During the first 30 years of his long reign, he was able to suppress the internal divisions by exerting control over a strengthened central military force. After the decline of the Timurid Empire (13701506), Iran was politically splintered, giving rise to a number of religious movements. In the late 17th century, Safavid Iran had higher living standards than in Europe. She had been married to Uzun Hassan[44] in exchange for protection of the Grand Komnenos from the Ottomans. These cities were later inherited by his Abdali Afghan military commander, Ahmad Shah Durrani, who would go on to found the Durrani Empire in 1747. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Safavid history begins with the establishment of the Safaviyya by its eponymous founder Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252-1334). [31], b Official language,[9] coinage,[10][11] civil administration,[12] court (since Isfahan became capital),[13] literary,[10][12][14] theological discourse,[10] diplomatic correspondence, historiography,[15] court-based religious posts. As non-Turcoman converts to Islam, these Circassian and Georgian olmns (also written as ghulams) were completely unrestrained by clan loyalties and kinship obligations, which was an attractive feature for a ruler like Tahmsp whose childhood and upbringing had been deeply affected by Qizilbash tribal politics. Since two other sons had predeceased him, the result was a personal tragedy for Shah Abbas. Open Document. In the midst of these foreign perils, rebellion broke out in Khorasan fomented by (or on behalf of) Mohammad's son, Abbas. The status of physicians during the Safavids stood as high as ever. Except for Shah Abbas II, the Safavid rulers after Abbas I were largely ineffectual. [65] The Qizilbash, which still suffered under the legacy of the battle of Chaldiran, was engulfed in internal rivalries. GIMME SOME TRUTH. A dispute arose in the Ottoman Empire over who was to succeed the aged Suleiman the Magnificent. Having agreed to do so, a sergeant would investigate and summon the defendant, who was then obliged to pay the fee of the sergeant. That done, they slap their thighs, buttocks and hips to the rhythm of the drum. 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. 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". "the Order of the Lion and the Sun, a device which, since the 17 century at least, appeared on the national flag of the Safavids the lion representing 'Ali and the sun the glory of the Shii faith", Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovski, J. M. Rogers, Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House, Courtauld Institute of Art. What remained unchanged, however, was the constant threat of local disaffection with the weak central authority. PDF | On Jan 1, 2014, Vladimir Sazonov published Observations on Iranian cultural history and ideology - Maailma Vaade 16 | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate The Portuguese Empire and the discovery of the trading route around the Cape of Good Hope in 1487 not only hit a death blow to Venice as a trading nation, but it also hurt the trade that was going on along the Silk Road and especially the Persian Gulf. In 1503, the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti were made his vassals as well. "Greeks and Trkmens: The Pontic Exception", Peter Charanis. [46] The most important local rulers about 1500 were: Ismil was able to unite all these lands under the Iranian Empire he created. [198] 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. There is some indication that Mirza Salman was the chief conspirator. But the reverse seems not to have been true. What remained unchanged, was the "crop-sharing agreement" between whoever was the landlord, and the farmer. [3] The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by establishing Twelver Shsm as the state religion of Iran, as well as spreading Sha Islam in major parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, Caucasus, Anatolia, the Persian Gulf, and Mesopotamia. 1977, p. 77. [84] According to the Encyclopdia Iranica, this would be as well the starting point for the corps of the olmn-e a-ye-e arifa, or royal slaves, who would dominate the Safavid military for most of the empire's length, and would form a crucial part of the third force. Safavid Army - Military History - Oxford Bibliographies - obo Physiology 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 Thevenot experienced during his visit to Iran. [83] Although the first slave soldiers would not be organized until the reign of Abbas I, during Tahmasp's reign, Caucasians already became important members of the royal household, Harem and in the civil and military administration,[86][87] and were on their way of becoming an integral part of society. "They were granted control over land and . Other exports were horses, goat hair, pearls and an inedible bitter almond hadam-talka used as a spice in India. ARMY iii. Safavid Period - Encyclopaedia Iranica In the gravest crisis of Tahmsp's reign, Ottoman forces in 155354 captured Yerevan, Karabakh and Nakhjuwan, destroyed palaces, villas and gardens, and threatened Ardabil. No act of the Shah was valid without the counter seal of the Prime Minister. From 1540 and onwards, Shah Tahmasp initiated a gradual transformation of the Iranian society by slowly constructing a new branch and layer solely composed of ethnic Caucasians. They became rich on the growing trade between Europe and the Islamic civilisations of central Asia and India. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. The maximum extent of the Safavid Empire under Shah Abbas I ( CC BY-SA 4.0) The Safavids were a dynastic family that ruled over modern-day Iran. Thus Abbas was able to break dependence on the Qizilbash for military might indefinitely, and therefore was able to fully centralize control for the first time since the foundation of the Safavid state. The Turkmen tribes ( uymaq) that followed the Safavid rulers were known as the . 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 Khorasan. Both were converts to Islamor in the process of conversion, in the case of the Mongolsand ruled over largely sedentary, and by now predominantly Muslim populations from whom they were ethnically and linguistically alienated. Safavid and Mughal Empires The decline of the Mongol Empire laid ground for the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires. The Byzantine Empire saw itself as a continuation of the Roman Empire. PDF Free PDF Download Dictionary For Chemical Engineering English To He returned to Kartli, and in two punitive campaigns he devastated Tbilisi, killed 6070,000 Kakheti Georgian peasants, and deported between 130,000 and 200,000 Georgian captives to mainland Iran. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. During the early 17th century the power of the Qizilbash drastically diminished, the original militia that had helped Ismail I capture Tabriz and that had gained many administrative powers over the centuries. Abbas was unable to comply. John R. Perry, "Turkic-Iranian contacts", establishing Twelver Shsm as the state religion of Iran, a war with Iran that would last until 1590, Abbas I's Kakhetian and Kartlian campaigns, conquered the Hotaki's last stronghold in Kandahar, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Al-Hikma al-mutaaliya fi-l-asfar al-aqliyya al-arbaa, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, "Chronicling a Dynasty on the Make: New Light on the Early afavids in ayt Tabrz's, "Islamic Culture and Literature in Iran and Central Asia in the early modern period", "The emergence of the Safavids as a mystical order and their subsequent rise to power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries", "BARDA and BARDA-DRI v. Military slavery in Islamic Iran", "GEORGIA vii. Although Shh Ni'matullh was apparently a Sunn Muslim, the Ni'matullh order soon declared its adherence to Sha Islam after the rise of the Safavid dynasty. Ruda Jurdi Abisaab. 900901, tr. [197] 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. In 1585 two events occurred that would combine to break the impasse among the Qizilbash. Eskandar Beg, pp. In the 16th century, carpet weaving evolved from a nomadic and peasant craft to a well-executed industry with specialization of design and manufacturing. The latter included merchants trading in the bazaars, the trade and artisan guilds (asnf) and members of the quasi-religious organizations run by dervishes (futuvva). [157] There even are numerous recorded accounts of laymen that rose to high official posts, as a result of their merits. A Study of the Migration of Shii Works from Arab Regions to Iran at the Early Safavid Era. [145] The Iranian authority was restored in Kakheti, but the Qizilbash Turkics were prevented from settling in Kakheti, which undermined the planned Iranian policies in the respective province. Soltan Hoseyn (16941722) in particular was known for his love of wine and disinterest in governance. However, at that time it was referred to by various other names. That is for the women and to get themselves in good form. Immediately after Nader Shah's assassination in 1747 and the disintegration of his short-lived empire, the Safavids were re-appointed as shahs of Iran in order to lend legitimacy to the nascent Zand dynasty. Safi al-Din converted to Shi'ism and was a Persian nationalist. Slavery, Freedom Suits, and Legal Praxis in the Ottoman Empire, ca Among these were a number of Sufi brotherhoods, the Hurufis, Nuqtavis and Musha'sha'iyyah. Most of the extant poetry of Shah Ismail I is in Azerbaijani pen-name of Khatai. Rml and Kopek Sultn Ustajlu (who had been Ismail's last wakl) established themselves as co-regents of the young shah. After Saf al-Dn, the leadership of the Safaviyya passed to Sadr al-Dn Ms ( 794/139192). Began military campaigns to purify and reform Islam . [194] There were also the large number of gholams or "slaves of the shah", who were mainly Georgians, Circassians and Armenians. The Ottoman Turks and Safavids fought over the fertile plains of Iraq for more than 150 years. [187] 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. The fourth vakil was murdered by the Qizilbash, and the fifth was put to death by them. Indeed, one of the greatest legacies of the Safavids is the architecture. The Safavid Empire, although driven and inspired by strong religious faith, rapidly built the foundations of strong central secular government and administration. The Ottoman Empire: The Strengths Of The Ottoman Empire Because of the relative insecurity of property ownership in Iran, many private landowners secured their lands by donating them to the clergy as so called vaqf. Moreover, he began to strengthen Shii practice by such things as forbidding in the new capital of Qazvin poetry and music which did not esteem Ali and the Twelve Imams. The early Safavid empire was effectively a theocracy. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. This led to power being exercised through the highest officials of the ulama, the Ayatollahs. In addition to fighting its perennial enemies, their archrival the Ottomans and the Uzbeks as the 17th century progressed, Iran had to contend with the rise of new neighbors. 1. [192], The only field within medicine where some progress were made was pharmacology, with the compilement of the "Tibb-e Shifai" in 1556. Ismil followed the line of Iranian and Turkmen rulers prior to his assumption of the title "Padishah-i-Iran", previously held by Uzun Hasan and many other Iranian kings. Ismil's successors, most manifestly Shh Abbs I, successfully diminished the influence of the Qizilbash on the affairs of the state. During these operations an agent of the Samlu (now supporting Sam Mizra's pretensions) attempted to poison the shah. For art to succeed at this scale, patronage had to come from the top. When Abbas had a lively conversation in Turkish with the Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle, in front of his courtiers, he had to translate the conversation afterwards into Persian for the benefit of most of those present. [3][5], The Safavid Kings themselves claimed to be sayyids,[16] family descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, although many scholars have cast doubt on this claim. Efahn fell to the Ghilzai Afghans of Kandahr in 1722. The Safavid Empire (1501-1722) was based in what is today Iran. Georgian, Circassian and Armenian were also spoken, since these were the mother-tongues of many of the ghulams, as well as of a high proportion of the women of the harem. Safavid Period. Shah Abbas reduced taxes on farmers and herders and encouraged the growth of industry of the Safavid empire.Abbas also tolerated non-Muslims and valued their economic contributions. 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. The art of the Safavids is simply magnificent. [121] Ultimately forming an alliance, the two sought refuge with the Ottoman forces in Ottoman ruled Imereti. The Safavid dynasty (/sfvd, s-/; Persian: , pronounced [dudmne sfvi]) was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran, often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history. [31] 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. "IRAN ix. This layer would be solely composed of hundreds of thousands of deported, imported, and to a lesser extent voluntarily migrated ethnic Circassians, Georgians, and Armenians. They sustained one of the longest running empires of Iranian history, lasting from 1501 to 1736. 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. This Bakhtrioni Uprising was successfully defeated under personal direction of Shah Abbas II himself. The Mughal military was controlled by the emperor of the Mughal Empire. Examples of such were the trade and artisan guilds, which had started to appear in Iran from the 1500s. The vizier thought that the royal forces failed to prosecute the siege sufficiently and accused the forces of sedition. 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. The works of al-Razi (86592) (known to the West as Razes) were still used in European universities as standard textbooks of alchemy, pharmacology and pediatrics. 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. [58] The Ottoman sultans addressed him as the king of Iranian lands and the heir to Jamshid and Kai Khosrow.[59]. In private they usually wore a veil that only covered the hair and the back, but upon leaving the home, they put on manteaus, large cloaks that concealed their whole bodies except their faces. Last but by no means least there were the palace eunuchs who were also ghulams "white" eunuchs largely from the Caucasus, and "black" eunuchs from India and Africa. Later, during the Safavid and especially Qajar period, the Shii Ulema's power increased and they were able to exercise a role, independent of or compatible with the government. [105] The Ustajlu chief, Murshid Quli Khan, immediately acquiesced and received a royal pardon. [243], The Safavids by the time of their rise were Azerbaijani-speaking although they also used Persian as a second language. 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 Shi'a Islam on Iran as the official religion of the Safavid state, they enhanced the power of mujtahids. According to historian Roger Savory, "Salim's plan was to winter at Tabriz and complete the conquest of Persia the following spring. One such strength would have to be its military. [183] It remains only a small minority in the Shii world. [91] While the murderous actions of Ismail might be explained by political prudence (Ottoman sultans occasionally purged the bloodline to prevent succession rivals[92]), his actions against Shia suggest retaliation against his father, who saw himself as a pious practitioner. It was a Turkish dialect, the dialect of the Qizilbash Turkomans, which is still spoken today in the province of Azerbaijan, in north-western Iran. During this period, painting, metalwork, textiles and carpets reached new heights of perfection. A new age in Iranian architecture began with the rise of the Safavid dynasty. The Safavids also spent money to promote religion, making grants to shrines and religious schools. [138], The shah had set great store on an alliance with Spain, the chief opponent of the Ottomans in Europe. 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 language chiefly used by the Safavid court and military establishment was Azerbaijani. In the next 10 years he subjugated the greater part of Iran and annexed the Iraqi provinces of Baghdad and Mosul. Abbas I | Biography, History, Architecture, & Significance [150], The country was repeatedly raided on its frontiersKerman by Baloch tribes in 1698, Khorasan by the Hotakis in 1717, Dagestan and northern Shirvan by the Lezgins in 1721, constantly in Mesopotamia by Sunni peninsula Arabs. The Safavid shahs ruled over one of the Gunpowder Empires. [228], 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. [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. In 1619 he appointed the loyal Simon II (or Semayun Khan) on the symbolic throne of Kakheti, while placing a series of his own governors to rule of districts where rebellious inhabitants were mostly located. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Safavid-dynasty, Khan Academy - The Safavids, an introduction, Efahn, Iran: Masjed-e Shaykh Luf Allh (Sheikh Lofollh Mosque), Efahn, Iran: interior of Masjed-e Shaykh Luf Allh (Sheikh Lofollh Mosque). Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (/sfvd, s-/), also referred to as the Safavid Empire,[c] was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It became a military group as well as a religious one in the 15th century. [30] The Safavid Shh Ism'l I established the Twelver denomination of Sha Islam as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. This agreement concisted of five elements: land, water, plough-animals, seed and labour. Quickly making a name as a military genius both feared and respected amongst the empire's friends and enemies (including Iran's archrival the Ottoman Empire, and Russia; both empires Nader would deal with soon afterwards), Nader Shah easily defeated the Afghan Hotaki forces in the 1729 Battle of Damghan. [83] Therefore, in 1540, Shah Tahmsp started the first of a series of invasions of the Caucasus region, both meant as a training and drilling for his soldiers, as well as mainly bringing back massive numbers of Christian Circassian and Georgian slaves, who would form the basis of a military slave system,[84] alike to the janissaries of the neighbouring Ottoman Empire,[85] as well as at the same time forming a new layer in Iranian society composed of ethnic Caucasians. Despite the predominantly Sunni character of this territory, he proclaimed Shiism the state religion and enforced its creed and prayers in the mosques of his dominion. People met there to drink liqueurs or coffee, to smoke tobacco or opium, and to chat or listen to poetry. Daggers were worn at the waist. The 150-year tug-of-war accentuated the Sunni and Shi'a rift in Iraq. Blow, D; Shah Abbas: The ruthless king who became an Iranian legend, p. 9. The name "Iran" disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. 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, Masjid-e Shah, completed in 1630, the Imam Mosque (Masjid-e Imami) the Lutfallah Mosque and the Royal Palace. Abbas offered trading rights and the chance to preach Christianity in Iran in return for help against the Ottomans. When the second Persian vakil was placed in command of a Safavid army in Transoxiana, 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. 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. Abbas I recognized the commercial benefit of promoting the artsartisan products provided much of Iran's foreign trade. William L. Cleveland and Martin P. Bunton. [15], An Iranian dynasty rooted in the Sufi Safavid order[32] founded by Kurdish sheikhs,[33] it heavily intermarried with Turkoman,[34] Georgian,[35] Circassian,[36][37] and Pontic Greek[38] dignitaries and was Turkish-speaking and Turkified. Updates? It lasted from 1501 to 1722 and was strong enough to challenge the Ottomans in the west and the Mughals in the east. [48] Although Ismil was defeated and his capital was captured, the Safavid empire survived. He was perhaps the closest advisor to the Shah, and, as such, functioned as his eyes and ears within the Court. Next in line were the Master of the Royal Stables (Mirakor bashi) and the Master of the Hunt (Mirshekar bashi). The Safavid Empire, 1501-1736 - Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas Military & Wartime Collectibles (3642) Musical Instruments & Equipment (506) . [136][137] Henceforward, the number of diplomatic missions to and fro greatly increased. 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. He also used his new force to dislodge the Portuguese from Bahrain (1602) and, with English help, from Hormuz (1622), in the Persian Gulf (a vital link in Portuguese trade with India). Although the Uzbeks continued to make occasional raids into Khorasan, the Safavid empire was able to keep them at bay throughout its reign. Ferrier, R. W.; A Journey to Persia: Jean Chardin's Portrait of a Seventeenth-century Empire; pp 7171. Except for Shah Abbas II, the Safavid rulers after Abbas I were largely ineffectual. PDF Josh Raines AP World History Chapter 21 notes (Safavids) 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.