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Isma'il I (July 17, 1487 - May 23, 1524), Shah of Iran and the founder of the Safavid dynasty, which survived until 1736. He was a Shi'ite ethnic Azeri Turk from Ardebil (Iranian Azerbaijan) and reigned as Shah Isma'il I 1501 - 1524. He also was a prolific poet, writing under the pen name Khatâ'i.

Life and Political History

A descendant of the Sufi Shaikh Safi Al-Din (1252-1334) of Ardebil, Isma'il Safavi was the last in line of hereditary Grand Masters of the Safaviyeh Sufi order, prior to its ascent to a ruling dynasty. As a young boy only a year old, he had lost his father Haydar Safavi Sultan, Sufi Grand Master and belligerent leader of a swelling Shi'a Islam community in Azerbaijan region of Iran who was killed in battle. Isma'il's mother was Halima Begum, the daughter of Uzun Hasan by his wife Despina (herself the daughter of John IV of Trebizond). As legend has it, infant Isma'il went into hiding for several years. With his followers, he finally returned to Tabriz, vowing to make Shi'a Islam the official religion of Iran.

Isma'il found significant support among the people of Azerbaijan as well as some parts of the Ottoman Empire, mainly in eastern Anatolia. Centuries of Sunni rule followed by non-Muslim Mongol hegemony lent fertile ground for new teachings. In 1501, Isma'il I proclaimed himself Shah, choosing Tabriz, in Iran's northernmost province of Azerbaijan, as his capital. In that year he also defeated the Ak Koyunlu (White Sheep Turks).

In 1510 Isma'il I moved against the Sunni Uzbeg tribe. In battle near the city of Merv, some 17,000 iranians's ambushed and defeated a superior Uzbek force numbering 28,000. The Uzbek ruler Muhammad Shaybani was caught and killed trying to escape the battle, and the shah had his skull made into a jeweled drinking goblet.

In 1514, Selim I, the Sunni Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, attacked Isma'il's Kingdom to check the spread of Shiism into Ottoman dominions. Selim and Ismail had been exchanging a series of belligerent letters prior to the attack.

Selim I decisively defeated Shah Isma'il at the battle of Chaldiran in 1514, in modern-day Iran. Ismail's army was more mobile and their soldiers were better prepared but the Ottomans prevailed due in large part to their efficient modern army, and possession of artillery, black powder and muskets. Ismail was wounded and almost captured in battle. Selim I entered the Iranian capital in triumph on September 7, but did not linger, a mutiny among his troops forcing him to withdraw. This saved Ismail, and allowed him to recover. Sultan Selim I also took Isma'il's favorite wife hostage, demanding huge concessions for her release. Isma'il refused to cede to the Ottoman demands, and is said to have died of a broken heart in 1524 at the early age of thirty-six, never having seen his beloved spouse again.

Isma'il's reign was marked by enormous conquests, shaping the map of Iran up to the present day. Baghdad and the holy Shi'a shrines of Najaf نجف and Karbalā' كربلاء were seized from the Ottoman Turks, lost and reconquered again.

He was succeeded by his son Tahmasp I.

The Poet Khatâ'i

Shah Ismail was also a prolific Sufi poet and wrote under the pen name Khatâ'i. He wrote in the Azeri-Turkic language and — to a lesser extent — in Persian. His Turkish dîvân, or collected poems, numbers about 400 gazels, together with some 100 kasîdes and rubais, and it remains popular to this day.

Most of the poems are concerned with love—particularly of the mystical Sufi kind — though there also poems propagating Shia doctrine and Safavi politics. His other serious works include the Nasihatnâme, a book of advice, and the unfinished Dehnâme, a book which extols the virtues of love.

As Ismail believed in his own divinity and in his descent from `Alî, in his poems he tended to strongly emphasize these claims:

Yedi iqlimə oldi hökmũ fərman

Əzəldən yoluna can-başî fədadir

Ki, hər kim on iki imami bildi

ona qīrmīzī tac geymək rəvadur

Şah-i mərdan "Əliyyi" ibn-i talib

Xətaini yuridən pişvedur

On all seven climes has His judgment become a decree

Since forever all lives are forfeit for His sake

For whoever knows twelve imams

It is only fitting that he shall wear the Red Crown

For, the King of Men, Ali ibn Abu Talib

Is the leader of Khatâ'i in his walk.

Along with the poet Nesîmî, Khata'i is considered to be among the first proponents of using a simpler Azeri Turkish language in verse that would thereby appeal to a broader audience. His work is most popular in Azerbaijan, as well as among the Bektashis of Turkey. There is a large body of Alevi and Bektashi poetry that has been attributed to him. The major impact of his religious propaganda, in the long run, was the conversion of many in Iran and Azerbaijan to Shiism.

The following anecdote shows comparative position of vernacular Turkish in the Ottoman Empire and in incipient Safavid state. Khata'i sent a poem in Turkish to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I before going to war in 1514. In a reply the Ottoman Sultan answered in Persian to indicate his contempt. Here is the excerpt from poet's letter to Sultan Selim I:

Mən pirimi hak bilirəm,

Yoluna qurban oluram,

Dün doğdum bugün ölürəm,

Ölən gəlsin iştə meydan.

I know the Truth as my supreme guide,

I would sacrifice myself in his way,

I was born yesterday, I will die today,

Come, whoever would die, here is the arena.

See Also

• List of Turkic Languages poets

References

1. US Library of Congress Country Studies - Azerbaijan

Ismailzadə Mirzə (ed) Xətai, Qəzəllər, Qəsidələr, Nəsihətnamə, Dəhnamə, Qoşmalar; Alhoda Publishers, Iran, 2004. ISBN 964-8121-09-05

Moojan Momen "An Introduction to Shi'i Islam", Yale Univ. Press, 1985 ISBN-0-300-03499-7 397pp

External links

• "Ismail I. Safavi" - Encyclopaedia Iranica

• 1487 births
• 1524 deaths
• Safavids
• Sufi poets
• Azerbaijani poets