political structure of the safavid empire
His native language was Old Tati (zar), an extinct Iranian dialect of the north closely related to Persian. The stability of the Safavid system allowed art and culture to flourish; the Safavid era is considered one of the high points of Perso-Islamic culture. of your Kindle email address below. While Safi al-Dins origins are lost to history, it is generally believed that he came from a family of Azeri-speaking Kurds, although even this is uncertain. His son Ali Mirza took his place, but within a few years his capital at Ardabil was conquered by his enemies. Tabriz was the center of this industry. Has data issue: false He had completely driven out the Afghans, who were still occupying Persia, by 1730. Tahmasps grandson Abbas I, generally considered the strongest Safavid shah as well as one of the greatest rulers in Iranian history, found himself compelled to take up arms once again (Figure 4.21). The Ottoman and Safavid Empires: Comparison Essay The silk industry of early modern Iran was one of the cornerstones of the Safavid economy. In addition to fighting its perennial enemies, the Ottomans and Uzbeks, as the seventeenth century progressed, Iran had to contend with the rise of two more neighbors. The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736 and 1750 to 1773) and, at their height, they controlled all of what is now Iran, Republic of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Georgia, parts of the North Caucasus including Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, Power was shifting to a new class of merchants, many of them ethnic Armenians, Georgians, and Indians. Although at first he was able to negotiate safe passage for his army, the Shirvanshahs, already uneasy about Haydars growing power, used his eventual attack on one of their cities as an excuse to declare war on the Safavids. The army divisions were: Ghulams ("crown servants or slaves" usually conscripted from Armenian, Georgian, and Circassian lands), Tofongchis (musketeers), and Topchis (artillery-men). Hostname: page-component-75b8448494-knlg2 To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser. The Safavids, an introduction (article) | Khan Academy It became more identifiably Shi'a in its orientation around the year 1400. Detail, Sultan Muhammad, The Court of Gayumars, Shahnameh for Shah Tahmasp I, c. 152425, opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper, 45 x 30 cm, folio 20v (Aga Khan Museum, Toronto; photo: Brilliantly painted manuscripts. Safi al-Din renamed the order after himselfSafaviyyaand made a number of reforms that reshaped it from a local order to a religious movement that sought followers from around Iran and neighboring countries. Located in the central Middle East, the kingdom occupied a fundamental geographic location and had substantial effect in the stability of the region. "useRatesEcommerce": false This group became known as the Shia. To save content items to your account, The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safaviyya Sufi order, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region. [6] It was an Iranian dynasty of Kurdish origin, [7] but during their rule they intermarried with Turkoman, [8] Georgian, [9] Circassian, [10] [11] and Pontic Greek [12] dignitaries, nevertheless they . Sunni clerics and theologians were given the choice of conversion or exile. However the brief puppet regime of Ismail III ended in 1760, when Karim Khan felt strong enough take nominal power of the country as well and officially end the Safavid dynasty. After Abbass death, the Safavid state met another internal threat, this time from the Georgian kingdom of Kakheti. According to many historians, the Safavid empire marked the beginning of modern Persia. It was founded by Isml I, who, by converting his people from Sunnite to Shite Islam and adopting the trappings of Persian monarchy, planted the seeds of a unique national and religious identity. For the full article, see, https://www.britannica.com/summary/Safavid-dynasty. In 1598, Abbas moved his capital from Qazvin to Isfahan in the central Iranian plateau, far from the constantly shifting borders with the Ottomans and Uzbeks and closer to the Persian Gulf and the newly arrived traders of the British and Dutch East India Companies. then you must include on every physical page the following attribution: If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org In 1522, the Safavid royal library of Shah Tahmasp produced the most exquisitely illustrated Shahnameh of all time, now known as the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp. Royal manuscripts such as this were highly collaborative enterprises that brought together miniaturists, illuminators, calligraphers, poets, scribes, and gold sprinklers. Iskander Beg Monshis History of Shah Abbas the Great, written a few years after its subject's death, achieved a nuanced depth of history and character. The epic called the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), a stellar example of manuscript illumination and calligraphy, was made during Shah Tahmasp's reign. In 1514, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I invaded western Armenia, causing the ill-prepared Safavid army to retreat. Outside of Iran, Safavid art was the portal to the wider world of Persian art and architecture when art historians first began studying Islamic art in the early nineteenth century. During the period of Mongol rule over Iran and the Caucasus, the distinction between Shia and Sunni became less important than it had been. Various groups of Persian-speaking peoples lived in the Iranian plateau and were usually described as Tajik.. There had been, however, Shi'a communities in some cities like Qom and Sabzevar as early as eighth century. The Safavids, an introduction - Smarthistory 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. The subjects, even if they sponsored the work, are generally idealized rather than actual persons. The Qizilbash were largely Turcoman, another Turkic group with its own language. Then he turned against the Ottomans, recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq, and the Caucasian provinces, by 1622. The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid Dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. In May 1501, Ismail I declared Tabriz his capital and himself Shah of Azerbaijan. The remaining 5 percent of Shia are Zaydis or Seveners, a sect established by Zayd, the great-grandson of Ali, who disagree with Twelvers over the identity of the seventh imam. 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. Prior to the rise of the Safavids, the region was broken up into a mosaic of autonomous states, all governed by local rulers. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The article analyses the social and political structure of the Safavid Empire. Muammad Mumin, A Young Lady Reclining After a Bath, leaf from the Read Persian Album Herat (Afghanistan), 1590s, 37.8 x 24.1 cm, MS M.386.5r (The Morgan Library and Museum), Around the middle of the sixteenth century, a trend developed for stand-alone illustrations of popular stories, including the, Rather than confined within the binding of books, individual miniatures were mobile. This clearly differentiated Iran from the Ottomans, who were Sunnis. To further legitimize his power, Ismail I also added claims of royal Sassanian heritage after becoming Shah of Iran to his own genealogy. Bureaucracy and landed class who were considered the middle classes. Feature Flags: { Browne, "A Literary History of Persia," Vol. Known as, Muqarnas and mirror mosaics, outdoor portal, Chehel Sotoun (photo: Amir Pahaei, CC BY-SA 4.0). SAFAVID AND QAJARThe Safavid period (1501-1722) continued many Mongol and Timurid practices, but may also be seen as the beginning of modern Iranian history. OpenStax is part of Rice University, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Isfahan bears the most prominent samples of the Safavid architecture, all constructed in the years after Shah Abbas I permanently moved the capital to that city in 1598: The Imperial Mosque, Masjid-e Shah, completed in 1630, the Imami Mosque,Masjid-e Imami, the Lutfullah Mosque and the Royal Palace. He was able to reverse many of Irans territorial losses to the Russians and Ottomans; however, he had no interest in sharing power. After becoming the Safaviyeh leader in 1447, Sheikh Junayda descendant of Sheikh Safi Al-Dintransformed it into a revolutionary Shi'a movement with the goal of seizing power in Iran. Soon after the Safavids rose to power, they established Twelver Shiism (the largest branch of Shia, Safavid art and architecture reflected this adoption of a Shia identity. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo