavid dynasty | |||
|region = Middle East | |||
|native_name=دودمان صفوی, | |||
|country = Persia (modern Iran)<ref name = "gBooks" /> | |||
|coat of arms= | |||
|era = <!--- Use: "Napoleonic Wars", "Cold War", etc. ---> | |||
|country=] | |||
|status = Empire<!--- Listed as Empire in List of largest empires ---> | |||
|founding year=22 December 1501 | |||
|status_text = <!--- A free text to describe status the top of the infobox. Use sparingly. ---> | |||
|founder=] (1501–1524) | |||
|empire = <!--- The empire or country to which the entity was in a state of dependency ---> | |||
|dissolution={{C.|1736}} | |||
|government_type = Monarchy | |||
|final ruler=] (1732–1736) | |||
| | |||
|traditions=] | |||
|<!--- Rise and fall, events, years and dates ---> | |||
|titles=]anshah of ] | |||
|<!-- only fill in the start/end event entry if a specific article exists. Don't just say "abolition" or "declaration"--> | |||
| | |||
|year_start = 1501 | |||
|year_end = 1736 | |||
| | |||
|year_exile_start = <!--- (If dealing with exiled government - status="Exile") ---> | |||
|year_exile_end = <!--- Year of end of exile (leave blank if still in exile) ---> | |||
| | |||
|event_start = <!--- Default: "Established" ---> | |||
|date_start = <!--- Optional: Date of establishment, enter dates in this format 1 January 1801---> | |||
|event_end = <!--- Default: "Disestablished" ---> | |||
|date_end = <!--- Optional: Date of disestablishment ---> | |||
| | |||
|event1 = ] Invasion | |||
|date_event1 = 1722 | |||
|event2 = Reconquest under ] | |||
|date_event2 = 1726–29 | |||
|event3 = | |||
|date_event3 = | |||
|event4 = | |||
|date_event4 = | |||
| | |||
|event_pre = Establishment of the ] by ] | |||
|date_pre = 1301 | |||
|event_post = ] crowned | |||
|date_post = October 1, 1736 | |||
| | |||
|<!--- Flag navigation: Preceding and succeeding entities p1 to p5 and s1 to s5 ---> | |||
|p1 = Timurid dynasty | |||
|flag_p1 = Timurid.svg | |||
|image_p1 = | |||
|p2 = Ak Koyunlu | |||
|flag_p2 = Flag of Ak Koyunlu.svg | |||
|s3 = Mosul Eyalet | |||
|flag_s3 = Ottoman_flag.svg | |||
|s4 = Baghdad Eyalet | |||
|flag_s4 = Ottoman_flag.svg | |||
|s5 = Basra Eyalet | |||
|flag_s5 = Ottoman_flag.svg | |||
|s1 = Hotaki dynasty | |||
|flag_s1 = Black flag.svg | |||
|image_s1 = | |||
|s2 = Afsharid dynasty | |||
|flag_s2 = Afsharid Imperial Standard (3 Stripes).svg | |||
| | |||
| | |||
|image_flag = Safavid_Flag.png | |||
|flag = <!--- Link target under flag image. Default: Flag of {{{common_name}}} ---> | |||
|flag_type = Flag of Safavid ] | |||
| | |||
|image_coat = Coat of arms of Persia (16th century - 1907).png | |||
|symbol = <!--- Link target under symbol image. Default: Coat of arms of {{{common_name}}} ---> | |||
|symbol_type = Coat of arms of Safavid Iran | |||
| | |||
|image_map = Safavid Empire 1501 1722 AD.png | |||
|image_map_caption = Safavid Empire in 1510 | |||
| | |||
|image_map2 = <!-- If second map is needed - does not appear by default --> | |||
|image_map2_caption = | |||
| | |||
|capital = *] (1501–55) | |||
*] (1555–98) | |||
*] (1598–1722) | |||
|capital_exile = <!-- If status="Exile" --> | |||
|latd= |latm= |latNS= |longd= |longm= |longEW= | |||
| | |||
|national_motto = | |||
|national_anthem = | |||
|common_languages = *] (official,<ref>Roemer, H. R. (1986). "The Safavid Period". ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 189–350. ISBN 0-521-20094-6, p. 331: "Depressing though the condition in the country may have been at the time of the fall of Safavids, they cannot be allowed to overshadow the achievements of the dynasty, which was in many respects to prove essential factors in the development of Persia in modern times. These include the maintenance of Persian as the official language and of the present-day boundaries of the country, adherence to the Twelever Shi'i, the monarchical system, the planning and architectural features of the urban centers, the centralised administration of the state, the alliance of the Shi'i Ulama with the merchant bazaars, and the symbiosis of the Persian-speaking population with important non-Persian, especially Turkish speaking minorities".</ref> coinage,<ref name= "MatheeIranica">Rudi Matthee, "" in ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', accessed on April 4, 2010. "The Persian focus is also reflected in the fact that theological works also began to be composed in the Persian language and in that Persian verses replaced Arabic on the coins." "The political system that emerged under them had overlapping political and religious boundaries and a core language, Persian, which served as the literary tongue, and even began to replace Arabic as the vehicle for theological discourse".</ref><ref>Ronald W Ferrier, ''The Arts of Persia''. Yale University Press. 1989, p. 9.</ref> civil administration,<ref name = "Perry">John R Perry, "Turkic-Iranian contacts", ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', January 24, 2006: "…written Persian, the language of high literature and civil administration, remained virtually unaffected in status and content"</ref> court (since Isfahan became capital),<ref name = "Cyril Glassé 2003, pg 392">Cyril Glassé (ed.), ''The New Encyclopedia of Islam'', Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, revised ed., 2003, ISBN 0759101906, p. 392: "Shah Abbas moved his capital from ] to ]. His reigned marked the peak of Safavid dynasty's achievement in art, diplomacy, and commerce. It was probably around this time that the court, which originally spoke a Turkic language, began to use Persian"</ref> high literature,<ref name= "Perry"/> literary,<ref name= "MatheeIranica" /><ref>Arnold J. Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', V, pp. 514-15. excerpt: "in the heyday of the Mughal, Safawi, and Ottoman regimes New Persian was being patronized as the language of ''literae humaniores'' by the ruling element over the whole of this huge realm, while it was also being employed as the official language of administration in those two-thirds of its realm that lay within the Safawi and the Mughal frontiers"</ref> theological discourse,<ref name="MatheeIranica"/> diplomatic correspondence, belles-lettres (adab), historiography,<ref name="mazzaoui" /> court-based religious posts<ref>Ruda Jurdi Abisaab. "Iran and Pre-Independence Lebanon" in Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi, ''Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years'', IB Tauris 2006, p. 76: "Although the Arabic language was still the medium for religious scholastic expression, it was precisely under the Safavids that hadith complications and doctrinal works of all sorts were being translated to Persian. The 'Amili (Lebanese scholars of Shi'i faith) operating through the Court-based religious posts, were forced to master the Persian language; their students translated their instructions into Persian. Persianization went hand in hand with the popularization of 'mainstream' Shi'i belief."</ref>) | |||
*] (court, religious dignitaries, military)<ref name="mazzaoui" /><ref name="savory07">{{Cite book | |||
| last = Savory | |||
| first = Roger | |||
| authorlink = | |||
| coauthors = | |||
| year = 2007 | |||
| title = Iran Under the Safavids | |||
| publisher= Cambridge University Press | |||
| isbn = 0521042518, ISBN 978-0-521-04251-2 | |||
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=v4Yr4foWFFgC&pg=PA213 | |||
| pages = 213 | |||
| quote = ''qizilbash normally spoke Azari brand of Turkish at court, as did the Safavid shahs themselves; lack of familiarity with the Persian language may have contributed to the decline from the pure classical standards of former times'' | |||
}}</ref><ref name="cambridgesafa" /><ref name="price">{{Cite book | |||
| last = Price | |||
| first = Massoume | |||
| authorlink = | |||
| coauthors = | |||
| year = 2005 | |||
| title = Iran's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook | |||
| publisher= ABC-CLIO | |||
| isbn = 1576079937, ISBN 978-1-57607-993-5 | |||
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=gzpdq679oJwC&pg=PA66 | |||
| pages = 66 | |||
| quote = ''The Shah was a native Turkic speaker and wrote poetry in the Azerbaijani language.''}}</ref> | |||
|religion = ] ] (state religion)<ref>''The New Encyclopedia of Islam'', Ed. Cyril Glassé, (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008), 449.</ref> | |||
|currency = Tuman, Abbasi, Shahi.<ref>Ferrier, RW, ''A Journey to Persia: Jean Chardin's Portrait of a Seventeenth-century Empire'', p. ix.</ref> | |||
*1 Tuman = 50 Abbasi. | |||
*1 Tuman = 50 French Livre. | |||
*1 Tuman = £3 6s 8d. | |||
| | |||
|<!--- Titles and names of the first and last leaders and their deputies ---> | |||
|leader1 = Ismail I | |||
|leader2 = Tahmasp I | |||
|leader3 = ] | |||
|leader4 = Soltan Hosein | |||
|leader5 = Tahmasp II | |||
|leader6 = Abbas III | |||
|year_leader1 = 1501–24 | |||
|year_leader2 = 1524–76 | |||
|year_leader3 = 1587–1629 | |||
|year_leader4 = 1694–1722 | |||
|year_leader5 = 1729–32 | |||
|year_leader6 = 1732–36 | |||
|title_leader = Shah | |||
|representative1 = | |||
|representative2 = | |||
|representative3 = | |||
|representative4 = ] | |||
|year_representative1 = | |||
|year_representative2 = | |||
|year_representative3 = | |||
|year_representative4 = 1732–36 | |||
|title_representative = <!--- Default: "Governor"---> | |||
|deputy1 = <!--- Name of prime minister ---> | |||
|deputy2 = | |||
|deputy3 = | |||
|deputy4 = | |||
|year_deputy1 = <!--- Years served ---> | |||
|year_deputy2 = | |||
|year_deputy3 = | |||
|year_deputy4 = | |||
|title_deputy = <!--- Default: "Prime minister" ---> | |||
| | |||
|<!--- Legislature ---> | |||
|legislature = <!--- Name of legislature ---> | |||
|house1 = <!--- Name of first chamber ---> | |||
|type_house1 = <!--- Default: "Upper house"---> | |||
|house2 = <!--- Name of second chamber ---> | |||
|type_house2 = <!--- Default: "Lower house"---> | |||
| | |||
|<!--- Area and population of a given year ---> | |||
|stat_year1 = <!--- year of the statistic, specify either area, population or both ---> | |||
|stat_area1 = 2850000 | |||
|stat_pop1 = <!--- population (w/o commas or spaces), population density is calculated if area is also given ---> | |||
|stat_year2 = | |||
|stat_area2 = | |||
|stat_pop2 = | |||
|stat_year3 = | |||
|stat_area3 = | |||
|stat_pop3 = | |||
|stat_year4 = | |||
|stat_area4 = | |||
|stat_pop4 = | |||
|stat_year5 = | |||
|stat_area5 = | |||
|stat_pop5 = | |||
|footnotes = <!--- Accepts wikilinks ---> | |||
}} | }} | ||
{{History of Greater Iran}} | |||
The '''Safavid dynasty of Iran''' ({{lang-fa|سلسله صفوی ایران}}) was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of ]. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the ]<ref>Helen Chapin Metz. ''Iran, a Country study''. 1989. University of Michigan, p. 313.</ref><ref>Emory C. Bogle. ''Islam: Origin and Belief''. University of Texas Press. 1989, p. 145.</ref><ref>Stanford Jay Shaw. History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge University Press. 1977, p. 77.</ref><ref>Andrew J. Newman, Safavid Iran: ''Rebirth of a Persian Empire'', IB Tauris (March 30, 2006).</ref> and established the ] school of ]<ref name="savoryeiref">RM Savory, ''Safavids'', '']'', 2nd ed.</ref> as the official ] of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in ]. This ] dynasty was of mixed ancestry (]<ref name="R.M."> ''Encyclopædia Iranica''</ref> and ],<ref name="fryeiranica"> ''Encyclopædia Iranica''. RN Frye.</ref> with intermarriages with ]<ref>Aptin Khanbaghi (2006) ''The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early''. London & New York. IB Tauris. ISBN 1-84511-056-0, pp. 130-1</ref> and ]<ref name="Anthony Bryer 1975">Anthony Bryer. "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 29'' (1975), Appendix II - Genealogy of the Muslim Marriages of the Princesses of Trebizond</ref> dignitaries) and ruled ] from 1501 to 1722. PART 2 GUYS! GO F UCK YOURSELVES! | |||
The '''Safavid dynasty''' ({{IPAc-en|'|s|æ|f|ə|v|ɪ|d|,_|ˈ|s|ɑː|-}}; {{langx|fa|دودمان صفوی|Dudmâne Safavi}},<ref>*{{cite book|last1=Afšār|first1=ta·līf-i Iskandar Baig Turkmān. Zīr-i naẓar bā tanẓīm-i fihristhā wa muqaddama-i Īraǧ|title=Tārīkh-i ʻʻālamārā-yi ʻʻAbbāsī|date=2003|publisher=Mu·assasa-i Intišārāt-i Amīr Kabīr|location=Tihrān|isbn=978-964-00-0818-8|pages=17, 18, 19, 79|edition=Čāp-i 3.|language=fa}} | |||
The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the ] ], which was established in the city of ] in the ] region. From their base in ], the Safavids established control over all of ] and reasserted the ] of the region,<ref>''Why is there such confusion about the origins of this important dynasty, which reasserted Iranian identity and established an independent Iranian state after eight and a half centuries of rule by foreign dynasties?'' RM Savory, ''Iran under the Safavids'' (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980), p. 3.</ref> thus becoming the first native dynasty since the ] to establish a unified Iranian state. | |||
* p. 17: dudmān-i safavīa | |||
* p. 18: khāndān-i safavīa | |||
* p. 19: sīlsīla-i safavīa | |||
* p. 79: sīlsīla-i alīa-i safavīa</ref> {{IPA|fa|d̪uːd̪ˈmɒːne sæfæˈviː|pron}}) was one of ]'s most significant ruling dynasties reigning from ].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=SAFAVID DYNASTY|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids}}</ref> Their rule is often considered the beginning of ],<ref name="Iranica">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Matthee |author-first=Rudi |author-link=Rudi Matthee |title=SAFAVID DYNASTY |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids |encyclopedia=] |publisher=] |location=] |date=13 June 2017 |orig-year=28 July 2008 |doi=10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_509 |doi-access=free |issn=2330-4804 |access-date=23 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525211301/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> as well as one of the ].<ref>Streusand, Douglas E., ''Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals'' (Boulder, Col : Westview Press, 2011) ("Streusand"), p. 135.</ref> The Safavid ] ] established the ] denomination of ] as the ], marking one of the most important turning points in the ].<ref name="savoryeiref">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Savory |author-first=Roger |author-link=Roger Savory |year=2012 |origyear=1995 |title=Ṣafawids |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor4-last=Lewis |editor4-first=B. |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |editor6-last=Schacht |editor6-first=J. |editor6-link=Joseph Schacht |encyclopedia=] |location=] and ] |publisher=] |volume=8 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0964 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4}}</ref> The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the ] of ], which was established in the city of ] in the ] region.<ref name="Matthee 2021">{{cite book |author-last=Baltacıoğlu-Brammer |author-first=Ayşe |year=2021 |chapter=The emergence of the Safavids as a mystical order and their subsequent rise to power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWBCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |editor-first=Rudi |editor-last=Matthee |title=The Safavid World |location=] and ] |publisher=] |edition=1st |series=Routledge Worlds |pages=15–36 |doi=10.4324/9781003170822 |isbn=978-1-003-17082-2|s2cid=236371308 }}</ref> It was an Iranian dynasty of ] origin,<ref> | |||
* Matthee, Rudi. (2005). ''The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900''. Princeton University Press. p. 18; "The Safavids, as Iranians of Kurdish ancestry and of nontribal background (...)". | |||
* Savory, Roger. (2008). "EBN BAZZĀZ". ''Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 1''. p. 8. "''This official version contains textual changes designed to obscure the Kurdish origins of the Safavid family and to vindicate their claim to descent from the Imams."'' | |||
* Amoretti, Biancamaria Scarcia; Matthee, Rudi. (2009). "Ṣafavid Dynasty". In Esposito, John L. (ed.) ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World''. Oxford University Press. "Of Kurdish ancestry, the Ṣafavids started as a Sunnī mystical order (...)"</ref> but during their rule they intermarried with ],<ref> | |||
* Roemer, H. R. (1986). "The Safavid Period" in Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Laurence. ''The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 214, 229 | |||
* Blow, David (2009). ''Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend''. I.B.Tauris. p. 3 | |||
* Savory, Roger M.; Karamustafa, Ahmet T. (1998) "ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ". ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'' Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6, pp. 628-636 | |||
* Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2016). "ḤAYDAR ṢAFAVI". ''Encyclopaedia Iranica''</ref> ],<ref>Aptin Khanbaghi (2006) ''The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early''. London & New York. IB Tauris. {{ISBN|1-84511-056-0}}, pp. 130–1</ref> ],{{sfn|Yarshater|2001|p=493}}{{sfn|Khanbaghi|2006|p=130}} and ]<ref name="Anthony Bryer 1975">Anthony Bryer. "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 29'' (1975), Appendix II "Genealogy of the Muslim Marriages of the Princesses of Trebizond"</ref> dignitaries, nevertheless, for practical purposes, they were Turkish-speaking and ].<ref>{{iranica|iran-ii2-islamic-period-page-4}}, "The origins of the Safavids are clouded in obscurity. They may have been of Kurdish origin (see R. Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 1980, p. 2; R. Matthee, "Safavid Dynasty" at iranica.com), but for all practical purposes they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified."</ref> From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of ] and reasserted the ] of the region,<ref>"Why is there such confusion about the origins of this important dynasty, which reasserted Iranian identity and established an independent Iranian state after eight and a half centuries of rule by foreign dynasties?" RM Savory, ''Iran Under the Safavids'' (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980), p. 3.</ref> thus becoming the first native dynasty since the ] to establish a national state officially known as Iran.<ref>Alireza Shapur Shahbazi (2005), "The History of the Idea of Iran", in Vesta Curtis ed., Birth of the Persian Empire, IB Tauris, London, p. 108: "Similarly the collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea. The name "Iran" disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr, and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or "Iranian lands", which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand, when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman empire and even Iran itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations".</ref> | |||
The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736 and 1750 to 1773) and, at their height, controlled all of what is now ], ], ], ], eastern ], parts of the ] including ], ], ], and ], as well as parts of ], ], ], ], and ]. | |||
Despite their demise in 1736, the legacy that they left behind was the revival of Persia as an economic stronghold between East and West, the establishment of an efficient state and bureaucracy based upon “checks and balances”, their architectural innovations and their patronage for fine arts. The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by ] in major parts of the ] and West Asia. | |||
Despite their demise in 1736, the legacy that they left behind was the revival of Iran as an economic stronghold between East and ], the establishment of an efficient state and ] based upon "]", their ], and ].<ref name="Iranica"/> The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by ], as well as spreading Shīʿa Islam in major parts of the ], ], ], ], the ], and ].<ref name="Iranica"/><ref name="savoryeiref"/> | |||
==Genealogy |
==Genealogy and identity== | ||
{{See also|Safvat as-safa|Silsilat-al-nasab-i Safaviya |
{{See also|Safavid dynasty family tree|Safavid order|Safvat as-safa|Silsilat-al-nasab-i Safaviya|Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah|List of the mothers of the Safavid Shahs}} | ||
The Safavid Kings themselves claimed to be ]s,<ref>In the pre-Safavid written work Safvat as-Safa (oldest manuscripts from 1485 and 1491), the origin of the Safavids is tracted to Piruz Shah Zarin Kolah who is called a Kurd from Sanjan, while in the post-Safavid manuscripts, this portion has been excised and Piruz Shah Zarin Kollah is made a descendant of the Imams. R Savory, "Ebn Bazzaz" in Encyclopaedia Iranica). In the Silsilat an-nasab-i Safawiya (composed during the reign of Shah Suleiman, 1667–94), by Hussayn ibn Abdal Zahedi, the ancestry of the Safavid was purported to be tracing back to Hijaz and the first Shi'i Imam as follows: Shaykh Safi al-din Abul Fatah Eshaq ibn (son of) Shaykh Amin al-Din Jabrail ibn Qutb al-din ibn Salih ibn Muhammad al-Hafez ibn Awad ibn Firuz Shah Zarin Kulah ibn Majd ibn Sharafshah ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Seyyed Ja'afar ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Seyyed Isma'il ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Seyyed Ahmad 'Arabi ibn Seyyed Qasim ibn Seyyed Abul Qasim Hamzah ibn Musa al-Kazim ibn Ja'far As-Sadiq ibn Muhammad al-Baqir ibn Imam Zayn ul-'Abedin ibn Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Taleb Alayha as-Salam. There are differences between this and the oldest manuscript of Safwat as-Safa. Seyyeds have been added from Piruz Shah Zarin Kulah up to the first Shi'i Imam and the nisba "Al-Kurdi" has been excised. The title/name "Abu Bakr" (also the name of the first Caliph and highly regarded by Sunnis) is deleted from Qutb ad-Din's name. ُSource: Husayn ibn Abdāl Zāhedī, 17th cent. Silsilat al-nasab-i Safavīyah, nasabnāmah-'i pādishāhān bā ʻuzmat-i Safavī, ta'līf-i Shaykh Husayn pisar-i Shaykh Abdāl Pīrzādah Zāhedī dar 'ahd-i Shāh-i Sulaymnān-i Safavī. Berlīn, Chāpkhānah-'i Īrānshahr, 1343 (1924), 116 pp. Original Persian: شیخ صفی الدین ابو الفتح اسحق ابن شیخ امین الدین جبرائیل بن قطب الدین ابن صالح ابن محمد الحافظ ابن عوض ابن فیروزشاه زرین کلاه ابن محمد ابن شرفشاه ابن محمد ابن حسن ابن سید محمد ابن ابراهیم ابن سید جعفر بن سید محمد ابن سید اسمعیل بن سید محمد بن سید احمد اعرابی بن سید قاسم بن سید ابو القاسم حمزه بن موسی الکاظم ابن جعفر الصادق ابن محمد الباقر ابن امام زین العابدین بن حسین ابن علی ابن ابی طالب علیه السلام.</ref> family descendants of the prophet ], although many scholars have cast doubt on this claim.<ref>R.M. Savory, "Safavid Persia" in: Ann Katherine Swynford Lambton, Peter Malcolm Holt, Bernard Lewis, ''The Cambridge History of Islam'', Cambridge University Press, 1977. p. 394: "They (Safavids after the establishment of the Safavid state) fabricated evidence to prove that the Safavids were Sayyids."</ref> There seems now to be a consensus among scholars that the Safavid family hailed from Persian Kurdistan,<ref name="savoryeiref"/> and later moved to Azerbaijan, finally settling in the 5th/11th century at ]. Traditional pre-1501 Safavid manuscripts trace the lineage of the Safavids to ]<ref>F. Daftary, "Intellectual Traditions in Islam", I.B.Tauris, 2001. pg 147: "But the origins of the family of Shaykh Safi al-Din go back not to Hijaz but to Kurdistan, from where, seven generations before him, Firuz Shah Zarin-kulah had migrated to Adharbayjan"</ref><ref name="R.M."/>. | |||
{{anchor|Genealogy}}The Safavid Kings themselves claimed to be ]s,<ref>In the pre-Safavid written work Safvat as-Safa (oldest manuscripts from 1485 and 1491), the origin of the Safavids is tracted to Piruz Shah Zarin Kolah who is called a Kurd from Sanjan, while in the post-Safavid manuscripts, this portion has been excised and Piruz Shah Zarin Kollah is made a descendant of the Imams. R Savory, "Ebn Bazzaz" in ''Encyclopædia Iranica''). In the Silsilat an-nasab-i Safawiya (composed during the reign of Shah Suleiman, 1667–94), by Hussayn ibn Abdal Zahedi, the ancestry of the Safavid was purported to be tracing back to Hijaz and the first Shiʻi Imam as follows: Shaykh Safi al-din Abul Fatah Eshaq ibn (son of) Shaykh Amin al-Din Jabrail ibn Qutb al-din ibn Salih ibn Muhammad al-Hafez ibn Awad ibn Firuz Shah Zarin Kulah ibn Majd ibn Sharafshah ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Seyyed Ja'afar ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Seyyed Isma'il ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Seyyed Ahmad 'Arabi ibn Seyyed Qasim ibn Seyyed Abul Qasim Hamzah ibn Musa al-Kazim ibn Ja'far As-Sadiq ibn Muhammad al-Baqir ibn Imam Zayn ul-'Abedin ibn ] ibn ] Alayha as-Salam. There are differences between this and the oldest manuscript of Safwat as-Safa. Seyyeds have been added from Piruz Shah Zarin Kulah up to the first Shiʻi Imam and the nisba "Al-Kurdi" has been excised. The title/name "Abu Bakr" (also the name of the first Caliph and highly regarded by Sunnis) is deleted from Qutb ad-Din's name. ُSource: Husayn ibn Abdāl Zāhedī, 17th cent. Silsilat al-nasab-i Safavīyah, nasabnāmah-'i pādishāhān bā ʻuzmat-i Safavī, ta'līf-i Shaykh Husayn pisar-i Shaykh Abdāl Pīrzādah Zāhedī dar 'ahd-i Shāh-i Sulaymnān-i Safavī. Berlīn, Chāpkhānah-'i Īrānshahr, 1343 (1924), 116 pp. Original Persian: شیخ صفی الدین ابو الفتح اسحق ابن شیخ امین الدین جبرائیل بن قطب الدین ابن صالح ابن محمد الحافظ ابن عوض ابن فیروزشاه زرین کلاه ابن محمد ابن شرفشاه ابن محمد ابن حسن ابن سید محمد ابن ابراهیم ابن سید جعفر بن سید محمد ابن سید اسمعیل بن سید محمد بن سید احمد اعرابی بن سید قاسم بن سید ابو القاسم حمزه بن موسی الکاظم ابن جعفر الصادق ابن محمد الباقر ابن امام زین العابدین بن حسین ابن علی ابن ابی طالب علیه السلام.</ref> family descendants of the Islamic prophet ], although many scholars have cast doubt on this claim.<ref>R.M. Savory, "Safavid Persia" in: Ann Katherine Swynford Lambton, Peter Malcolm Holt, Bernard Lewis, ''The Cambridge History of Islam'', Cambridge University Press, 1977. p. 394: "They (Safavids after the establishment of the Safavid state) fabricated evidence to prove that the Safavids were Sayyids."</ref> There seems now to be a consensus among scholars that the Safavid family hailed from ],<ref name="savoryeiref"/> and later moved to ], finally settling in the 11th century CE at ]. Traditional pre-1501 Safavid manuscripts trace the lineage of the Safavids to the ] dignitary, ].<ref name="R.M."> ''Encyclopædia Iranica''</ref><ref>F. Daftary, "Intellectual Traditions in Islam", I.B. Tauris, 2001. p. 147: "But the origins of the family of Shaykh Safi al-Din go back not to Hijaz but to Kurdistan, from where, seven generations before him, Firuz Shah Zarin-kulah had migrated to Adharbayjan"</ref> | |||
According to some historians,<ref name="sonn">Tamara Sonn. ''A Brief History of Islam'', Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 83, ISBN 1-4051-0900-9</ref><ref name = "csatoetal">É. Á. Csató, B. Isaksson, C Jahani. ''Linguistic Convergence and Areal Diffusion: Case Studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic'', Routledge, 2004, p. 228, ISBN 0-415-30804-6.</ref> including ], the Safavids were of Azeri (Turkish) origin:<ref name="fryeiranica"/> | |||
According to historians,<ref>Tamara Sonn. ''A Brief History of Islam'', Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 83, {{ISBN|1-4051-0900-9}}</ref><ref name="csatoetal">É. Á. Csató, B. Isaksson, C Jahani. ''Linguistic Convergence and Areal Diffusion: Case Studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic'', Routledge, 2004, p. 228, {{ISBN|0-415-30804-6}}.</ref> including ]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Minorsky|first=V|contribution=Adgharbaydjan (Azarbaydjan)|title=Encyclopedia of Islam|edition=2nd|editor1-first=P|editor1-last=Berman|editor2-first=Th|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor3-first=CE|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor4-first=E|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor5-first=WP|editor5-last=Henrichs|publisher=Brill|url=http://www.encislam.brill.nl/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728190604/http://www.encislam.brill.nl/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-28|place=NL|year=2009|quote=After 907/1502, Adharbayjan became the chief bulwark and rallying ground of the Safawids, themselves natives of Ardabil and originally speaking the local Iranian dialect}}</ref> and ], the Safavids were Turkish speakers of Iranian origin:<ref>Roger M. Savory. "Safavids" in Peter Burke, Irfan Habib, ]: ''History of Humanity-Scientific and Cultural Development: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century'', Taylor & Francis. 1999, p. 259.</ref> | |||
{{quote|The Turkish speakers of Azerbaijan are mainly descended from the earlier Iranian speakers, several pockets of whom still exist in the region. A massive migration of ] in the 11th and 12th centuries not only Turkified Azerbaijan but also Anatolia. Azeri Turks were the founders of Safavid dynasty.}} | |||
{{quote|From the evidence available at the present time, it is certain that the Safavid family was of indigenous Iranian stock, and not of Turkish ancestry as it is sometimes claimed. It is probable that the family originated in Persian Kurdistan, and later moved to Azerbaijan, where they adopted the Azari form of Turkish spoken there, and eventually settled in the small town of Ardabil sometimes during the eleventh century.}} | |||
By the time of the establishment of the Safavid empire, the members of the family were Turkicized and Turkish-speaking,<ref>{{iranica|iran-ii2-islamic-period-page-4}}, "The origins of the Safavids are clouded in obscurity. They may have been of Kurdish origin (see R. Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 1980, p. 2; R. Matthee, "Safavid Dynasty" at iranica.com), but for all practical purposes they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified."</ref> and some of the Shahs composed poems in their then-native Turkish language. Concurrently, the Shahs themselves also supported Persian literature, poetry and art projects including the grand ],<ref>John L. Esposito, ''The Oxford History of Islam'', Oxford University Press US, 1999. pp 364: "To support their legitimacy, the Safavid dynasty of Iran (1501–1732) devoted a cultural policy to establish their regime as the reconstruction of the historic Iranian monarchy. To the end, they commissioned elaborate copies of the ''Shahnameh'', the Iranian national epic, such as this one made for Tahmasp in the 1520s."</ref><ref>Ira Marvin Lapidus, ''A history of Islamic Societies'', Cambridge University Press, 2002, 2nd ed., p. 445: To bolster the prestige of the state, the Safavid dynasty sponsored an Iran-Islamic style of culture concentrating on court poetry, painting, and monumental architecture that symbolized not only the Islamic credentials of the state but also the glory of the ancient Persian traditions."</ref> while members of the family and some Shahs composed Persian poetry as well.<ref>Colin P. Mitchell, "Ṭahmāsp I" in ''Encyclopædia Iranica''. "Shah Ṭahmāsp's own brother, Sām Mirzā, wrote the Taḏkera-yetoḥfa-ye sāmi, in which he mentioned 700 poets during the reigns of the first two Safavid rulers. Sām Mirzā himself was an ardent poet, writing 8,000 verses and a Šāh-nāma dedicated to his brother, Ṭahmāsp (see Sām Mirzā, ed. Homāyun-Farroḵ, 1969)."</ref><ref>See: Willem Floor, Hasan Javadi (2009), ''The Heavenly Rose-Garden: A History of Shirvan & Daghestan'' by Abbas Qoli Aqa Bakikhanov, Mage Publishers, 2009. (see Sections on Safavids quoting poems of Shah Tahmasp I)</ref> | |||
{{quote |From the evidence available at the present time, it is certain that the Safavid family was of indigineous Iranian stock, and not of Turkish ancestry as it is sometimes claimed. It is probable that the family originated in Persian Kurdistan, and later moved to Azerbaijan, where they adopted the Azari form of Turkish spoken there, and eventually settled in the small town of Ardabil sometimes during the eleventh century.}} | |||
The authority of the Safavids was religiously based, and their claim to legitimacy was founded on being direct male descendants of Ali,<ref>], ''Mystics, Monarchs and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran'', Cambridge, Massachusetts; London : Harvard University Press, 2002. p. 143: "It is true that during their revolutionary phase (1447–1501), Safavi guides had played on their descent from the family of the Prophet. The hagiography of the founder of the Safavi order, Shaykh Safi al-Din Safvat al-Safa written by Ibn Bazzaz in 1350-was tampered with during this very phase. An initial stage of revisions saw the transformation of Safavi identity as Sunni Kurds into Arab blood descendants of Muhammad."</ref> the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, and regarded by the Shiʻa as the first Imam. | |||
==Background – The Safavid Sufi Order== | |||
{{Main|Safaviyya|Safi al-Din Ardabili}} | |||
Furthermore, the dynasty was from the very start thoroughly intermarried with both ] as well as ] lines.<ref>From Maternal side: Chatrina daughter of Theodora daughter of ] son of Alexios IV of Trebizond son of Manuel III of Trebizond son of Alexios III of Trebizond son of Irene Palaiologina of Trebizond. From Paternal side: ] son of Khadijeh Khatoon daughter of Ali Beyg son of Qara Yuluk Osman son of Maria daughter of Irene Palaiologina of Trebizond.</ref> In addition, from the official establishment of the dynasty in 1501, the dynasty would continue to have many intermarriages with both ] as well as again Georgian dignitaries, especially with the accession of ].{{sfn|Yarshater|2001|p=493}}{{sfn|Khanbaghi|2006|p=130}} | |||
Safavid history begins with the establishment of the ] by its eponymous founder ] (1252–1334). In 700/1301, Safi al-Din assumed the leadership of the ], a significant ] order in Gilan, from his spiritual master and father-in-law ]. Due to the great spiritual charisma of Safi al-Din, the order was later known as the Safaviyya. The Safavid order soon gained great influence in the city of Ardabil and Hamdullah Mustaufi noted that most of the people of Ardabil were followers of Safi al-Din. | |||
==Safavid Shahs of Iran== | |||
Extant religious poetry from him, written in the ]<ref name=Yar> E. Yarshater, ''Encyclopædia Iranica''</ref><ref name=Safi>], '']'', .</ref> – a now-extinct ] – and accompanied by a paraphrase in Persian which helps their understanding, has survived to this day and has linguistic importance.<ref name=Yar /> | |||
{{see also|List of Safavid monarchs}} | |||
] | |||
After Safī al-Dīn, the leadership of the Safaviyya passed onto ] († 794/1391–92). The order at this time was transformed into a religious movement which conducted religious propaganda throughout Persia, Syria and Asia Minor, and most likely had maintained its Sunni Shafi’ite origin at that time. The leadership of the order passed on from Sadr ud-Dīn Mūsā to his son Khwādja Ali († 1429) and in turn to his son Ibrāhīm († 1429–47). | |||
*] 1501–1524 | |||
*] 1524–1576 | |||
When ], the son of Ibrāhīm, assumed the leadership of the Safaviyya in 1447, the history of the Safavid movement was radically changed. According to R.M. Savory, "'Sheikh Junayd was not content with spiritual authority and he sought material power'". At that time, the most powerful dynasty in Persia was that of the ], the "Black Sheep", whose ruler ] ordered Junāyd to leave ] or else he would bring destruction and ruin upon the city.<ref name="savoryeiref" /> Junayd sought refuge with the rival of Kara Koyunlu ], the ] ] ], and cemented his relationship by marrying Uzun Hassan's sister, Khadija Begum. Junayd was killed during an incursion into the territories of the ] and was succeeded by his son ]. Haydar married Martha 'Alamshah Begom,<ref name="Anthony Bryer 1975"/> ]'s daughter, who gave birth to ], founder of the Safavid dynasty. Martha's mother Theodora – better known as Despina Khatun<ref>Peter Charanis. "Review of Emile Janssens' ''Trébizonde en Colchide''", ''Speculum, Vol. 45, No. 3'' (July 1970), p. 476.</ref> – was a ] princess, the daughter of the Grand ] ]. She had been married to Uzun Hassan<ref>Anthony Bryer, ''open citation'', p. 136.</ref> in exchange for protection of the Grand Komnenos from the Ottomans. | |||
*] 1576–1578 | |||
*] 1578–1587 | |||
After Uzun Hassan's death, his son Ya'qub felt threatened by the growing Safavid religious influence. Ya'qub allied himself with the Shirvanshah and killed Haydar in 1488. By this time, the bulk of the Safaviyya were ] clans from Asia Minor and ] and were known as ] "Red Heads" because of their distinct red headgear. The Qizilbash were warriors, spiritual followers of Haydar, and a source of the Safavid military and political power. | |||
*] 1587–1629 | |||
*] 1629–1642 | |||
After the death of Haydar, the Safaviyya gathered around his son ], who was also pursued and subsequently killed by Ya'qub. According to official Safavid history, before passing away, Ali had designated his young brother Ismail as the spiritual leader of the Safaviyya.<ref name="savoryeiref" /> | |||
*] 1642–1666 | |||
*] 1666–1694 | |||
==History== | |||
*] 1694–1722 | |||
===Founding of the dynasty by Shāh Ismāil I=== | |||
*] 1722–1732 | |||
{{Main|Ismail I}} | |||
*] 1732–1736 | |||
==== Persia prior to Ismāil's rule==== | |||
After the decline of the ] (1370–1506), Persia was politically splintered, giving rise to a number of religious movements. The demise of Tamerlane’s political authority created a space in which several religious communities, particularly Shi’i ones, could now come to the fore and gain prominence. Among these were a number of Sufi brotherhoods, the ], ] and ]. Of these various movements, the Safawid Qizilbash was the most politically resilient, and it was on account of its success that Shah Isma’il I gained political prominence in 1501 CE.<ref>Virani, Shafique N. The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation (New York: Oxford University Press), 2007, p.113.</ref> | |||
There were many local states prior to the Iranian state established by Ismāil.<ref>The writer Ṛūmlu documented the most important of them in his history.</ref> The most important local rulers about 1500 were: | |||
* ], the ] ruler of ] | |||
* Alwand Mīrzā, the ] ] of ] | |||
* Murad Beg, ] ruler of Irāq al-Ajam | |||
* ], the ] | |||
* Badi Alzamān Mīrzā, local ruler of ] | |||
* Huṣayn Kīā Chalavī, the local ruler of ] | |||
* Murād Beg Bayandar, local ruler of ] | |||
Ismāil was able to unite all these lands under the Iranian Empire he created. | |||
====Rise of Shāh Ismāil I==== | |||
] | |||
The Safavid dynasty was founded about 1501 by ]<ref name="ismailsafaviiranica">"Ismail Safavi"] ''Encyclopædia Iranica''</ref> Shah Ismail's background is disputed: the language he used is not identical with that of his "race" or "nationality" and he was bilingual from birth.<ref name="Mino">V. Minorsky, "The Poetry of Shāh Ismā‘īl I," ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London 10/4 (1942): 1006–53.</ref> Some scholars argue that Ismāil was of mixed ], ], and ] descent,<ref name="fryeiranica"/> although others argue that he was non-Azeri<ref name="Mino"/> and was a direct descendant of ]. As such, he was the last in the line of hereditary Grand Masters of the Safaviyeh order, prior to its ascent to a ruling dynasty. Ismāil was known as a brave and charismatic youth, zealous with regards to his ] faith, and believed himself to be of divine descent—practically worshipped by his ] followers. In 1500, Ismāil invaded neighboring ] to avenge the death of his father, Sheik Haydar, who had been murdered in 1488 by the ruling Shirvanshah, Farrukh Yassar. Afterwards, Ismail went on a conquest campaign, capturing ] in July 1501, where he enthroned himself the Shāh of Shi'a Muslims,<ref>Richard Tapper. "Shahsevan in Safavid Persia", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London, Vol. 37, No. 3, 1974, p. 324.</ref><ref>Lawrence Davidson, Arthur Goldschmid, "A Concise History of the Middle East", Westview Press, 2006, p. 153.</ref><ref>. "Safavid Dynasty", Online Edition 2007.</ref> Shahanshah of all of Iran<ref>George Lenczowski, "Iran under the Pahlavis", Hoover Institution Press, 1978, p. 79: "Ismail Safavi, descendant of the pious Shaykh Ishaq Safi al-Din (d. 1334), seized Tabriz assuming the title of Shahanshah-e-Iran".</ref><ref>Stefan Sperl, C. Shackle, Nicholas Awde, "Qasida poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa", Brill Academic Pub; Set Only edition (February 1996), p. 193: "Like Shah Ni'mat Allah-i Vali he hosted distinguished visitors among them Ismail Safavi, who had proclaimed himself Shahanshah of Iran in 1501 after having taken Tabriz, the symbolic and political capital of Iran".</ref><ref>Heinz Halm, Janet Watson, Marian Hill, ''Shi'ism'', translated by Janet Watson, Marian Hill, Edition: 2, illustrated, published by Columbia University Press, 2004, p. 80: "…he was able to make his triumphal entry into Alvand's capital Tabriz. Here he assumed the ancient Iranian title of King of Kings (shahanshah) and setup up Shi'i as the ruling faith"</ref> and minted coins in his name, proclaiming Shi’ism the official religion of his domain.<ref name="savoryeiref" /> The establishment of Shi’ism as the state religion led to various Sufi orders openly declaring their Shi’i position, and others, to promptly assume Shi’ism. Among these, the founder of one of the most successful Sufi orders, ] (d. 1431) traced his descent from the ] ] ], as evidenced in a poem as well as another unpublished literary composition. Though Nimatullah was apparently Sunni, the Ni’matullahi order soon declared his order to be Shi’I after the rise of the Safawid dynasty.<ref>Virani, Shafique N. The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation (New York: Oxford University Press), 2007, 113.</ref> | |||
Although Ismail I initially gained mastery over Azerbaijan alone, the Safavids ultimately won the struggle for power in all of Persia which had been going on for nearly a century between various dynasties and political forces. A year after his victory in Tabriz, Ismāil claimed most of Persia as part of his territory,<ref name= "savoryeiref" /> and within 10 years established a complete control over all of it. Even Ottoman sultans addressed him as ''the king of Persian lands and the heir to ] and ].<ref name= "IIMP"/>'' ] fell under his power in 1503, ] and ] in 1504, ] and ] in 1507, ] in 1508, ] in 1509, and ], as well as other parts of ], in 1510. By 1511, the ] in the north-east, led by their Khan ], were driven far to the north, across the ] where they continued to attack the Safavids. Ismail's decisive victory over the Uzbeks, who had occupied most of Khorasan, ensured Iran's eastern borders, and the Uzbeks never since expanded beyond the ]. Although the Uzbeks continued to make occasional raids to Khorasan, the Safavid empire was able to keep them at bay throughout its reign. | |||
====Clashes with the Ottomans==== | |||
{{Main|Battle of Chaldiran|Qizilbash}} | |||
], Azerbaijan.]] | |||
More problematic for the Safavids was the powerful ]. The Ottomans, a ] dynasty, considered the active recruitment of Turkmen tribes of Anatolia for the Safavid cause as a major threat. To counter the rising Safavid power, in 1502, ] forcefully deported many Shi'as from Anatolia to other parts of the ] realm. In 1514, ]'s son, Sultan ] marched through Anatolia and reached the plain of Chaldiran near the city of ], and a decisive war was fought there (]). Most sources agree that the Ottoman army was at least double the size of that of ],<ref name="ismailsafaviiranica" /> however, what gave the Ottomans the advantage was the artillery which the Safavid army lacked. According to R. M. Savory, ''"Salim's plan was to winter at Tabriz and complete the conquest of Persia the following spring. However, a mutiny among his officers who refused to spend the winter at Tabriz forced him to withdraw across territory laid waste by the Safavid forces, eight days later"''.<ref name="ismailsafaviiranica" /> Although Ismāil was defeated and his capital was captured, the Safavid empire survived. The war between the two powers continued under Ismāil's son, ] (q.v.), and the Ottoman Sultan ], until Shāh Abbās (q.v.) retook the area lost to the Ottomans by 1602. | |||
] | |||
The consequences of the defeat at Chaldiran were also psychological for Ismāil: the defeat destroyed Ismāil's belief in his invincibility, based on his claimed divine status.<ref name="savoryeiref" /> His relationships with his Qizilbāsh followers were also fundamentally altered. The tribal rivalries between the Qizilbāsh, which temporarily ceased before the defeat at Chaldiran, resurfaced in intense form immediately after the death of Ismāil, and led to ten years of civil war (930-40/1524-33) until Shāh Tahmāsp regained control of the affairs of the state. | |||
Early Safavid power in Iran was based on the military power of the Qizilbāsh. Ismāil exploited the first element to seize power in Iran. But eschewing politics after his defeat in Chaldiran, he left the affairs of the government to the office of the Wakīl (q.v.). Ismāil's successors, and most ostensibly Shāh Abbās I successfully diminished the Qizilbāsh's influence on the affairs of the state. | |||
===Shāh Tahmāsp=== | |||
{{Main|Shah Tahmasp}} | |||
] Palace]] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
Shāh Tahmāsp, the young ''governor of ]'', succeeded his father Ismāil in 1524, when he was ten years and three months old. He was the ] of the powerful Qizilbash ''amir'' Ali Beg Rūmlū (titled ''"Div Soltān"'') who saw himself as the de facto ruler of the state. The qizilbash, which still suffered under the legacy of the battle of Chaldiran, was engulfed in internal rivalries. The low morale within the military, and the decentralized structure of the government, with much power in the hands of local governors, eventually led to 10 years of civil war. Rival Qizilbāsh factions fought amongst themselves for the control of the empire until Shāh Tahmāsp came of age and reasserted his authority. Tahmasp reigned for 52 years, the longest reign in Safavid history.<ref name="savoryeiref" /> | |||
The Uzbeks, during the reign of Tahmāsp, attacked the ] five times and the Ottomans under ] initiated four invasions of Persia.<ref>Savory, R, Iran under the Safavids, pp. 60–4.</ref> Losing territory in ] and the north-west, Tahmāsp realized that his capital was not secure, and he was forced to move the capital from Tabriz to ]. Tahmasp made the ] with the Ottomans in 1555, ending the war during his life.<ref name="savoryeiref"/> | |||
====Alliances to the East – The Mughal Emperor at the Shah’s court==== | |||
Almost simultaneously with the emergence of the Safavid Empire, another Muslim society was developing in South-Asia. The ], which ruled a largely ] population, adhered to Sunni Islam. But a common foe, in the Uzbeks, would eventually lead the two empires closer together. During the reign of Tahmasp, Shah ] of Mughal Hindustan found himself in a desperate situation, with devastating wars being fought against the Afghans and the Uzbeks and Humayuns brother, Kamran, attempting a coup d’état.<ref name = "Richards 11">Richards, JF, The Mughal Empire, p. 11.</ref> Having to flee from city to city, Humayun eventually sought refuge at the court of Tahmasp. Tahmasp, who refused to hand him over to his brother, greeted Humayun at his court in Qazvin as the true emperor of the Mughal dynasty, despite the fact that Humayun had been living in exile for more than fifteen years.<ref>Riazul Islam; Indo-Persian relations (Tehran 1970), pp. 22–47.</ref><ref name = "Richards 11" /> After converting to Shia Islam,<ref>John F Richards, Gordon Johnson (1996), Cambridge University Press, The Mughal Empire.</ref> Tahmasp offered him military assistans to fight off the revolts in return for ], which had for long been a battle ground between the two empires, and a combined Persian-Mughal force managed to seize Kandahar and occupy Kabul.<ref>Savory, R, Iran under the Safavids, p. 66.</ref> This eventually led to strong ties between the Safavids and the Mughals, and they persisted, almost unabated, throughout the history of the Safavid dynasty. | |||
====Legacy of Shah Tahmasp==== | |||
] | |||
When Shah Tahmasp entered the throne at a young age, Persia was in a dire state. But despite of a weak economy, a civil war and wars being fought on two fronts, Tahmasp had managed to maintain his position as the shah. During the first 30 years of his long reign, he had managed to suppress the internal divisions, slowly elevate the strength of the military to a level that finally led to the retreat of the Ottomans during the fourth war in 1533, and, in 1553, even wage a campaign against the Ottomans. This resulted in the peace treaty of Amasya, a treaty that favoured the Persians and secured Tabriz and the North-Western borders.<ref name= "Blow, D. p. 9">Blow, D; Shah Abbas: The ruthless king who became an Iranian legend, p. 9.</ref> Some years before, in 1528, he had also converted an unfavorable war against the ]s, at the battle of Jam, into a victory by the Persians.<ref>Savory, p. 57.</ref> When Shah Tahmasp’s throne was overtaken by his successor, Persia was in a calm state, with secure borders and cordial relations with the neighbours to both east and west. What remained unchanged, was the decentralized power structure of the government, and that would not change until the throne was overtaken by his grandson, Shah Abbas. | |||
After the death of Tahmāsp in 984/1576, the struggle for a dominant position in the state flared up again and was complicated by rival groups and factions. Dominant political factions vied for power and support three different candidates. The mentally unstable Ismāil, the son of Tahmāsp and the purblind Muhammad Khudābanda were some of the candidates but did not get the support of all the Qizilbāsh chiefs. The Turkmen Ustājlū tribe, one of the most powerful tribes among the Qizilbāsh, threw its support behind Haydar, who was of a Georgian mother, but the majority of the Qizilbāsh chiefs saw this as a threat to their own, Turkmen-dominated power. Instead, they first placed ] on the throne (1576–77) and after him ] (1578–88).<ref name="savoryeiref" /> | |||
In addition, Tahmasp must be credited for the revival of the fine arts, which flourished under his patronage and were brought to the pitch of perfection. Safavid culture is often admired for the large-scale city planning and architecture, achievements made during the reign of later shahs, but the arts of ], ] and ], in fact, never received as much attention as they did during his time.<ref>Savory, pp. 129-31.</ref> | |||
===Shah Abbas=== | |||
{{Main|Abbas I of Persia}} | |||
], ''Atrium heroicum Caesarum'' (1600–2).]] | |||
].]] | |||
]. Emanuel Bowen, 1744–52.]] | |||
The greatest of the Safavid monarchs, ] (1587–1629) came to power in 1587 aged 16 following the forced ] of his father, ], having survived Qizilbashi court intrigues and murders. He recognized the ineffectualness of his army which was consistently being defeated by the Ottomans who had captured Georgia and Armenia and by Uzbeks who had captured ] and ] in the east. First he sued for peace in 1590 with the Ottomans giving away territory in the north-west. Then two Englishmen, ] and his brother ], helped Abbas I to reorganize the Shah's soldiers into an officer-paid and well-trained standing army similar to a European model (which the Ottomans had already adopted). He wholeheartedly adopted the use of gunpowder (See ]). The army divisions were: ]s غلام (crown servants,<ref>DM Lang. "Georgia and the Fall of the Safavi Dynasty", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 14, No. 3'', ''Studies Presented to Vladimir Minorsky by His Colleagues and Friends'' (1952), pp. 523–39.</ref> usually conscripted from ] and ]), Tofangchis (تفگنچى, musketeers), and Topchis (Tupchis, توپچى, artillery-men). | |||
Abbas moved the capital to Isfahan, deeper into central Iran. Abbas I built a new city next to the ancient Persian one. From this time the state began to take on a more Persian character. The Safavids ultimately succeeded in establishing a new Persian national monarchy. | |||
Abbas I first fought the Uzbeks, recapturing ] and Mashhad in 1598. Then he turned against the Ottomans recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq and the Caucasian provinces by 1622. He also used his new force to dislodge the Portuguese from ] (1602) and, with English help, from ] (1622), in the ] (a vital link in Portuguese trade with India). He expanded commercial links with the ] and the ]. Thus Abbas I was able to break the dependence on the Qizilbash for military might and therefore was able to centralize control. | |||
The ] and Safavids fought over the fertile plains of Iraq for more than 150 years. The capture of ] by Ismail I in 1509 was only followed by its loss to the Ottoman Sultan ] in 1534. After subsequent campaigns, the Safavids recaptured Baghdad in 1623 yet lost it again to ] in 1638. Henceforth a treaty, signed in ], was established delineating a border between Iran and Turkey in 1639, a border which still stands in northwest Iran/southeast Turkey. The 150 year tug-of-war accentuated the Sunni and Shi'a rift in ]. | |||
In 1609–10, a war broke out between ] tribes and the Safavid Empire. After a long and bloody siege led by the Safavid grand vizier Hatem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, the ]. Shah Abbas ordered a general massacre in Beradost and Mukriyan (], reported by Eskandar Beg Monshi, Safavid Historian (1557–1642), in "Alam Ara Abbasi") and resettled the ] ] in the region while deporting many ] tribes to ].<ref>{{citation | url = http://www.iranica.com/articles/v7/v7f4/v7f446.html | title = Encyclopaedia Iranica}}.</ref><ref>{{citation | ISBN = 0-89158-296-7 | first = O Dzh | last = Dzhalilov | language = Russian | tile = Kurdski geroicheski epos Zlatoruki Khan (The Kurdish heroic epic Gold-hand Khan) | place = Moscow | year = 1967}}.</ref> Nowadays, there is a community of nearly 1.7 million people who are descendants of the tribes deported from Kurdistan to Khurasan (Northeastern Iran) by the Safavids.<ref>{{citation | publisher = University of Texas | title = Islamic Groups | format = ] | url = http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/commonwealth/commonwealth_islamic_groups.jpg}}.</ref> | |||
Due to his obsessive fear of assassination, Shah Abbas either put to death or blinded any member of his family who aroused his suspicion. One of his sons was executed and two blinded. Since two other sons had predeceased him, the result was personal tragedy for Shah Abbas. When he died on 19 January 1629, he had no son capable of succeeding him.<ref>'']'', "Abbas I the Great", p. 75.</ref> | |||
The beginning of the 17th century saw the power of the Qizilbash decline, the original militia that had helped Ismail I capture Tabriz and which had gained many administrative powers over the centuries. Power was shifting to a new class of merchants, many of them ethnic ], ]s and ]s. | |||
At its zenith, during the long reign of Shah Abbas I the empire's reach comprised ], ], ], ], ], and parts of ], ], ], ], and ]. | |||
====Contacts with Europe during Abbas' reign==== | |||
].]] | |||
Abbas' tolerance towards Christians was part of his policy of establishing diplomatic links with European powers to try to enlist their help in the fight against their common enemy, the Ottoman Empire. The idea of such an anti-Ottoman alliance was not a new one — over a century before, ], then ruler of part of Iran, had asked the ] for military aid — but none of the Safavids had made diplomatic overtures to Europe and Abbas' attitude was in marked contrast to that of his grandfather, Tahmasp I, who had expelled the English traveller ] from his court on hearing he was a Christian.<ref>Laurence Lockhart in ''The Legacy of Persia'' ed. A. J. Arberry (], 1953), p. 347.</ref> For his part, Abbas declared that he "preferred the dust from the shoe soles of the lowest Christian to the highest Ottoman personage."<ref>Nahavandi and Bomati p. 114.</ref> | |||
] in Venice depicting Doge Mariano Grimani receiving the Persian Ambassadors, 1599]] | |||
In 1599, Abbas sent his ]. The group crossed the ] and spent the winter in ], before proceeding through ], ] (where it was received by ]) to ] where ] gave the travellers a long audience. They finally arrived at the court of ] in 1602. Although the expedition never managed to return to Iran, being shipwrecked on the journey around Africa, it marked an important new step in contacts between Iran and Europe and Europeans began to be fascinated by the Iranians and their culture — Shakespeare's 1601–2 '']'', for example, makes two references (at II.5 and III.4) to 'the Sophy', then the English term for the Shahs of Iran.<ref>{{citation | publisher = Google | series = Books | first = William | last = Shakespeare | place = Eng., UK | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=DNKKsveMfhQC&pg=PA177&lpg=PA177&dq=the+sophy+twelfth+night&source=bl&ots=TjopMHWII_&sig=NvSFCpvIGyR_jVvlYeQ8Eu8A5z4&hl=en&ei=XCt2TPejPIvA4gbszqClBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=the%20sophy%20twelfth%20night&f=false | title = Twelfth Night}}.</ref><ref>: Twelfth Night and Shakespeare's Eastern Promise, ''Shakespeare'', Volume 6, Issue 2 June 2010, pp. 209–26.</ref> Henceforward, the number of diplomatic missions to and fro greatly increased.<ref>Nahavandi, Bomati pp. 128–30.</ref> | |||
The shah had set great store on an alliance with Spain, the chief opponent of the Ottomans in Europe. Abbas offered trading rights and the chance to preach Christianity in Iran in return for help against the Ottomans. But the stumbling block of Hormuz remained, a port which had fallen into Spanish hands when the King of Spain inherited the throne of Portugal in 1580. The Spanish demanded Abbas break off relations with the English ] before they would consider relinquishing the town. Abbas was unable to comply. Eventually Abbas became frustrated with Spain, as he did with the Holy Roman Empire, which wanted him to make his 170,000 ] subjects swear allegiance to the Pope but did not trouble to inform the shah when the Emperor Rudolf signed a peace treaty with the Ottomans. Contacts with the Pope, Poland and Moscow were no more fruitful.<ref>Nahavandi, Bomati, pp. 130–7.</ref> | |||
More came of Abbas' contacts with the English, although England had little interest in fighting against the Ottomans. The Sherley brothers arrived in 1598 and helped reorganise the Iranian army. The English East India Company also began to take an interest in Iran and in 1622 four of its ships helped Abbas retake Hormuz from the Portuguese in the ]. It was the beginning of the East India Company's long-running interest in Iran.<ref>Nahavandi, Bomati, pp. 161–2.</ref> | |||
===Decline of the Safavid state=== | |||
{{Main|Hotaki dynasty|Afsharid dynasty}} | |||
] Institute of Oriental Studies in Russia, ever since it was acquired by ]. Note the two ] figures with their names at the top left.]] | |||
In addition to fighting its perennial enemies, the Ottomans and Uzbeks, as the 17th century progressed Iran had to contend with the rise of two more neighbors. Russian ] in the previous century had deposed two western Asian khanates of the ] and expanded its influence into the Caucasus Mountains and Central Asia. In the east, the ] of India had expanded into ] (now ]) at the expense of Iranian control, taking ]. | |||
Furthermore, trade routes between the ] and ] had shifted away from Iran by the 17th century, causing a loss of commerce and trade. Moreover, Shah Abbas had a conversion to a ghulam-based military, though expedient in the short term. | |||
Except for Shah ], the Safavid rulers after Abbas I were ineffectual. The end of his reign, 1666, marked the beginning of the end of the Safavid dynasty. Despite falling revenues and military threats, later shahs had lavish lifestyles. ] (1694–1722) in particular was known for his love of wine and disinterest in governance.<ref>Mottahedeh, Roy, ''The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran'', One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p. 204.</ref> | |||
] | |||
The country was repeatedly raided on its frontiers — Kerman by ] in 1698, Khorasan by the ] in 1717, constantly in ] by peninsula Arabs. Sultan Hosein tried to forcibly convert his Afghan subjects in Qandahar from Sunni to the Shi'a sect of Islam. In response, a ] ] chieftain named ] revolted and killed ], the Safavid governor of the region, along with his army. In 1722, an Afghan army led by Mir Wais' son ] advanced on the heart of the empire and defeated the government forces at the ]. He then besieged the capital of Isfahan, until Shah Soltan Hosein ] and acknowledged him as the new king of Persia.<ref>Axworthy pp.39-55</ref> | |||
The tribal Afghans rode roughshod over their conquered territory for seven years but were prevented from making further gains by ], a former slave who had risen to military leadership within the ] in Khorasan, a vassal state of the Safavids. Nadir Shah defeated the Ghilzai Hotaki forces in the 1729 ]. He had removed them from power, and in 1738 conquered their last stronghold in Qandahar; in the same year he occupied ], ], ], and as far as ] in India. However, these cities were later inherited by his ] Afghan military commander, ]. Nadir had effective control under Shah ] and then ruled as regent of the infant ] until 1736 when he had himself crowned shah. | |||
Immediately after Nadir Shah's assassination in 1747, the Safavids were re-appointed as shahs of Iran in order to lend legitimacy to the nascent ]. However the brief puppet regime of ] ended in 1760 when ] felt strong enough take nominal power of the country as well and officially end the Safavid dynasty. | |||
==Shia Islam as the state religion== | |||
] | |||
Even though Safavids were not the first Shia rulers in Iran, they played a crucial role in making Shia Islam the official religion in the whole of Iran. There were large Shia communities in some cities like ] and ] as early as the 8th century. In the 10th and 11th centuries the ]s, who were of the ] branch of Shia, ruled in ], ] and ]. As a result of the Mongol conquest and the relative religious tolerance of the ], Shia dynasties were re-established in Iran, ] in ] being the most important. The Ilkhanid ruler ] converted to Twelver Shiism in the 13th century. | |||
Following his conquest of ], Ismail I made conversion mandatory for the largely ] population. The Sunni ] or clergy were either killed or exiled. Ismail I, despite his heterodox Shia beliefs (Momen, 1985), brought in Shi'a religious leaders and granted them land and money in return for loyalty. Later, during the Safavid and especially ] period, the Shia Ulema's power increased and they were able to exercise a role, independent of or compatible with the government. Despite the Safavid's Sufi origins, most Sufi groups were prohibited, except the ] order. | |||
Iran became a feudal theocracy: the Shah was held to be the divinely ordained head of state and religion. In the following centuries, this religious stance cemented both Iran's internal cohesion and national feelings and provoked attacks by its ] neighbors. | |||
== Military and the role of Qizilbash== | |||
{{Main|Qizilbash}} | |||
] ] soldier, exhibited in ]]] | |||
The Qizilbash were a wide variety of ] ('']'') and mostly ] militant groups who helped found the Safavid Empire. Their military power was essential during the reign of the Shahs Ismail and Tahmasp. The Qizilbash tribes were essential to the military of Iran until the rule of ]- their leaders were able to exercise enormous influence and participate in court intrigues (assassinating Shah ] for example). | |||
A major problem faced by ] after the establishment of the Safavid state was how to bridge the gap between the two major ethnic groups in that state: the ] ("Redhead") Turcomans, the "men of sword" of classical Islamic society whose military prowess had brought him to power, and the ]n elements, the "men of the pen", who filled the ranks of the bureaucracy and the religious establishment in the Safavid state as they had done for centuries under previous rulers of Persia, be they ], ], or ]s. As ] put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Qizilbash "were no party to the national Persian tradition". | |||
Between 1508 and 1524, the year of Ismail's death, the shah appointed five successive Persians to the office of ''vakil''. When the second Persian vakil was placed in command of a Safavid army in ], the Qizilbash, considering it a dishonor to be obliged to serve under him, deserted him on the battlefield with the result that he was slain. The fourth vakil was murdered by the Qizilbash, and the fifth was put to death by them.<ref name="ismailsafaviiranica" /> | |||
===Reforms in the military=== | |||
Shah Abbas realized that in order to retain absolute control over his empire without antagonizing the Qizilbash, he needed to create reforms that reduced the dependency that the shah had on their military support. Part of these reforms was the creation of ] within the aristocracy, but even more important in undermining the authority of the Qizilbash was the introduction of the Royal Corps into the military. This military force would serve the shah only and eventually consisted of four separate branches:<ref>Blow, David; Shah Abbas: The ruthless king who became an Iranian legend, pp. 37–8.</ref> | |||
*Shahsevans – these were 12 000 strong and built up from the small group of ''qurchis'' that Shah Abbas had inherited from his predecessor. The Shahsevans, or “Friends of the King”, were Qizilbash tribesmen who had forsaken their tribal allegiance for allegiance to the shah alone.<ref name="Shahsavans">, Dr P. Shahsavand, Professor of Sociology at Islamic Azad University — ''Events'' Magazine, Cultural, Economical and General Events of Iran (retrieved 4 Sep 2007).</ref> | |||
*Gulams – Tahmasp had started introducing ], ] and ] slaves from the ], appointing them either in the harem or the royal household. Shah Abbas expanded this program significantly and eventually created a force of 15 000 ghulam cavalrymen. | |||
*Musketers – realizing the advantages that the Ottomans had because of their firearms, Shah Abbas was at pains to equip both the qurchi and the ghulam soldiers with up-to-date weaponry. More importantly, for the first time in Iranian history, a substantial infantry corps of musketeers (''tofang-chis''), numbering 12 000, was created. | |||
*Artillery Corps – with the help of Westerners, he also formed an artillery corps of 12 000 men, although this was the weakest element in his army. According to ], who accompanied the British embassy to Persia in 1628, the Persians relied heavily on support from the Europeans in manufacturing cannons.<ref name = "Blow 38">Blow, p. 38.</ref> It wasn`t until a century later, when ] became the Commander in Chief of the military that sufficient effort was put into modernizing the artillery corps and the Persians managed to excel and become self sufficient in the manufacturing of firearms. | |||
Despite the reforms, the Qizilbash would remain the strongest and most effective element within the military, accounting for more than half of its total strength.<ref name = "Blow 38" /> But the creation of this large standing army, that, for the first time in Safavid history, was serving directly under the Shah, significantly reduced their influence, and perhaps any possibilities for the type of civil unrest that had caused havoc during the reign of the previous shahs. | |||
==Society== | |||
A proper term for the Safavid society is what we today can call a ''meritocracy'', meaning a society in which officials were appointed on the basis of worth and merit, and not on the basis of birth. It was certainly not an oligarchy, nor was it an aristocracy. Sons of nobles were considered for the succession of their fathers as a mark of respect, but they had to prove themselves worthy of the position. This system avoided an entrenched aristrocracy or a cast society.<ref>Savory, Roger, Iran under the Safavids, p. 183.</ref> There even are numerous recorded accounts of laymen that rose to high official posts, as a result of their merits.<ref>Sir E. Denison Ross, Sir Anthony Sherley and his Persian Adventure, pp. 219–20.</ref> | |||
Nevertheless, the Persian society during the Safavids was that of a hierarchy, with the Shah at the apex of the hierarchial pyramid, the common people, merchants and peasants at the base, and the aristocrats in between. The term ''dowlat'', which in modern persian means “government”, was then an abstract term meaning “bliss” or “felicity”, and it began to be used as concrete sense of the Safavid state, reflecting the view that the people had of their ruler, as someone elevated above humanity.<ref name = "Savory 177">Savory, R, Iran under the Safavids, p. 177.</ref> | |||
Also among the aristocracy, in the middle of the hierarchial pyramid, were the religious officials, who, mindful of the historic role of the religious classes as a buffer between the ruler and his subjects, usually did their best to shield the ordinary people from oppressive governments.<ref name = "Savory 177" /> | |||
===The customs and culture of the people=== | |||
] | |||
] devoted a whole chapter in his book to describing the Persian character, which apparently fascinated him greatly. As he spent a large bulk of his life in Persia, he involved himself in, and took part in, their everyday rituals and habits, and eventually acquired intimate knowledge of their culture, customs and character. He admired their consideration towards foreigners, but he also stumbled upon characteristics that he found challenging. His descriptions of the public appearance, clothes and customs are corroborated by the miniatures, drawings and paintings from that time which have survived. As he describes them:<ref name = "Ferrier 110">Ferrier, RW, A journey to Persia: Jean Chardin’s portrait of a seventeenth-century empire, p. 110.</ref> | |||
{{quote |Their imagination is animated, quick and fruitful. Their memory is free and prolific. They are very favorably drawn to the sciences, the liberal and mechanical arts. Their temperament is open and leans towards sensual pleasure and self-indulgence, which makes them pay little attention to economy or business.}} | |||
He then goes on:<ref name = "Ferrier 110" /> | |||
{{quote |They are very philosophical over the good and bad things in life and about expectations for the future. They are little tainted with avarice, desiring only to acquire in order to spend. They love to enjoy what is to hand and they refuse nothing which contributes to it, having no anxiety about the future which they leave to providence and fate.}} | |||
But as he also experienced:<ref>Ferrier, p. 111.</ref> | |||
{{quote |…the Persians are dissembling, shamelessly deceitful and the greatest flatters in the world, using great deception and insolence. They lack good faith in business dealings, in which they cheat so adeptly that one is always taken in. Hypocrisy is the usual disguise in which they proceed. They say their prayers and perform their rituals in the most devout manner. They hold the wisest and most pious conversation of which they are capable. And although they are naturally inclined to humanity, hospitality, mercy and other worldly goods, nevertheless, they do not cease feigning in order to give the semblance of being much better than they really are.}} | |||
====Character==== | |||
] and ] (''pictured in 1622'') helped modernize the Persian Army.]] | |||
It is however no question, from reading Chardin’s descriptions of their manners, that he considered them to be a well educated and well behaved people, who certainly knew the strict etiquettes of social intercourse. As he describes them,<ref>Ferrier; p. 111-113.</ref> | |||
{{cquote| The Persians are the most civilized of the peoples of the East, and what the French are to Europe, they are to the Orient... Their bearing and countenance is the best-composed, mild, serious, impressive, genial and welcoming as far as possible. They never fail to perform at once the appropriate gestures of politeness when meeting each other... They are the most wheedling people in the world, with the most engaging manners, the most supple spirits and a language that is gentle and flattering, and devoid of unpleasant terms but rather full of circumlocutions.}} | |||
Unlike Europeans, they much disliked physical activity, and were not in favor of exercise for its own sake, preferring the leisure of repose and luxuries that life could offer. Travelling was valued only for the specific purpose of getting from one place to another, not interesting them self in seeing new places and experiencing different cultures. It was perhaps this sort of attitude towards the rest of the world that accounted for the ignorance of Persians regarding other countries of the world. The exercises that they took part in were for keeping the body supple and sturdy and to acquire skills in handling of arms. ] took first place. Second place was held by ], where the wrist had to be firm but flexible and movements agile. Thirdly there was horsemanship. A very strenuous form of exercise which the Persians greatly enjoyed was hunting.<ref>Ferrier; p. 114-115.</ref> | |||
====Entertainment==== | |||
Since pre-Islamic times, the sport of ] had been an integral part of the Iranian identity, and the professional wrestlers, who performed in ]s, were considered important members of the society. Each town had their own troop of wrestlers, called ]s. Their sport also provided the masses with entertainment and spectacle. Chardin described one such event:<ref>Ferrier; p. 116.</ref> | |||
{{cquote| The two wrestlers were covered in grease. They are present on the level ground, and a small drum is always playing during the contest for excitement. They swear to a good fight and shake hands. That done, they slap their thighs, buttocks and hips to the rhythm of the drum. That is for the women and to get themselves in good form. After that they join together in uttering a great cry and trying to overthrow each other.}} | |||
As well as wrestling, what gathered the masses was fencing, tightrope dancers, puppet-players and acrobats, performing in large squares, such as the ]. A leisurely form of amusement was to be found in the ]s, particularly in certain districts, like those near the mausoleum of Harun-e Velayat. People met there to drink liqueurs or coffee, to smoke tobacco or opium, and to chat or listen to poetry.<ref>Ferrier; p. 117- 118.</ref> | |||
====Clothes and Costumes==== | |||
As noted before, a key aspect of the Persian character was its love of luxury, particularly on keeping up appearances. They would adorn their clothes, wearing stones and decorate the harness of their horses. Men wore many rings on their fingers, almost as many as their wives. They also placed jewels on their arms, such as on daggers and swords. Daggers were worn at the waist. In describing the lady’s clothing, he noted that Persian dress revealed more of the figure than did the European, but that women appeared differently depending on whether they were at home in the presence of friends and family, or if they were in the public. In private they usually wore a veil that only covered the hair and the back, but upon leaving the home, they would put on a large sheet, that concealed the whole of the body except from the face. They would often dye their feet and hands with ]. Their hairstyle was simple, the hair gathered back in tresses, often adorning the ends with pearls and clusters of jewels. Women with slender waists were regarded as more attractive than those with larger figures. Women from the provinces and slaves pierced their left nostrils with rings, but well-born Persian women would not do this.<ref>Ferrier; pp. 120- 124.</ref> | |||
The most precious accessory for men was the ]. Although they lasted a long time it was necessary to have changes for different occasions like weddings and the ], while men of status never wore the same turban two days running. Clothes that became soiled in any way were changed immediately.<ref>Ferrier; p. 124.</ref> | |||
] | |||
===The Turks and the Persians=== | |||
One could say that, just as the administrative system was divided vertically into different branches of the society, it was also divided horizontally along ethnic lines between the two “founding” races of the Safavid society; the qizilbash Turks and the tajiki Persians (iranians), and the tensions between these two had been present from the very founding of the dynasty. As the former represented the "''people of the sword''" and the latter, "''the people of the pen''", high-level official posts would naturally be reserved for the persians. Indeed, this had been the situation throughout Persian history, even before the Safavids, ever since the Arab conquest.<ref>Axworthy, Micheal; History of Iran (2010).</ref> Shah Tahmasp introduced a change to this, when he, and later the other Safavid rulers as well, sought to blur the formerly defined lines between the two ethnic groups, by taking the sons of qizilbash officers into the royal household for their education. Consequently, they were slowly able to take on administrative jobs in areas which had hitherto been the exclusive preserve of the Iranians.<ref>Savory; 184-5.</ref> | |||
===The 3rd force=== | |||
From 1540 and onwards, Shah Tahmasp initiated a transformation of the society by slowly constructing a new branch within the aristocracy. The campaigns that he waged against Georgia between 1540 and 1554 were primarily meant to uphold the morale and the fighting efficiency of the qizilbash military,<ref>Savory; Iran under the Safavids; p. 65</ref> but they brought home large numbers of Georgian, ] and Circassian slaves. The women came to occupy prominent positions in the harems of the Safavid elite, particularly the Shah’s, while the men were given special training, on completion of which they were either enrolled in one of the newly created ''ghulam'' regiments, or employed in the royal household.<ref name="Blow, D. p. 9"/> Shah Abbas continued this program and greatly expanded the ghulam military corps from a few hundred to 15 000 highly trained cavalrymen.<ref>Blow; p. 37.</ref> He then went on to reduce the number of qizilbash provincial governorships and systematicly moved qizilbash governors to other districts, thus disrupting their ties with the local community, and reducing their power. Many were replaced by a ghulam, and within short time, Georgians, ]s and Circassians had been appointed to many of the highest offices of state. By 1595, ], a Georgian, became one of the most powerful men in the Safavid state, when he was appointed the Governor-General of ], one of the richest provinces in Persia. And his power reached its peak in 1598, when he became the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.<ref>Savory; p. 82.</ref> Thus, this new group eventually came to constitute a powerful “third force” within the state, alongside the Tajik Persians and the Qizilbash Turks, and it only goes to prove the meritocratic society of the Safavids. | |||
===Emergence of a clerical aristocracy=== | |||
An important feature of the Safavid society was the alliance that emerged between the ] (the religious class) and the ] community. The latter included merchants trading in the bazaars, the trade and artisan guilds (''asnāf'') and members of the quasi-religious organizations run by ]es (''futuvva''). Because of the relative insecurity of property ownership in Persia, many private landowners secured their lands by donating them to the clergy as so called ''vaqf''. They would thus retain the official ownership and secure their land from being confiscated by royal commissioners or local governors, as long as a percentage of the revenues from the land went to the ulama. Increasingly, members of the religious class, particularly the ]s and the ]s, gained full ownership of these lands, and, according to contemporary historian ], Persia started to witness the emergence of a new and significant group of landowners.<ref>Savory, pp. 185–6.</ref> | |||
==State & Government== | |||
] | |||
The Safavid state was one of checks and balance, both within the government and on a local level. At the apex of this system was the Shah, with total power over the state, legitimized by his bloodline as a ], or descendant of the ]. So absolute was his power, that the French merchant, and later ambassador to Persia, ] thought the Safavid Shahs ruled their land with an iron fist and often in a despotic manner.<ref>Ferrier, R. W.; A Journey to Persia: Jean Chardin’s Portrait of a Seventeenth-century Empire; pp 71-71.</ref> To ensure transparency and avoid decisions being made that circumvented the Shah, a complex system of bureaucracy and departmental procedures had been put in place that prevented fraud. Every office had a deputy or superintendent, whose job was to keep records of all actions of the state officials and report directly to the Shah. The Shah himself exercised his own measures for keeping his ministers under control by fostering an atmosphere of rivalry and competitive surveillance. And since the Safavid society was meritocratic, and successions seldom were made on the basis of heritage, this meant that government offices constantly felt the pressure of being under surveillance and had to make sure they governed in the best interest of their leader, and not merely their own. | |||
===The Government=== | |||
There probably did not exist any ], as we know them today. But the Portuguese ambassador to the Safavids, ], still mentions the ''Council of State''<ref>Blow, p. 173.</ref> in his records, which perhaps was a term for governmental gatherings of the time. | |||
The highest level in the government was that of the Prime Minister, or Grand ] (''Etemad-e Dowlat''), who was always chosen from among doctors of law. He enjoyed tremendous power and control over national affairs as he was the immediate deputy of the Shah. No act of the Shah was valid without the counter seal of the Prime Minister. But even he stood accountable to a deputy (''vak’anevis''), who kept records of his decision-makings and notified the Shah. Second to the Prime Minister post were the General of the Revenues (''mostoufi-ye mamalek''), or finance minister,<ref name = "Blow 165">Blow, David. Shah Abbas: the ruthless king who became an Iranian legend, p. 165.</ref> and the ''Divanbegi'', Minister of Justice. The latter was the final appeal in civil and criminal cases, and his office stood next to the main entrance to the ] palace. In earlier times, the Shah had been closely involved in judicial proceedings, but this part of the royal duty was neglected by ] and the later kings.<ref name="Ferrier; pp. 80-82">Ferrier, pp. 80–2.</ref> | |||
Next in authority were the generals: the General of the Royal Troops (the ''Shahsevans''), General of the Musketeers, General of the Ghulams and The Master of Artillery. A separate official, the Commander-in-Chief, was appointed to be the head of these officials.<ref name="Ferrier; pp. 80-82"/> | |||
===The Royal Court=== | |||
] | |||
As for the royal household, the highest post was that of the ''Nazir'', Court Minister. He was perhaps the closest advisor to the Shah, and, as such, functioned as his eyes and ears within the Court. His primary job was to appoint and supervise all the officials of the household and to be their contact with the Shah. But his responsibilities also included that of being the treasurer of the Shahs properties. This meant that even the Prime Minister, who held the highest office in the state, had to work in association with the Nazir when it came to managing those transactions that directly related to the Shah.<ref name="Ferrier; pp. 80-82"/> | |||
The second most senior appointment was the Grand Steward (''Ichik Agasi bashi''), who would always accompany the Shah and was easily recognizable because of the great baton that he carried with him. He was responsible for introducing all guests, receiving petitions presented to the Shah and reading them if required. Next in line were the Master of the Royal Stables (''Mirakor bashi'') and the Master of the Hunt (''Mirshekar bashi''). The Shah had stables in all the principal towns, and Shah Abbas was said to have about 30 000 horses in studs around the country.<ref>Blow, p. 170.</ref> In addition to these, there were separate officials appointed for the caretaking of royal banquets and for entertainment. | |||
Chardin specifically noticed the rank of doctors and astrologers and the respect that the Shahs had for them. The Shah had a dozen of each in his service and would usually be accompanied by three doctors and three astrologers, who were authorized to sit by his side on various occasions.<ref name="Ferrier; pp. 80-82"/> The Chief Physician (''Hakim-bashi'') was a highly considered member of the Royal court,<ref name = "Savory 221">Savory, Roger, Iran under the Safavids, p. 221.</ref> and the most revered astrologer of the court was given the title ''Munajjim-bashi'' (Chief Astrologer).<ref>Blow, p. 175.</ref> | |||
During the first century of the dynasty, the primary court language remained ],<ref name = "Blow 165" /> although this increasingly changed after the capital was moved to Isfahan.<ref name="Cyril Glassé 2003, pg 392"/> | |||
===Local governments=== | |||
On a local level, the government was divided into public land and royal possessions. The public land was under the rule of local governors, or ''Khans''. Since the earliest days of the Safavid dynasty, the ] generals had been appointed to most of these posts. They ruled their provinces like petty shahs and spent all their revenues on their own province, only presenting the Shah with the balance. In return, they had to keep ready a standing army at all times and provide the Shah with military assistance upon his request. It was also requested from them that they appoint a lawyer (''vakil'') to the Court who would inform them on matters pertaining to the provincial affairs.<ref name="Ferrier; pp. 85-89">Ferrier; pp. 85-89.</ref> ] intended to decrease the power of the Qizilbash by bringing some of these provinces into his direct control, creating so called ''Crown Provinces'' (''Khassa''). But it was ], under influence by his Prime Minister, Saru Taqi, that initiated the program of trying to increase the royal revenues by buying land from the governors and putting in place local commissioners.<ref name="Ferrier; pp. 85-89"/> In time, this proved to become a burden to the people that were under the direct rule of the Shah, as these commissioners, unlike the former governors, had little knowledge about the local communities that they controlled and were primarily interested in increasing the income of the Shah. And, while it was in the governors’ own interest to increase the productivity and prosperity of their provinces, the commissioners received their income directly from the royal treasury and, as such, did not care so much about investing in agriculture and local industries. Thus, the majority of the people suffered from rapacity and corruption carried out in the name of the Shah.<ref name="Ferrier; pp. 85-89"/> | |||
===Democratic institutions in a totalitarian society=== | |||
In 16th and 17th century Iran, there existed a considerable number of local democratic institutions. Examples of such were the trade and artisan guilds, which had started to appear in Persia from the 1500s. Also, there were the quazi-religious fraternities called ''futuvva'', which were run by local ]es. Another official selected by the consensus of the local community was the ''kadkhoda'', who functioned as a common law administrator.<ref>Malcom; vol II, p. 456.</ref> The local sheriff (''kalantar''), who was not elected by the people but directly appointed by the Shah, and whose function was to protect the people against injustices on the part of the local governors, supervised the kadkhoda.<ref>Savory; p. 182.</ref> | |||
==Legal system== | |||
] | |||
In Safavid Persia there was little distinction between theology and jurisprudence , or between divine justice and human justice, and it all went under ''Islamic jurisprudence'' (]). The legal system was built up of two branches: ], which had its roots in ], ''received wisdom'', and ], meaning ''traditional experience'' and very similar to the Western form of ]. While the imams and judges of law applied civil law in their practice, urf was primarily exercised by the local commissioners, who inspected the villages on behalf of the Shah, and by the Minister of Justice (''Divanbegi''). The latter were all secular functionaries working on behalf of the Shah.<ref name = "Ferrier 90-4">Ferrier, RW, A journey to Persia: Jean Chardin’s Portrait of a Seventeenth-century Empire, pp. 90–4.</ref> | |||
The highest level in the legal system was the Minister of Justice, and the law officers were divided into senior appointments, such as the magistrate (''darughah''), inspector (''visir''), and recorder (''vak’anevis''). The lesser officials were the ], corresponding a civil lieutenant, who ranked under the local governors and functioned as judges in the provinces. | |||
According to ]:<ref name="Ferrier; p. 91">Ferrier p. 91.</ref> | |||
{{quote |There were no particular place assigned for the administration of justice. Each magistrate executes justice in his own house in a large room opening on to a courtyard or a garden which is raised two or three feet above the ground. The Judge is seated at one end of the room having a writer and a man of law by his side.}} | |||
Chardin also noted that bringing cases into court in Persia was easier than in the West. The judge (qazi) was informed of relevant points involved and would decide whether or not to take up the case. Having agreed to do so, a sergeant would investigate and summon the defendant, who was then obliged to pay the fee of the sergeant. The two parties with their witnesses pleaded their respective cases, usually without any counsel, and the judge would pass his judgment after the first or second hearing.<ref name="Ferrier; p. 91"/> | |||
] was entirely separate from civil law and was judged upon ''common law'' administered through the Minister of Justice, local governors and the Court minister (the ''Nazir''). Despite being based on ''urf'', it relied upon certain sets of legal principles. Murder was punishable by death, and the penalty for bodily injuries was invariably the ]. Robbers had their right wrists amputated the first time, and sentenced to death on any subsequent occasion. State criminals were subjected to the ''karkan'', a triangular wooden collar placed around the neck. On extraordinary occasions when the Shah took justice into his own hand, he would dress himself up in red for the importance of the event, according to ancient tradition.<ref name = "Ferrier 90-4" /> | |||
==Economy== | |||
What fueled the growth of Safavid economy was Iran's position between the burgeoning civilizations of Europe to its west and India and Islamic ] to its east and north. The ] which led through northern Iran to India revived in the 16th century. Abbas I also supported direct trade with Europe, particularly England and The Netherlands which sought ], silk and textiles. Other exports were horses, goat hair, pearls and an inedible bitter almond hadam-talka used as a spice in India. The main imports were spice, textiles (woolens from Europe, cottons from Gujarat), metals, coffee, and sugar. | |||
] | |||
===Agriculture=== | |||
According to historian Savory, the twin bases of the domestic economy were ] and agriculture. And, just as the higher levels of the social hierarchy was divided between the Turkish “men of the sword” and the persian “men of the pen”; so were the lower level divided between the Turcoman tribes, who were cattle breeders and lived apart from the surrounding population, and the Persians, who were peasants and settled agriculturalists.<ref>Savory, R.; Iran under the Safavids; pp. 186-7.</ref> | |||
The Safavid economy was to a large extent based on agriculture and taxation of agricultural products. According to the French jeweller ], the variety in agricultural products in Persia was unrivaled in Europe and consisted of fruits and vegetables never even heard of in Europe. Chardin was present at some feasts in Isfahan were there were more than fifty different kinds of fruit. He thought that there was nothing like it in France or Italy:<ref>Ferrier, R. W.; A journey to Persia: Jean Chardin’s portrait of a seventeenth-century Empire; p. 24.</ref> | |||
{{cquote| Tobacco grew all over the country and was as strong as that grown in Brazil. Saffron was the best in the world... Melons were regarded as excellent fruit, and there were more than 50 different sorts, the finest of which came from ]. And in spite of being transported for more than thirty days, they were fresh when they reached Isfahan... After melons the finest fruits were grapes and dates, and the best dates were grown in ]. }} | |||
Despite of this, he was disappointed when travelling the country and witnessing the abundance of land that was not irrigated, or the fertile plains that were not cultivated, something he thought was in starch contrast to Europe. He blamed this on misgovernment, the sparse population of the country, and lack of appreciation of agriculture amongst the Persians.<ref>Ferrier; p. 23.</ref> | |||
In the period prior to Shah Abbas I, most of the land was assigned to officials (civil, military and religious). From the time of Shah Abbas onwards, more land was brought under the direct control of the shah. And since agriculture accounted to the by far largest share of tax revenue, he took measures to expand it. What remained unchanged, was the “''crop-sharing agreement''” between whom ever was the landlord, and the peasant. This agreement concisted of five elements: land, water, plough-animals, seed and labour. Each element constituted 20 per cent of the crop production, and if, for instance, the peasant provided the labour force and the animals, he would be entitled to 40 per cent of the earnings.<ref>Savory; p.187.</ref><ref>Blow, D.; Shah Abbas: The ruthless king who became an Iranian legend; p. 211.</ref> According to contemporary historians, though, the landlord always had the worst of the bargain with the peasant in the crop-sharing agreements. In general, the peasants lived in comfort, and they were well paid and wore good clothes, although it was also notet that they were subject to forced labour and lived under heavy demands.<ref>Lambton, A. K. S.; Landlord and Peasant in Persia (Oxford 1953); p 127-8.</ref> | |||
===Travel and Caravanserais=== | |||
], was a luxury resort meant for the walthiest merchants and selected guests of the shah. Today it is a luxury hotel and goes under the name of Hotel Abassi.]] | |||
Horses were the most important of all the domestic animals, and the best were brought in from Arabia and Central-Asia. They were costly because of the widespread trade in them, including to Turkey and India. The next most important mount, when travelling through Persia, was the mule. Also, the camel was a good investment for the merchant, as they cost nearly nothing to feed, carried a lot weight and could travel almost anywhere.<ref>Ferrier; pp. 25-6.</ref> | |||
Under the governance of the strong shahs, especially during the first half of the 17th century, travelling through Persia was easy because of good roads and the ]s, that were strategically placed along the route. ] and ] commented that the Persian caravanserais were better built and cleaner than their Turkish counterparts.<ref>Savory; p.190.</ref> According to Chardin, they were also more abundant than in the Mughal or Ottoman Empires, where they were less frequent but larger.<ref>Ferrier; p. 31.</ref> Caravanserais were designed especially to benefit poorer travellers, as they could stay there for as long as they wished, without payment for lodging. During the reign of Shah Abbas I, as he tried to upgrade the ] to improve the commersial prosperity of the Empire, an abundance of caravanserais, bridges, bazaars and roads were built, an this strategy was followed by wealthy merchants who also profitted from the increase in trade. To uphold the standard, another source of revenue was needed, and road toll, that were collected by guards (''rah-dars''), were stationed along the trading routes. They in turn provided for the safety of the travellers, and both Thevenot and Tavernier stressed the safety of travelling in 17th century Persia, and the courtesy and refinement of the policing guards.<ref>Savory; p. 191.</ref> The Italian traveller ] was impressed by an encounter with one of these road guards:<ref>Blow; p. 210.</ref> | |||
{{cquote| He examined our baggage, but in the most obliging manner possible, not opening our trunks or packages, and was satisfied with a small tax, which was his due...}} | |||
===Foreign trade and The Silk Route=== | |||
] Palace in Isfahan was where the Shah would meet foreign dignitaries and embassies. It is famous for the frescos that cover its walls.]] | |||
The ] and the discovery of the trading route around the ] in 1487 not only hit a death blow to ] as a trading nation, but it also hurt the trade that was going on along the ] and especially the ]. They correctly identified the three key points to control all seaborn trade between Asia and Europe; The ], The Persian Gulf and the ] by cutting off and controlling these strategic locations with high taxation.<ref>Savory, R; Iran under the Safavids; pp. 193-5.</ref> In 1602 Shah Abbas I drove the Portuguese out of ], but he needed naval assistance from the newly arrived British ] to finally expel them from the ] and regain control of this trading route.<ref>Blow, D; Shah Abbas: The ruthless king who became an Iranian legend; pp. 113-131.</ref> He convinced the British to assist him by allowing them to open factories in Shiraz, Isfahan and Jask.<ref>Blow; chapter: “English adventurers at the servise of Shah Abbas.”</ref><ref>Savory; p. 195.</ref> With the later end of the Portuguese Empire, the British, Dutch and French in particular gained easier access to Persian sea-born trade. Although they, unlike the Portuguese, did not arrive as colonisers, but as merchant adventurers. The terms of trade were not imposed on the Safavid shahs, but rather negotiated. | |||
] | |||
In the long term, however, the sea-born trade route was of less significance to the Persians than was the traditional Silk Route. Lack of investment in ship building and the navy, provided the Europeans with the opportunity to monopolize this trading route. The land-born trade would thus continue to provide the bulk of revenues to the Persian state. Much of the cash revenue came not so much from what could be sold abroad, as from the custom charges and transit dues levied on goods passing through the country.<ref>Blow; p. 212.</ref> Shah Abbas was determined to greatly expand this trade, but faced the problem of having to deal with the Ottomans, who controlled the two most vital routes: the route across Arabia to the ] ports, and the route through ] and Istanbul. A third route was therefore devised which circumvented Ottoman territory. By travelling across the ] to the north, they would reach Russia. And with the assistans of the ] they could cross over to Moscow, reaching Europe via Poland. This trading route proved to be of vital importance, especially during times of war with the Ottomans.<ref>Savory; p. 196.</ref> | |||
By the end of the 17th century, the Dutch had become dominant in the trade that went via The Persian Gulf, having won most trade agreements and managed to strike deals before the British or French were able to. They particularly established monopoly of the spice trade between the East Indies and Iran.<ref>Savory; pp. 199-200.</ref> | |||
===The Armenian merchants and the trade of silk=== | |||
The one valuable item, sought for in Europe, which Iran possessed and which could bring in silver in sufficient quantites was silk, which was produced in the northern provinces, along the Caspian coastline. The trade of this product was done by Turks and Persians to begin with, but during the 17th century the Christian ] became increasingly vital in the trade of this merchandise, as middlemen.<ref name="Blow; p. 213">Blow; p. 213.</ref> | |||
==Mothers of Safavid Shahs== | |||
Whereas domestic trade was largely in the hands of Persian and Jewish merchants, by late 17th century, almost all foreign trade was controlled by the ].<ref>Savory; p. 195-8</ref> They were even hired by wealthy Persian merchants to travel to Europe when they wanted to create commercial bases there, and the Armenians eventually established themselves in cities like ], ], Venice, Livorno, Marseilles and Amsterdam.<ref name="Blow; p. 213"/> Realizing this, Shah Abbas resettled large numbers of Armenians from the ] to his capital city and provided them with loans.<ref name="Blow; p. 213"/> And as the shah realized the importance of doing trade with the Europeans, he assured that the Safavid society was one with religious tolerance. The Christian Armenians thus became a commercial elite in the Safavid society and managed to survive in the tough atmosphere of business being fought over by the British, Dutch, French, Indians and Persians, by always having large capital readily available and by managing to strike harder bargains ensuring cheaper prices than what, for instance, their British rivals ever were able to.<ref>Savory; p. 202.</ref> | |||
{{Main|List of the mothers of the Safavid Shahs}} | |||
==Culture== | ==Culture== | ||
The Safavid family was a literate family from its early origin. There are extant Tati and Persian poetry from Shaykh Safi ad-din Ardabili as well as extant Persian poetry from Shaykh Sadr ad-din. Most of the extant poetry of Shah Ismail I is in ] pen-name of Khatai.<ref name="Mino">V. Minorsky, "The Poetry of Shāh Ismā‘īl I", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London 10/4 (1942): 1006–53.</ref> Sam Mirza, the son of Shah Ismail as well as some later authors assert that Ismail composed poems both in Turkish and Persian but only a few specimens of his Persian verse have survived.<ref name="ismailsafaviiranica">"Ismail Safavi" ''Encyclopædia Iranica''</ref> A collection of his poems in Azeri were published as a Divan. Shah Tahmasp who has composed poetry in Persian was also a painter, while Shah Abbas II was known as a poet, writing Azerbaijani verses.<ref>E. Yarshater, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120154543/http://www.iranica.com/newsite/search/searchpdf.isc?ReqStrPDFPath=%2Fhome1%2Firanica%2Farticles%2Fv3_articles%2Fazerbaijan%2Flanguage_azerbaijan&OptStrLogFile=%2Fhome%2Firanica%2Fpublic_html%2Flogs%2Fpdfdownload.html |date=2009-01-20 }}, vii., Persian language of Azerbaijan", '']'', v, pp. 238–45, Online edition.</ref> Sam Mirza, the son of Ismail I was himself a poet and composed his poetry in Persian. He also compiled an anthology of contemporary poetry.<ref>Emeri "van" Donzel, ''Islamic Desk Reference'', Brill Academic Publishers, 1994, p. 393.</ref> | |||
{{See also|Safavid art}} | |||
{{Persian arts}} | |||
<gallery heights="170px" mode="packed-hover" style="margin-top:3em;" caption="Safavid dynasty art"> | |||
]'' in Isfahan is the epitome of 16th-century ] .]] | |||
Safavid Dynasty, Horse and Groom, by Haydar Ali, early 16th century.jpg | |||
Safavid Dynasty, Woman with a Spray of Flowers, circa 1575 AD.jpg | |||
===Culture within the Safavid family=== | |||
Safavid Dynasty, Joseph Enthroned from a Falnama (Book of Omens), circa 1550 AD.jpg | |||
The Safavid family was a literate family from its early origin. There are extant Tati and Persian poetry from Shaykh Safi ad-din Ardabili as well as extant Persian poetry from Shaykh Sadr ad-din. Most of the extant poetry of Shah Ismail I is in ] pen-name of Khatai.<ref name="Mino"/> Sam Mirza, the son of Shah Esmail as well as some later authors assert that Ismail composed poems both in Turkish and Persian but only a few specimens of his Persian verse have survived.<ref name = "ismailsafaviiranica" /> A collection of his poems in Azeri were published as a Divan. Shah Tahmasp who has composed poetry in Persian was also a painter, while Shah Abbas II was known as a poet, writing Azerbaijani verses.<ref name="Iranica">E. Yarshater, http://www.iranica.com/newsite/search/searchpdf.isc?ReqStrPDFPath=/home1/iranica/articles/v3_articles/azerbaijan/language_azerbaijan&OptStrLogFile=/home/iranica/public_html/logs/pdfdownload.html Language of Azerbaijan], vii., Persian language of Azerbaijan", '']'', v, pp. 238–45, Online edition.</ref> Sam Mirza, the son of Ismail I was himself a poet and composed his poetry in Persian. He also compiled an anthology of contemporary poetry.<ref>Emeri "van" Donzel, ''Islamic Desk Reference'', Brill Academic Publishers, 1994, p. 393.</ref> | |||
Shirin bathing, being approached by Khusraw, Safavid miniature painting, Iran.jpg | |||
</gallery> | |||
===Culture within the empire=== | |||
Shah Abbas I recognized the commercial benefit of promoting the arts - artisan products provided much of Iran's foreign trade. | |||
In this period, handicrafts such as tile making, pottery and textiles developed and great advances were made in miniature painting, bookbinding, decoration and calligraphy. In the 16th century, carpet weaving evolved from a nomadic and peasant craft to a well-executed industry with specialization of design and manufacturing. ] was the center of this industry. The ] were commissioned to commemorate the Safavid dynasty. The elegantly baroque yet famously ] were made in Iran during the 17th century. | |||
] in Isfahan.]] | |||
Using traditional forms and materials, ] (1565–1635) introduced new subjects to Persian painting — semi-nude women, youth, lovers. His painting and calligraphic style influenced Iranian artists for much of the Safavid period, which came to be known as the Isfahan school. Increased contact with distant cultures in the 17th century, especially Europe, provided a boost of inspiration to Iranian artists who adopted modeling, foreshortening, spatial recession, and the medium of oil painting (Shah Abbas II sent ]{{dn}} to study in Rome). The epic ] ("Book of Kings"), a stellar example of manuscript illumination and calligraphy, was made during Shah Tahmasp's reign. (This book was written by Ferdousi in 1000 AD for Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi) Another manuscript is the ] by ] executed 1539-43 by Aqa Mirak and his school in Isfahan. | |||
] bears the most prominent samples of the Safavid architecture, all constructed in the years after Shah Abbas I permanently moved the capital there in 1598: the Imperial Mosque, ], completed in 1630, the ] (Masjid-e Imami) the ] and the Royal Palace. | |||
] | |||
According to William Cleveland and Martin Bunton,<ref>William L. Cleveland and Martin P. Bunton, ''A History of the Modern Middle East'' (Westview Press, 2000), 2nd ed., pp. 56-57.</ref> the establishment of ] as the Great capital of Persia and the material splendor of the city attracted intellecutal`s from all corners of the world, which contributed to the cities rich cultural life. The impressive achievements of its 400 000 residents prompted the inhabitants to coin their famous boast, "Isfahan is half the world". | |||
Poetry stagnated under the Safavids; the great medieval ] form languished in over-the-top lyricism. Poetry lacked the royal patronage of other arts and was hemmed in by religious prescriptions. | |||
The arguably most renowned historian from this time was ]. His ''History of Shah Abbas the Great'' written a few years after its subject's death, achieved a nuanced depth of history and character. | |||
===The Isfahan School – Islamic philosophy revived=== | |||
{{See also|School of Isfahan}} | |||
Islamic philosophy<ref>Dabashi, H. (1996) 'Mir Damad and the Founding of the School of Isfahan', in SH Nasr and O. Leaman (eds) History of Islamic Philosophy, London: Routledge, ch. 34, 597–634.</ref> flourished in the Safavid era in what scholars commonly refer to the School of Isfahan. ] is considered the founder of this school. Among luminaries of this school of philosophy, the names of Iranian philosophers such as ], ], ] and ] standout. The school reached its apogee with that of the Iranian philosopher ] who is arguably the most significant Islamic philosopher after Avicenna. ] has become the dominant philosopher of the Islamic East, and his approach to the nature of philosophy has been exceptionally influential up to this day.<ref name="Rizvi">{{citation | last = Rizvi | first = Sajjad | contribution = Mulla Sadra | title = The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | date = Summer 2009 | editor-first = Edward N | editor-last = Zalta | url = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2009/entries/mulla-sadra/}}.</ref> He wrote the '']'', a meditation on what he called 'meta philosophy' which brought to a synthesis the philosophical mysticism of Sufism, the theology of ], and the ] and ] philosophies of ] and ]. | |||
According to Professor ]:<ref>RN Frye, ''The Golden Age of Persia'', Phoenix Press, 2000, p. 234</ref> | |||
{{quote |They were the continuers of the classical tradition of Islamic thought, which after Averroes died in the Arab west. The Persians schools of thought were the true heirs of the great Islamic thinkers of the golden age of Islam, whereas in the Ottoman empire there was an intellectual stagnation, as far as the traditions of Islamic philosophy were concerned''.}} | |||
===Medicine === | |||
] copy of ''The Canon of Medicine'', dated 1484, located at the P.I. Nixon Medical Historical Library of The ], USA.]] | |||
The status of physicians during the Safavids stood as high as ever. Whereas neither the ] nor the ] accorded high social status to their doctors, Iranians had from ancient times honored their physicians, who were often appointed counselors of the Shahs. This would not change with the ], and it was primarily the Persians that took upon them the works of ], logic, medicine, mathematics, ], ], music and ].<ref>Savory, Roger: Iran under the Safavids, pp. 220–5.</ref> | |||
By the sixteenth century, ], which to a large extent meant ], was resting on its laurels. The works of ] (865-92) (known to the West as Razes) were still used in European universities as standard textbooks of alchemy, ] and ]. ] by ] (c. 980–1037) was still regarded as one of the primary textbooks in medicine throughout most of the civilized world.<ref>Savory, pp. 220.</ref> As such, the status of medicine in the Safavid period did not change much, and relied as much on these works as ever before. ] was still based on the four humours of ancient and mediaeval medicine, and bleeding and purging were still the principal forms of therapy by surgeons, something even ] experienced during his visit to Persia.<ref name = "Savory 221" /> | |||
The only field within medicine where some progress were made was pharmacology, with the compilement of the “Tibb-e Shifa’i” in 1556. This book was translated into French in 1681 by ], under the name “Pharmacopoea Persica”.<ref>Savory, p. 222.</ref> | |||
==Isfahan is Half the World== | |||
{{See also|Persian Architecture}} | |||
===The architectural legacy of the Safavids=== | |||
], visiting Persia in 1841 (from ''Monuments modernes de la Perse''). In the Safavid era the ] flourished again and saw many new monuments, such as the ], part of ] which is the biggest historic plaza in the world.]] | |||
] | |||
A new age in ] began with the rise of the Safavid dynasty. Economically robust and politically stable, this period saw a flourishing growth of theological sciences. Traditional architecture evolved in its patterns and methods leaving its impact on the architecture of the following periods. | |||
Indeed, one of the greatest legacies of the Safavids is the architecture. In 1598, when Shah Abbas decided to move the capital of his Persian empire from the north-western city of ] to the central city of ], he initiated what would become one of the greatest programmes in Persian history; the complete remaking of the city. By choosing the central city of Isfahan, fertilized by the ] ("The ''life-giving river''"), lying as an oasis of intense cultivation in the midst of a vast area of arid landscape, he both distanced his capital from any future assaults by the ] and the ], and at the same time gained more control over the ], which had recently become an important trading route for the Dutch and British ].<ref>Savory, Roger; ''Iran under the Safavids'', p. 155.</ref> | |||
] | |||
The Chief architect of this colossal task of urban planning was ] (Baha' ad-Din al-`Amili), who focused the programme on two key features of Shah Abbas's master plan: the ] avenue, flanked at either side by all the prominent institutions of the city, such as the residences of all foreign dignitaries. And the ] ("''Examplar of the World''").<ref>Sir Roger Stevens; ''The Land of the Great Sophy'', p. 172.</ref> Prior to the Shah's ascent to power, Persia had a decentralized power-structure, in which different institutions battled for power, including both the military (the ]) and governors of the different provinces making up the empire. Shah Abbas wanted to undermine this political structure, and the recreation of Isfahan, as a Grand capital of Persia, was an important step in centralizing the power.<ref>Savory; chpt: ''The Safavid empire at the height of its power under Shāh Abbas the Great (1588-1629)''</ref> The ingenuity of the square, or ''Maidān'', was that, by building it, Shah Abbas would gather the three main components of power in Persia in his own backyard; the power of the clergy, represented by the ], the power of the merchants, represented by the Imperial Bazaar, and of course, the power of the Shah himself, residing in the ] Palace. | |||
Distinctive monuments like the ] (1618), ] (Eight Paradise Palace) (1469) and the ](1714) appeared in Isfahan and other cities. This extensive development of architecture was rooted in Persian culture and took form in the design of schools, baths, houses, caravanserai and other urban spaces such as bazaars and squares. It continued until the end of the Qajar reign.<ref>Jodidio, Philip, ''Iran: Architecture For Changing Societies'':Umberto Allemandi (August 2, 2006).</ref> | |||
==The languages of the court, military, administration and culture== | |||
The Safavids by the time of their rise were ]-speaking although they also used ] as a second language. | |||
The language chiefly used by the Safavid court and military establishment was ].<ref name="mazzaoui">{{Cite book | |||
| last = Mazzaoui | |||
| first = Michel B | |||
| authorlink = | |||
| coauthors = Canfield, Robert | |||
| year = 2002 | |||
| title = Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective | |||
| publisher = Cambridge University Press | |||
| chapter = Islamic Culture and Literature in Iran and Central Asia in the early modern period | |||
| isbn = 0521522919, ISBN 978-0-521-52291-5 | |||
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=qwwoozMU0LMC&pg=PA86#PPA87,M1 | |||
| pages = 86–7 | |||
| quote = Safavid power with its distinctive Persian-Shi'i culture, however, remained a middle ground between its two mighty Turkish neighbors. The Safavid state, which lasted at least until 1722, was essentially a "Turkish" dynasty, with Azeri Turkish (Azerbaijan being the family's home base) as the language of the rulers and the court as well as the Qizilbash military establishment. Shah Ismail wrote poetry in Turkish. The administration nevertheless was Persian, and the Persian language was the vehicle of diplomatic correspondence (insha'), of belles-lettres (adab), and of history (tarikh).}}</ref><ref name="cambridgesafa"/> But the official<ref>Roemer, HR (1986). "The Safavid Period". ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 189–350. ISBN 0-521-20094-6, p. 331: "Depressing though the condition in the country may have been at the time of the fall of Safavids, they cannot be allowed to overshadow the achievements of the dynasty, which was in many respects to prove essential factors in the development of Persia in modern times. These include the maintanence of Persian as the official language and of the present-day boundaries of the country, adherence to the Twelever Shi'i, the monarchical system, the planning and architectural feartures of the urban centers, the centralised administration of the state, the alliance of the Shi'i Ulama with the merchant bazaars, and the symbiosis of the Persian-speaking population with important non-Persian, especially Turkish speaking minorities".</ref> language of the empire as well as the administrative language, language of correspondence, literature and historiography was Persian.<ref name="mazzaoui" /> The inscriptions on Safavid currency were also in Persian.<ref>Ronald W. Ferrier, ''The Arts of Persia'', Yale University Press, 1989, p. 199.</ref> | |||
]'s ], by Habibulla Meshedi (1600).]] | |||
Safavids also used ] as a cultural and administrative language throughout the empire and were bilingual in Persian.<ref name="Mino"/> According to Arnold J. Toynbee,<ref>Arnold J. Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', V, pp. 514-15.</ref> | |||
{{quote |in the heyday of the Mughal, Safawi, and Ottoman regimes New Persian was being patronized as the language of litterae humaniores by the ruling element over the whole of this huge realm, while it was also being employed as the official language of administration in those two-thirds of its realm that lay within the Safawi and the Mughal frontiers}} | |||
According to John R. Perry,<ref>John R. Perry, "Turkic-Iranian contacts", '']'', January 24, 2006.</ref> | |||
{{quote |In the 16th century, the Turcophone Safavid family of Ardabil in Azerbaijan, probably of Turkicized Iranian, origin, conquered Iran and established Turkic, the language of the court and the military, as a high-status vernacular and a widespread contact language, influencing spoken Persian, while written Persian, the language of high literature and civil administration, remained virtually unaffected in status and content.}} | |||
According to Zabiollah Safa,<ref name="cambridgesafa">Zabiollah Safa (1986), "Persian Literature in the Safavid Period", ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-20094-6, pp. 948–65. P. 950: "In day-to-day affairs, the language chiefly used at the Safavid court and by the great military and political officers, as well as the religious dignitaries, was Turkish, not Persian; and the last class of persons wrote their religious works mainly in Arabic. Those who wrote in Persian were either lacking in proper tuition in this tongue, or wrote outside Iran and hence at a distance from centers where Persian was the accepted vernacular, endued with that vitality and susceptibility to skill in its use which a language can have only in places where it truly belongs."</ref> | |||
{{quote |In day-to-day affairs, the language chiefly used at the Safavid court and by the great military and political officers, as well as the religious dignitaries, was Turkish, not Persian; and the last class of persons wrote their religious works mainly in Arabic. Those who wrote in Persian were either lacking in proper tuition in this tongue, or wrote outside Iran and hence at a distance from centers where Persian was the accepted vernacular, endued with that vitality and susceptibility to skill in its use which a language can have only in places where it truly belongs.}} | |||
]'' by Reza Abbasi (1620)]] | |||
According to É. Á. Csató et al.,<ref name = "csatoetal" /> | |||
{{quote |A specific Turkic language was attested in Safavid Persia during the 16th and 17th centuries, a language that Europeans often called Persian Turkish ("Turc Agemi", "lingua turcica agemica"), which was a favourite language at the court and in the army because of the Turkic origins of the Safavid dynasty. The original name was just turki, and so a convenient name might be Turki-yi Acemi. This variety of Persian Turkish must have been also spoken in the Caucasian and Transcaucasian regions, which during the 16th century belonged to both the Ottomans and the Safavids, and were not fully integrated into the Safavid empire until 1606. Though that language might generally be identified as Middle Azerbaijanian, it's not yet possible to define exactly the limits of this language, both in linguistic and territorial respects. It was certainly not homogenous - maybe it was an Azerbaijanian-Ottoman mixed language, as Beltadze (1967:161) states for a translation of the gospels in Georgian script from the 18th century.}} | |||
According to Rula Jurdi Abisaab,<ref>Ruda Jurdi Abisaab. "Iran and Pre-Independence Lebanon" in Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi, ''Distant Relations: Iran and Lebanon in the Last 500 Years'', I.B. Tauris (2006), p. 76.</ref> | |||
{{quote |Although the Arabic language was still the medium for religious scholastic expression, it was precisely under the Safavids that hadith complications and doctrinal works of all sorts were being translated to Persian. The ] (Lebanese scholars of Shi'i faith) operating through the Court-based religious posts, were forced to master the Persian language; their students translated their instructions into Persian. Persianization went hand in hand with the popularization of 'mainstream' Shi'i belief.}} | |||
According to Cornelis Versteegh,<ref>Cornelis Henricus Maria Versteegh, ''The Arabic Language'', Columbia University Press, 1997, p. 71.</ref> | |||
{{quote |The Safavid dynasty under Shah Ismail (961/1501) adopted Persian and the Shi'ite form of Islam as the national language and religion.}} | |||
==Legacy== | |||
It was the Safavids who made Iran the spiritual bastion of Shi’ism against the onslaughts of Sunni Islam, and the repository of Persian cultural traditions and self-awareness of Iranianhood, acting as a bridge to modern Iran. The founder of the dynasty, Shah Isma'il, adopted the title of "Persian Emperor" ''Pādišah-ī Īrān'', with its implicit notion of an Iranian state stretching from ] as far as ], and from the ] to the southern Territories of the ].<ref>Hillenbrand R., ''Islamic Art and Architecture'', London (1999), ISBN 0-500-20305-9, p. 228.</ref> According to Professor Roger Savory<ref>{{citation | first = RM | last = Savory | contribution = Rise of a Shi'i State in Iran and New Orientation in Islamic Thought and Culture | title = 'UNESCO: History of Humanity | volume = 5: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century | place = London, New York | publisher = Routledge | page = 263 | url = http://www.unesco.org/culture/humanity/html_eng/volume5.htm}}</ref><ref>Mujtahid: A ''mujtahid'' in Arabic means a person who qualified to engange in ''ijtihad'', or interpretation of religious texts. ''Ithna 'ashari'' is the number twelve in Arabic, signifying Twelver Imami Shi'i Islam. Ulama: Arabic for religious scholars.</ref>: | |||
{{quote |In a number of ways the Safavids affected the development of the modern Iranian state: first, they ensured the continuance of various ancient and traditional Persian institutions, and transmitted these in a strengthened, or more 'national', form; second, by imposing Ithna 'Ashari ] on Iran as the official religion of the Safavid state, they enhanced the power of ]. The Safavids thus set in train a struggle for power between the turban and the crown that is to say, between the proponents of secular government and the proponents of a theocratic government; third, they laid the foundation of alliance between the religious classes ('Ulama') and the bazaar which played an important role both in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1906, and again in the Islamic Revolution of 1979; fourth the policies introduced by Shah Abbas I conduced to a more centralized administrative system.}} | |||
==Safavid Shahs of Iran== | |||
] | |||
*] 1501–1524 | |||
*] 1524–1576 | |||
*] 1576–1578 | |||
*] 1578–1587 | |||
*] 1587–1629 | |||
*] 1629–1642 | |||
*] 1642–1666 | |||
*] 1666–1694 | |||
*] 1694–1722 | |||
*] 1722–1732 | |||
*] 1732–1736 | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | *] | ||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
*] | |||
{{Clear}} | |||
==References |
==References== | ||
{{Reflist|2}} | {{Reflist|2}} | ||
== |
==Bibliography== | ||
*{{cite book|last1=Blow|first1=David|title=Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend|date=2009|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-0857716767}} | |||
* M.I. Marcinkowski (tr.),''Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey'', M. Ismail Marcinkowski, Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2003, ISBN 9971-77-488-7. | |||
*{{cite book|url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/cambridge-history-iran-volume-6?format=HB|title=The Timurid and Safavid Periods|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0521200943|editor-last=Jackson|editor-first=Peter|series=The Cambridge History of Iran|volume=6|location=Cambridge|editor-last2=Lockhart|editor-first2=Laurence}} | |||
* M.I. Marcinkowski (tr., ed.),''Mirza Rafi‘a's Dastur al-Muluk: A Manual of Later Safavid Administration. Annotated English Translation, Comments on the Offices and Services, and Facsimile of the Unique Persian Manuscript'', M. Ismail Marcinkowski, Kuala Lumpur, ISTAC, 2002, ISBN 983-9379-26-7. | |||
*{{cite book|last=Khanbaghi|first=Aptin|title=The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early Modern Iran|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2006|isbn=978-1845110567}} | |||
* M.I. Marcinkowski,''From Isfahan to Ayutthaya: Contacts between Iran and Siam in the 17th Century'', M. Ismail Marcinkowski, Singapore, Pustaka Nasional, 2005, ISBN 9971-77-491-7. | |||
*{{cite book|last1=Mikaberidze|first1=Alexander|author-link1=Alexander Mikaberidze|title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1442241466|edition=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNQCgAAQBAJ&q=sakhltukhutsesi}} | |||
* ], "Safavi Ahad Main Ilm Tashreeh Ka Mutala (a book in ] on Studies of ] during Safavid dynasty), Tibbi Academy, Aligarh, India, 1983, 96 pp. | |||
*{{cite book|last=Savory|first=Roger|title=Iran under the Safavids|publisher=]|year=2007|isbn=978-0521042512}} | |||
*{{cite book|last=Sicker|first=Martin|title=The Islamic World in Decline: From the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2001|isbn=978-0275968915}} | |||
*{{cite book|last=Yarshater|first=Ehsan|title=Encyclopædia Iranica|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|year=2001|isbn=978-0933273566}} | |||
==Further reading== | |||
* Christoph Marcinkowski (tr.), ''Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey'', Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2003, {{ISBN|9971-77-488-7}}. | |||
* Christoph Marcinkowski (tr., ed.), ''Mirza Rafi‘a's ]: A Manual of Later Safavid Administration. Annotated English Translation, Comments on the Offices and Services, and Facsimile of the Unique Persian Manuscript'', Kuala Lumpur, ISTAC, 2002, {{ISBN|983-9379-26-7}}. | |||
* Christoph Marcinkowski, ''From Isfahan to Ayutthaya: Contacts between Iran and Siam in the 17th Century'', Singapore, Pustaka Nasional, 2005, {{ISBN|9971-77-491-7}}. | |||
* , Adam Olearius, translated by John Davies (1662), | * , Adam Olearius, translated by John Davies (1662), | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
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* The History Files: | * The History Files: | ||
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*, ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' by Hamid Algar | |||
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Latest revision as of 00:12, 22 December 2024
Twelver Shīʿa ruling dynasty of Iran (1501–1736) Not to be confused with Saffarid dynasty.
Safavid dynasty دودمان صفوی, | |
---|---|
Safavid flag after 1576 | |
Country | Safavid Iran |
Founded | 22 December 1501 |
Founder | Ismail I (1501–1524) |
Final ruler | Abbas III (1732–1736) |
Titles | Shahanshah of Iran |
Traditions | Twelver Shi'ism |
Dissolution | c. 1736 |
The Safavid dynasty (/ˈsæfəvɪd, ˈsɑː-/; Persian: دودمان صفوی, romanized: Dudmâne Safavi, pronounced [d̪uːd̪ˈmɒːne sæfæˈviː]) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the Persian Empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safavid order of Sufism, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Iranian Azerbaijan region. It was an Iranian dynasty of Kurdish origin, but during their rule they intermarried with Turkoman, Georgian, Circassian, and Pontic Greek dignitaries, nevertheless, for practical purposes, they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified. From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sasanian Empire to establish a national state officially known as Iran.
The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736 and 1750 to 1773) and, at their height, controlled all of what is now Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Georgia, parts of the North Caucasus including Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Despite their demise in 1736, the legacy that they left behind was the revival of Iran as an economic stronghold between East and West, the establishment of an efficient state and bureaucracy based upon "checks and balances", their architectural innovations, and patronage for fine arts. The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by establishing Twelver Shīʿīsm as the state religion of Iran, as well as spreading Shīʿa Islam in major parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, Caucasus, Anatolia, the Persian Gulf, and Mesopotamia.
Genealogy and identity
See also: Safavid dynasty family tree, Safavid order, Safvat as-safa, Silsilat-al-nasab-i Safaviya, Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah, and List of the mothers of the Safavid ShahsThe Safavid Kings themselves claimed to be sayyids, family descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, although many scholars have cast doubt on this claim. There seems now to be a consensus among scholars that the Safavid family hailed from Iranian Kurdistan, and later moved to Iranian Azerbaijan, finally settling in the 11th century CE at Ardabil. Traditional pre-1501 Safavid manuscripts trace the lineage of the Safavids to the Kurdish dignitary, Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah.
According to historians, including Vladimir Minorsky and Roger Savory, the Safavids were Turkish speakers of Iranian origin:
From the evidence available at the present time, it is certain that the Safavid family was of indigenous Iranian stock, and not of Turkish ancestry as it is sometimes claimed. It is probable that the family originated in Persian Kurdistan, and later moved to Azerbaijan, where they adopted the Azari form of Turkish spoken there, and eventually settled in the small town of Ardabil sometimes during the eleventh century.
By the time of the establishment of the Safavid empire, the members of the family were Turkicized and Turkish-speaking, and some of the Shahs composed poems in their then-native Turkish language. Concurrently, the Shahs themselves also supported Persian literature, poetry and art projects including the grand Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, while members of the family and some Shahs composed Persian poetry as well.
The authority of the Safavids was religiously based, and their claim to legitimacy was founded on being direct male descendants of Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, and regarded by the Shiʻa as the first Imam.
Furthermore, the dynasty was from the very start thoroughly intermarried with both Pontic Greek as well as Georgian lines. In addition, from the official establishment of the dynasty in 1501, the dynasty would continue to have many intermarriages with both Circassian as well as again Georgian dignitaries, especially with the accession of Tahmasp I.
Safavid Shahs of Iran
See also: List of Safavid monarchs- Ismail I 1501–1524
- Tahmasp I 1524–1576
- Ismail II 1576–1578
- Mohammad Khodabanda 1578–1587
- Abbas I 1587–1629
- Safi 1629–1642
- Abbas II 1642–1666
- Suleiman I 1666–1694
- Soltan Hoseyn 1694–1722
- Tahmasp II 1722–1732
- Abbas III 1732–1736
Mothers of Safavid Shahs
Main article: List of the mothers of the Safavid ShahsCulture
The Safavid family was a literate family from its early origin. There are extant Tati and Persian poetry from Shaykh Safi ad-din Ardabili as well as extant Persian poetry from Shaykh Sadr ad-din. Most of the extant poetry of Shah Ismail I is in Azerbaijani pen-name of Khatai. Sam Mirza, the son of Shah Ismail as well as some later authors assert that Ismail composed poems both in Turkish and Persian but only a few specimens of his Persian verse have survived. A collection of his poems in Azeri were published as a Divan. Shah Tahmasp who has composed poetry in Persian was also a painter, while Shah Abbas II was known as a poet, writing Azerbaijani verses. Sam Mirza, the son of Ismail I was himself a poet and composed his poetry in Persian. He also compiled an anthology of contemporary poetry.
See also
- Khanates of the Caucasus
- List of Shi'a Muslim dynasties
- Persianate states
- Safavid art
- Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam
- Trade in Iran's Safavid era
References
- *Afšār, ta·līf-i Iskandar Baig Turkmān. Zīr-i naẓar bā tanẓīm-i fihristhā wa muqaddama-i Īraǧ (2003). Tārīkh-i ʻʻālamārā-yi ʻʻAbbāsī (in Persian) (Čāp-i 3. ed.). Tihrān: Mu·assasa-i Intišārāt-i Amīr Kabīr. pp. 17, 18, 19, 79. ISBN 978-964-00-0818-8.
- p. 17: dudmān-i safavīa
- p. 18: khāndān-i safavīa
- p. 19: sīlsīla-i safavīa
- p. 79: sīlsīla-i alīa-i safavīa
- "SAFAVID DYNASTY". Encyclopædia Iranica.
- ^ Matthee, Rudi (13 June 2017) . "SAFAVID DYNASTY". Encyclopædia Iranica. New York: Columbia University. doi:10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_509. ISSN 2330-4804. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
- Streusand, Douglas E., Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals (Boulder, Col : Westview Press, 2011) ("Streusand"), p. 135.
- ^ Savory, Roger (2012) . "Ṣafawids". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. J.; Heinrichs, W. P.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch.; Schacht, J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Vol. 8. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0964. ISBN 978-90-04-16121-4.
- Baltacıoğlu-Brammer, Ayşe (2021). "The emergence of the Safavids as a mystical order and their subsequent rise to power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries". In Matthee, Rudi (ed.). The Safavid World. Routledge Worlds (1st ed.). New York and London: Routledge. pp. 15–36. doi:10.4324/9781003170822. ISBN 978-1-003-17082-2. S2CID 236371308.
-
- Matthee, Rudi. (2005). The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900. Princeton University Press. p. 18; "The Safavids, as Iranians of Kurdish ancestry and of nontribal background (...)".
- Savory, Roger. (2008). "EBN BAZZĀZ". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 1. p. 8. "This official version contains textual changes designed to obscure the Kurdish origins of the Safavid family and to vindicate their claim to descent from the Imams."
- Amoretti, Biancamaria Scarcia; Matthee, Rudi. (2009). "Ṣafavid Dynasty". In Esposito, John L. (ed.) The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford University Press. "Of Kurdish ancestry, the Ṣafavids started as a Sunnī mystical order (...)"
-
- Roemer, H. R. (1986). "The Safavid Period" in Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Laurence. The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge University Press. pp. 214, 229
- Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend. I.B.Tauris. p. 3
- Savory, Roger M.; Karamustafa, Ahmet T. (1998) "ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6, pp. 628-636
- Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2016). "ḤAYDAR ṢAFAVI". Encyclopaedia Iranica
- Aptin Khanbaghi (2006) The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early. London & New York. IB Tauris. ISBN 1-84511-056-0, pp. 130–1
- ^ Yarshater 2001, p. 493.
- ^ Khanbaghi 2006, p. 130.
- Anthony Bryer. "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 29 (1975), Appendix II "Genealogy of the Muslim Marriages of the Princesses of Trebizond"
- "Safavid dynasty" at Encyclopædia Iranica, "The origins of the Safavids are clouded in obscurity. They may have been of Kurdish origin (see R. Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 1980, p. 2; R. Matthee, "Safavid Dynasty" at iranica.com), but for all practical purposes they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified."
- "Why is there such confusion about the origins of this important dynasty, which reasserted Iranian identity and established an independent Iranian state after eight and a half centuries of rule by foreign dynasties?" RM Savory, Iran Under the Safavids (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980), p. 3.
- Alireza Shapur Shahbazi (2005), "The History of the Idea of Iran", in Vesta Curtis ed., Birth of the Persian Empire, IB Tauris, London, p. 108: "Similarly the collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea. The name "Iran" disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr, and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or "Iranian lands", which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand, when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman empire and even Iran itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations".
- In the pre-Safavid written work Safvat as-Safa (oldest manuscripts from 1485 and 1491), the origin of the Safavids is tracted to Piruz Shah Zarin Kolah who is called a Kurd from Sanjan, while in the post-Safavid manuscripts, this portion has been excised and Piruz Shah Zarin Kollah is made a descendant of the Imams. R Savory, "Ebn Bazzaz" in Encyclopædia Iranica). In the Silsilat an-nasab-i Safawiya (composed during the reign of Shah Suleiman, 1667–94), by Hussayn ibn Abdal Zahedi, the ancestry of the Safavid was purported to be tracing back to Hijaz and the first Shiʻi Imam as follows: Shaykh Safi al-din Abul Fatah Eshaq ibn (son of) Shaykh Amin al-Din Jabrail ibn Qutb al-din ibn Salih ibn Muhammad al-Hafez ibn Awad ibn Firuz Shah Zarin Kulah ibn Majd ibn Sharafshah ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Seyyed Ja'afar ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Seyyed Isma'il ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Seyyed Ahmad 'Arabi ibn Seyyed Qasim ibn Seyyed Abul Qasim Hamzah ibn Musa al-Kazim ibn Ja'far As-Sadiq ibn Muhammad al-Baqir ibn Imam Zayn ul-'Abedin ibn Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Taleb Alayha as-Salam. There are differences between this and the oldest manuscript of Safwat as-Safa. Seyyeds have been added from Piruz Shah Zarin Kulah up to the first Shiʻi Imam and the nisba "Al-Kurdi" has been excised. The title/name "Abu Bakr" (also the name of the first Caliph and highly regarded by Sunnis) is deleted from Qutb ad-Din's name. ُSource: Husayn ibn Abdāl Zāhedī, 17th cent. Silsilat al-nasab-i Safavīyah, nasabnāmah-'i pādishāhān bā ʻuzmat-i Safavī, ta'līf-i Shaykh Husayn pisar-i Shaykh Abdāl Pīrzādah Zāhedī dar 'ahd-i Shāh-i Sulaymnān-i Safavī. Berlīn, Chāpkhānah-'i Īrānshahr, 1343 (1924), 116 pp. Original Persian: شیخ صفی الدین ابو الفتح اسحق ابن شیخ امین الدین جبرائیل بن قطب الدین ابن صالح ابن محمد الحافظ ابن عوض ابن فیروزشاه زرین کلاه ابن محمد ابن شرفشاه ابن محمد ابن حسن ابن سید محمد ابن ابراهیم ابن سید جعفر بن سید محمد ابن سید اسمعیل بن سید محمد بن سید احمد اعرابی بن سید قاسم بن سید ابو القاسم حمزه بن موسی الکاظم ابن جعفر الصادق ابن محمد الباقر ابن امام زین العابدین بن حسین ابن علی ابن ابی طالب علیه السلام.
- R.M. Savory, "Safavid Persia" in: Ann Katherine Swynford Lambton, Peter Malcolm Holt, Bernard Lewis, The Cambridge History of Islam, Cambridge University Press, 1977. p. 394: "They (Safavids after the establishment of the Safavid state) fabricated evidence to prove that the Safavids were Sayyids."
- RM Savory. Ebn Bazzaz. Encyclopædia Iranica
- F. Daftary, "Intellectual Traditions in Islam", I.B. Tauris, 2001. p. 147: "But the origins of the family of Shaykh Safi al-Din go back not to Hijaz but to Kurdistan, from where, seven generations before him, Firuz Shah Zarin-kulah had migrated to Adharbayjan"
- Tamara Sonn. A Brief History of Islam, Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 83, ISBN 1-4051-0900-9
- É. Á. Csató, B. Isaksson, C Jahani. Linguistic Convergence and Areal Diffusion: Case Studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic, Routledge, 2004, p. 228, ISBN 0-415-30804-6.
- Minorsky, V (2009). "Adgharbaydjan (Azarbaydjan)". In Berman, P; Bianquis, Th; Bosworth, CE; van Donzel, E; Henrichs, WP (eds.). Encyclopedia of Islam (2nd ed.). NL: Brill. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28.
After 907/1502, Adharbayjan became the chief bulwark and rallying ground of the Safawids, themselves natives of Ardabil and originally speaking the local Iranian dialect
- Roger M. Savory. "Safavids" in Peter Burke, Irfan Habib, Halil İnalcık: History of Humanity-Scientific and Cultural Development: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century, Taylor & Francis. 1999, p. 259.
- "Safavid dynasty" at Encyclopædia Iranica, "The origins of the Safavids are clouded in obscurity. They may have been of Kurdish origin (see R. Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 1980, p. 2; R. Matthee, "Safavid Dynasty" at iranica.com), but for all practical purposes they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified."
- John L. Esposito, The Oxford History of Islam, Oxford University Press US, 1999. pp 364: "To support their legitimacy, the Safavid dynasty of Iran (1501–1732) devoted a cultural policy to establish their regime as the reconstruction of the historic Iranian monarchy. To the end, they commissioned elaborate copies of the Shahnameh, the Iranian national epic, such as this one made for Tahmasp in the 1520s."
- Ira Marvin Lapidus, A history of Islamic Societies, Cambridge University Press, 2002, 2nd ed., p. 445: To bolster the prestige of the state, the Safavid dynasty sponsored an Iran-Islamic style of culture concentrating on court poetry, painting, and monumental architecture that symbolized not only the Islamic credentials of the state but also the glory of the ancient Persian traditions."
- Colin P. Mitchell, "Ṭahmāsp I" in Encyclopædia Iranica. "Shah Ṭahmāsp's own brother, Sām Mirzā, wrote the Taḏkera-yetoḥfa-ye sāmi, in which he mentioned 700 poets during the reigns of the first two Safavid rulers. Sām Mirzā himself was an ardent poet, writing 8,000 verses and a Šāh-nāma dedicated to his brother, Ṭahmāsp (see Sām Mirzā, ed. Homāyun-Farroḵ, 1969)."
- See: Willem Floor, Hasan Javadi (2009), The Heavenly Rose-Garden: A History of Shirvan & Daghestan by Abbas Qoli Aqa Bakikhanov, Mage Publishers, 2009. (see Sections on Safavids quoting poems of Shah Tahmasp I)
- Kathryn Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran, Cambridge, Massachusetts; London : Harvard University Press, 2002. p. 143: "It is true that during their revolutionary phase (1447–1501), Safavi guides had played on their descent from the family of the Prophet. The hagiography of the founder of the Safavi order, Shaykh Safi al-Din Safvat al-Safa written by Ibn Bazzaz in 1350-was tampered with during this very phase. An initial stage of revisions saw the transformation of Safavi identity as Sunni Kurds into Arab blood descendants of Muhammad."
- From Maternal side: Chatrina daughter of Theodora daughter of John IV of Trebizond son of Alexios IV of Trebizond son of Manuel III of Trebizond son of Alexios III of Trebizond son of Irene Palaiologina of Trebizond. From Paternal side: Shaykh Haydar son of Khadijeh Khatoon daughter of Ali Beyg son of Qara Yuluk Osman son of Maria daughter of Irene Palaiologina of Trebizond.
- V. Minorsky, "The Poetry of Shāh Ismā‘īl I", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 10/4 (1942): 1006–53.
- "Ismail Safavi" Encyclopædia Iranica
- E. Yarshater, Language of Azerbaijan Archived 2009-01-20 at the Wayback Machine, vii., Persian language of Azerbaijan", Encyclopædia Iranica, v, pp. 238–45, Online edition.
- Emeri "van" Donzel, Islamic Desk Reference, Brill Academic Publishers, 1994, p. 393.
Bibliography
- Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-0857716767.
- Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Laurence, eds. (1986). The Timurid and Safavid Periods. The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 6. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521200943.
- Khanbaghi, Aptin (2006). The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early Modern Iran. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1845110567.
- Mikaberidze, Alexander (2015). Historical Dictionary of Georgia (2 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1442241466.
- Savory, Roger (2007). Iran under the Safavids. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521042512.
- Sicker, Martin (2001). The Islamic World in Decline: From the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0275968915.
- Yarshater, Ehsan (2001). Encyclopædia Iranica. Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0933273566.
Further reading
- Christoph Marcinkowski (tr.), Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey, Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2003, ISBN 9971-77-488-7.
- Christoph Marcinkowski (tr., ed.), Mirza Rafi‘a's Dastur al-Muluk: A Manual of Later Safavid Administration. Annotated English Translation, Comments on the Offices and Services, and Facsimile of the Unique Persian Manuscript, Kuala Lumpur, ISTAC, 2002, ISBN 983-9379-26-7.
- Christoph Marcinkowski, From Isfahan to Ayutthaya: Contacts between Iran and Siam in the 17th Century, Singapore, Pustaka Nasional, 2005, ISBN 9971-77-491-7.
- "The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors", Adam Olearius, translated by John Davies (1662),
External links
- History of the Safavids on Iran Chamber
- "Safavid dynasty", Encyclopædia Iranica by Rudi Matthee
- The History Files: Rulers of Persia
- BBC History of Religion
- Iranian culture and history site
- "Georgians in the Safavid administration", Encyclopædia Iranica
- Artistic and cultural history of the Safavids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- History of Safavid art
- A Study of the Migration of Shiʻi Works from Arab Regions to Iran at the Early Safavid Era.
- Why is Safavid history important? (Iran Chamber Society)
- Historiography During the Safawid Era
- "Iran ix. Religions in Iran (2) Islam in Iran (2.3) Shiʿism in Iran Since the Safavids: Safavid Period", Encyclopædia Iranica by Hamid Algar
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