During his reign he had realized while both looking to his own empire and that of the neighboring Ottomans, that there were dangerous rivalling factions and internal family rivalries that were a threat to the heads of state. They correctly identified the three key points to control all seaborne trade between Asia and Europe: The Gulf of Aden, The Persian Gulf and the Straits of Malacca by cutting off and controlling these strategic locations with high taxation. After reforming the political structure so that he held absolute power, Shah Abbas I was revered for his ability to lift the Safavids from the chaos that arose following his . Russian Muscovy in the previous century had deposed two western Asian khanates of the Golden Horde and expanded its influence into Europe, the Caucasus Mountains and Central Asia. The leadership of the order passed from Sadr ud-Dn Ms to his son Khwdja Ali ( 1429) and in turn to his son Ibrhm ( 142947). [50] 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. [89] Ismail had been imprisoned at Qahqaha since 1556 by his father on charges of plotting a coup, but his selection was ensured when 30,000 Qizilbash supporters demonstrated outside the prison. Despite the Safavid Shii zeal, Christians were tolerated and several missions and churches were built. But in spite of a weak economy, a civil war and foreign wars on two fronts, Tahmsp managed to retain his crown and maintain the territorial integrity of the empire (although much reduced from Ismail's time). Summary. Ismail's 14-month reign was notable for two things: continual bloodletting of his relatives and others (including his own supporters) and his reversal on religion. [194] Under Abbas, the eunuchs became an increasingly important element at the court. Next in line were the Master of the Royal Stables (Mirakor bashi) and the Master of the Hunt (Mirshekar bashi). He blamed this on misgovernment, the sparse population of the country, and lack of appreciation of agriculture amongst the Persians. The idea of such an anti-Ottoman alliance was not a new oneover a century before, Uzun Hassan, then ruler of part of Iran, had asked the Venetians for military aidbut none of the Safavids had made diplomatic overtures to Europe. As a result of Mongol conquest, and relative religious tolerance of Ilhanids, Shi'a dynasties were established in IranSarbedaran in Khorasan being the most important. - The Ottomans were able to capture Constantinople in 1453 by using a 26-foot bronze cannon and several other cannons from 15 to 22 feet in-The methods that the safavid empire used to expand their empire was using an early safavid military hero named ismail who was also 14-15 years old conquered most of persia and iraq (Desiree)-They conquered . Crown prince Hamza Mirza, now 21 years old and director of Safavid affairs, led a force to confront the Ottomans, but in 1586 was murdered under mysterious circumstances. The epic Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), a stellar example of manuscript illumination and calligraphy, was made during Shah Tahmasp's reign. According to the Encyclopdia Iranica, for Tahmasp, the background of this initiation and eventual composition that would be only finalized under Shah Abbas I, circled around the military tribal elite of the empire, the Qizilbash, who believed that physical proximity to and control of a member of the immediate Safavid family guaranteed spiritual advantages, political fortune, and material advancement. The consequences of the defeat at Chaldiran were also psychological for Ismil: the defeat destroyed Ismil's belief in his invincibility, based on his claimed divine status. According to William Cleveland and Martin Bunton,[232] the establishment of Isfahan as the Great capital of Iran and the material splendor of the city attracted intellectual's from all corners of the world, which contributed to the city's rich cultural life. In 1514, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I invaded western Armenia, causing the ill-prepared Safavid army to retreat. In cultural matters, Tahmsp presided the revival of the fine arts, which flourished under his patronage. [117][118], Abbas also greatly increased the number of cannons at his disposal, permitting him to field 500 in a single battle. 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 persian miniature, book-binding and calligraphy, in fact, never received as much attention as they did during his time. But the stumbling block of Hormuz remained, a vassal kingdom that had fallen into the hands of the Spanish Habsburgs when the King of Spain inherited the throne of Portugal in 1580. Safavids (1501-1736), the dynasty that took control of Persia in the early 16th century, is often considered the beginning of modern Persian history. This map shows the Safavid Empire (green) at its greatest extent, including disputed territories (dots) where the Safavids found themselves in conflict with the Ottoman Empire (orange) and the Uzbek rulers of the Khanate of Bukhara (purple). [243], The Safavids by the time of their rise were Azerbaijani-speaking although they also used Persian as a second language. For most of the last decade of Ismail's reign, the domestic affairs of the empire were overseen by the Tajik vizier Mirza Shah Hossein until his assassination in 1523. When the young Shah Tahmsp took the throne, Iran was in a dire state. From then on Cyrus was called the " shah ," or king, of Persia. Then they had a bureaucracy and other classes in which through their own merit they could possible rise up in the ranks. Efahn fell to the Ghilzai Afghans of Kandahr in 1722. He was perhaps the closest advisor to the Shah, and, as such, functioned as his eyes and ears within the Court. [181], It achieved its greatest influence in the late Safavid and early post-Safavid era, when it dominated Twelver Shii Islam. [166], The power structure of the Safavid state was mainly divided into two groups: the Turkic-speaking military/ruling elitewhose job was to maintain the territorial integrity and continuity of the Iranian empire through their leadershipand the Persian-speaking administrative/governing elitewhose job was to oversee the operation and development of the nation and its identity through their high positions. "These legendary characters are often represented on textiles in contemporary Safavid dress, with men sporting turbans wound around a central oblong baton (taj haydari) (52.20.11). 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 (vakanevis). The two wrestlers were covered in grease. In the 10th and 11th centuries the Buwayhids, who were of the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam, ruled in Fars, Isfahan and Baghdad. With the Safavid state and its territories secured, in 1738 Nader conquered the Hotaki's last stronghold in Kandahar; in the same year, in need of fortune to aid his military careers against his Ottoman and Russian imperial rivals, he started his invasion of the wealthy but weak Mughal Empire accompanied by his Georgian subject Erekle II,[155] occupying Ghazni, Kabul, Lahore, and as far as Delhi, in India, when he completely humiliated and looted the militarily inferior Mughals. He suggests that this longevity might be most usefully . His descriptions of the public appearance, clothes and customs are corroborated by the miniatures, drawings and paintings from that time which have survived. This clearly differentiated Iran from the Ottomans, who were Sunnis. His oldest son, the crown prince Mohammad Baqer Mirza, was executed following a court intrigue in which several Circassians were involved, while two others were blinded. This new layer of society would continue to play a vital role in Iranian history up to and including the fall of the Qajar dynasty, some 300 years after Abbas' death. It was certainly not an oligarchy, nor was it an aristocracy. In 1501, the Safavid Shahs declared independence when the Ottomans outlawed Shi'a Islam in their territory. 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. [62] By 1511, the Uzbeks in the north-east, led by their Khan Muhammad Shaybni, were driven far to the north, across the Oxus River, where they continued to attack the Safavids. The Ottomans pushed further and on August 23, 1514, managed to engage the Safavids in the Battle of Chaldiran west of Tabriz. The Safavid Empire was a theocracy. 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. The abdication of Nicholas II on March 15, 1917, marked the end of the empire and its ruling Romanov dynasty. The Safavid Empire was a theocracy. Beginning in 1526 periodic battles broke out, beginning in northwest Iran but soon involving all of Khorasan. Shah Abbas, who significantly enlargened and completed this program and under whom the creation of this new layer in society may be mentioned as fully "finalized", completed the ghulam system as well. ISBN links support NWE through referral fees. Of these various movements, the Safavid Qizilbash was the most politically resilient, and due to its success Shah Ismail I gained political prominence in 1501. During his reign, the official language at the royal court was Azerbaijanian. -After declared shah (emperor), he banished his father, who was the previous shah, and blinded his brothers. In the midst of these foreign perils, rebellion broke out in Khorasan fomented by (or on behalf of) Mohammad's son, Abbas. Moreover, Shah Abbas's conversion to a ghulam-based military, though expedient in the short term, had, over the course of a century, weakened the country's strength by requiring heavy taxation and control over the provinces. Af first, Kopek Sultn's Ustajlu tribe suffered the heaviest, and he himself was killed in a battle. First, in the west, the Ottomans, seeing the disarray of the warriors, pressed deep into Safavid territory and occupied the old capital of Tabriz. The dynasty began as a Sufi order but evolved into a major gunpowder empire. History of the Safavids from Iran Chamber, Artistic and cultural history of the Safavids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Safavid_Empire&oldid=1092454, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. Regarding the usage of Georgian, Circassian and Armenian at the Royal Court, David Blow states,[195]. To counter the rising Safavid power, in 1502, Sultan Bayezid II forcefully deported many Shiite Muslims from Anatolia to other parts of the Ottoman realm. This was the beginning of the East India Company's long-running interest in Iran. Abbas was unable to comply. Savory, Roger M.; Karamustafa, Ahmet T. (1998), This page was last edited on 21 December 2022, at 07:16. Ismail sought to reintroduce Sunni orthodoxy. [14] David Blow adds; "it seems likely that most, if not all, of the Turkoman grandees at the court also spoke Persian, which was the language of the administration and culture, as well as of the majority of the population. The Safavid Empire of Persia. [167][failed verification].mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}html.client-js body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .mbox-text-span{margin-left:23px!important}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}, Shah Tahmasp introduced a change to this, when he, and the other Safavid rulers who succeeded him, sought to blur the formerly defined lines between the two linguistic groups, by taking the sons of Turkic-speaking officers into the royal household for their education in the Persian language. Then two Englishmen, Robert Sherley and his brother Anthony, helped Abbas I to reorganize the Shah's soldiers into a partially paid and well-trained standing army similar to the European model (which the Ottomans had already adopted). While the initial attacks were repelled, the Ottomans continued and grabbed considerable territory in Transcaucasia, Dagestan, Kurdistan and Lorestan and in 993/1585 they even took Tabriz.[103]. 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. Since Safavid was a theocracy they followed Gods will through the Shah, who at time was considered the entire government. [76] Under the Peace, the Ottomans agreed to restore Yerevan, Karabakh and Nakhjuwan to the Safavids and in turn would retain Mesopotamia (Iraq) and eastern Anatolia. 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.[200]. Russian Empire, historical empire founded on November 2 (October 22, Old Style), 1721, when the Russian Senate conferred the title of emperor (imperator) of all the Russias upon Peter I. [5] In addition to that, the Safavids' power base included largely Turkic-speaking warrior tribes from Azarbaijan and Anatolia, who were collectively known as the Kizilbash, and were, at certain points in time, the de facto rulers of the empire. The empire included colonies in coastal Africa, India, Indonesia, China, the Middle East, and South America. The 'Amili (Shiite scholars of what is know South Lebanon) operating through the Court-based religious posts, were forced to master the Persian language; their students translated their instructions into Persian. As one of the powerful "gunpowder empires" of the age, the Safavids re-established Persia's place as a key player in economics and geopolitics at the intersection of the eastern and western worlds. In return, they had to keep ready a standing army at all times and provide the Shah with military assistance upon his request. The state religion was Shi'a Islam. Shi'a's sacred sites were much closerin Iraq, captured by the Safavids in 1623 (but surrendered again to the Ottomans in 1639). [175] Thus, starting from the reign of Tahmsp I but only fully implemented and completed by Shah Abbas, this new group solely composed of ethnic Caucasians eventually came to constitute a powerful "third force" within the state as a new layer in society, alongside the Persians and the Qizilbash Turks, and it only goes to prove the meritocratic society of the Safavids. By choosing the central city of Isfahan, fertilized by the Zyande roud ("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 Ottomans and the Uzbeks, and at the same time gained more control over the Persian Gulf, which had recently become an important trading route for the Dutch and British East India Companies.[233]. [49] According to Arnold J. Toynbee,[245], 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. They finally arrived at the court of Philip III of Spain in 1602. But the decade of civil war had exposed the empire to foreign danger and Tahmsp had to turn his attention to the repeated raids by the Uzbeks. 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". o Early Safavid women had considerable power and respect and could be patrons of art, architecture, and religious institutions o Early Safavid differed with other Islamic socities o Divorce could be caused by either the wife or husband o After death of Abbas the Great, women lost some rights Political Capitals: Tabriz- Qazvin- Isfahan However, the brief puppet regime of Ismail III ended in 1760 when Karim Khan felt strong enough to take nominal power of the country as well and officially end the Safavid dynasty. 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