Safavid Iran: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Iranian empire (1501–1736)}}

{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}

| era = <!-- Use: "Napoleonic Wars", "Cold War", etc. -->Early modern period

| status = [[Empire]]

* [[Persian language|Persian]]{{ref label|b-Persian|b}}

* [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]{{ref label|c-Azerbaijani|c}}

}}

| religion = [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver]] [[Shia Islam|Shīʿa Islam]] (official)

| year_deputy2 = 1729–1736

| legislature = [[Council of State]]||<!-- Area and population of a given year -->

| stat_area1 = 2900000

| stat_pop1 = <!-- population (w/o commas or spaces), population density is calculated if area is also given -->

| stat_area4 =

| stat_pop4 =

| stat_area5 =

| stat_pop5 = 8–10 million

{{note label|b-Persian|b}} Official language,<ref name="Roemer 189" /> coinage,<ref name="MatheeIranica">Rudi Matthee, "[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids Safavids] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901053617/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids |date=2022-09-01 }}" 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: "...&nbsp;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"/> literary,<ref name="MatheeIranica" /><ref name="Perry"/><ref>Arnold J. Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', V, pp. 514–515. 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, 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 ʻAmili (Lebanese scholars of Shiʻi 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' Shiʻi belief."</ref> poetry<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ: His poetry |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |first1=Roger M. |last1=Savory |first2=Ahmet T. |last2=Karamustafa |year=2012 |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/esmail-i-safawi#ii }}</ref>

 

 

{{note label|d-Georgian|d}} Court.<ref>{{harvnb|Blow|2009|pp=165–166}} "Georgian, Circassian and Armenian were also spoken [at the court], since these were the mother-tongues of many of the ghulams, as well as of a high proportion of the women of the harem. Figueroa heard Abbas speak Georgian, which he had no doubt acquired from his Georgian ghulams and concubines."</ref>

}}

 

An [[Iran]]ian dynasty rooted in the [[Sufi]] [[Safavid order]]<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=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |series=Routledge Worlds |pages=15–36 |doi=10.4324/9781003170822 |isbn=978-1-003-17082-2|s2cid=236371308 }}</ref> founded by [[Kurds|Kurdish]] [[sheikh]]s,<ref>

* 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> it heavily intermarried with [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]],<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

*Savory, Roger M.; Karamustafa, Ahmet T. (1998) ''ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ''. ''Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6'', pp. 628–636

 

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]], [[Azerbaijan|Republic of Azerbaijan]], [[Bahrain]], [[Armenia]], eastern [[Georgia (country)|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 [[Eastern world|East]] and [[Western world|West]], the establishment of an efficient state and [[bureaucracy]] based upon "[[Separation of powers#Checks and balances|checks and balances]]", their [[Safavid art|architectural innovations]], and [[Mecenate|patronage for fine arts]].<ref name="Iranica"/> The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|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]].<ref name="Iranica"/><ref name="savoryeiref"/>

 

==Background==

 

==History==

{{Main|Ismail I}}

 

====Iran prior to Ismāʻil's rule====

[[File:Ismail declares himself shah by entering Tabriz, Chingiz Mehbaliyev.jpg|thumbnail|right|[[Ismail I|Ismail]] declares himself "Shah" by entering [[Tabriz]]; his troops in front of [[Arg of Tabriz]], painter ''Chingiz Mehbaliyev'', in private collection.]]

 

* [[Husayn Bayqarah|Huṣayn Bāyqarā]], the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] ruler of [[Herat|Herāt]]

[[File:Сефи 1-й 1629-42.jpg|thumb|right|One of the first actions performed by [[List of monarchs of Persia|Shāh]] [[Ismail I|Ismā'īl I]] of the [[Safavid dynasty]] was the proclamation of the [[Twelver]] denomination of [[Shia Islam|Shīʿa Islam]] as the [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|official religion]] of his newly-founded Persian Empire, causing sectarian tensions in the [[Middle East]] when he destroyed the tombs of the [[List of Abbasid caliphs|Abbasid caliphs]], the Sunnī Imam [[Abu Hanifa an-Nu'man|Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān]], and the [[Sufism|Ṣūfī Muslim]] ascetic [[Abdul Qadir Gilani|ʿAbdul Qādir Gīlānī]] in 1508.<ref name="Masters 2009">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Masters |author-first=Bruce |year=2009 |chapter=Baghdad |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&pg=PA71 |editor1-last=Ágoston |editor1-first=Gábor |editor2-first=Bruce |editor2-last=Masters |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Facts On File]] |page=71 |isbn=978-0-8160-6259-1 |lccn=2008020716 |access-date=21 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516202344/https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&pg=PA71 |archive-date=16 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</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

 

In 1500, Ismāʻil I [[Safavid conquest of Shirvan|invaded]] neighboring [[Shirvan]] 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 [[Tabriz]] in July 1501, where he enthroned himself the Shāh of [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]],<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>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9377424/Safavid-dynasty ''Britannica Concise''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120194533/http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9377424/Safavid-dynasty |date=2008-01-20 }}. "Safavid Dynasty", Online Edition 2007.</ref> proclaimed himself [[King of Kings]] (''[[shah]]anshah'') 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, ''Shiʻism'', 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 Shiʻi as the ruling faith"</ref> and minted coins in his name, proclaiming [[Twelver|Twelver Shīʿīsm]] as the [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|official religion of his domain]].<ref name="savoryeiref" /> The establishment of Twelver Shīʿīsm as the state religion of Safavid Iran led to various [[Tariqa|Ṣūfī orders]] (''tariqa'') openly declaring their Shīʿīte position, and others to promptly assume Shīʿa Islam. Among these, the founder of one of the most successful Ṣūfī orders, [[Shah Nimatullah Wali|Shāh Ni'matullāh Walī]] (d. 1431), traced his descent from the [[List of Isma'ili imams|first Ismāʿīlī Imam]], [[Muhammad ibn Isma'il|Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl]], as evidenced in a poem as well as another unpublished literary composition. Although Shāh Ni'matullāh was apparently a Sunnī Muslim, the [[Ni'matullāhī]] order soon declared its adherence to Shīʿa Islam after the rise of the Safavid 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>

[[File:Map Safavid persia.png|thumb|250px|left|Extent of Shāh Ismāʻil's empire in [[Western Asia]]]]

 

 

Having started with just the possession of Azerbaijan, [[Shirvan]], southern [[Safavid Daghestan|Dagestan]] (with its important city of [[Derbent]]), and [[Armenia]] in 1501,<ref>{{cite book|last=Ward|first=Steven R.|author-link=Steven R. Ward|title=Immortal, Updated Edition: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOuVAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|year=2014|publisher=Georgetown University Press|isbn=978-1-62616-032-3|page=43}}</ref> [[Erzincan]] and [[Erzurum]] fell into his power in 1502,<ref>{{cite book|last=Sinclair|first=T.A.|author-link=Thomas Alan Sinclair|title=Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKpEBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA289|year=1989|publisher=Pindar Press|isbn=978-1-904597-75-9|page=289}}</ref> [[Hamadan]] in 1503, [[Shiraz]] and [[Kerman]] in 1504, [[Diyarbakır]], [[Najaf]], and [[Karbala]] in 1507, [[Van Province|Van]] in 1508, [[Baghdad]] in 1509, and [[Herat]], as well as other parts of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], in 1510. In 1503, the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Kartli|Kartli]] and [[Kingdom of Kakheti|Kakheti]] were made his vassals as well.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rayfield|first=Donald|author-link=Donald Rayfield|title=Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxQpmg_JIpwC&pg=PA165|year=2013|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-78023-070-2|page=165}}</ref> By 1511, the [[Uzbeks]] in the north-east, led by their Khan [[Muhammad Shaybani|Muhammad Shaybāni]], were driven far to the north, across the [[Oxus River]], where they continued to attack the Safavids. Ismāʻil'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 [[Hindu Kush]]. Although the Uzbeks continued to make occasional raids into Khorasan, the Safavid empire was able to keep them at bay throughout its reign.

====Start of clashes with the Ottomans====

{{Main|Battle of Chaldiran|Qizilbash}}

[[File:Battle of Chaldiran (1514).jpg|thumb|upright|Artwork of the Battle of Chaldiran.]]

 

 

In 1514, Sultan Selim I marched through Anatolia and reached the plain of Chaldiran near the city of [[Khoy]], where a [[Battle of Chaldiran|decisive battle]] was fought. Most sources agree that the Ottoman army was at least double the size of that of [[Ismail I|Ismāʻil]];<ref name="ismailsafaviiranica" /> furthermore, the Ottomans had the advantage of artillery, which the Safavid army lacked. According to historian [[Roger 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 Ismāʻil was defeated and his capital was captured, the Safavid empire survived. The war between the two powers continued under Ismāʻil's son, Emperor [[Tahmasp I]], and the Ottoman Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]], until Shah Abbās retook the area lost to the Ottomans by 1602.

Early Safavid power in Iran was based on the military power of the Qizilbash. Ismāʻil 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'' (chief administrator, ''vakil'' in Turkish). Ismāʻil's successors, most manifestly Shāh Abbās I, successfully diminished the influence of the Qizilbash on the affairs of the state.

 

{{Main|Tahmasp I}}

 

[[File:Tahmasb-1.jpg|thumb|upright|Shah Tahmasp, fresco on the walls of the [[Chehel Sotoun]] Palace]]

 

 

Thus Div Soltān emerged victorious in the first palace struggle, but he fell victim to Chuha Sultān of the Takkalu, who turned Tahmāsp against his first mentor. In 1527 Tahmāsp demonstrated his desire by shooting an arrow at Div Soltān before the assembled court. The Takkalu replaced the Rumlu as the dominant tribe. They in turn would be replaced by the Shamlu, whose amir, Husain Khan, became the chief adviser. This latest leader would only last until 1534, when he was deposed and executed.<ref>Roemer, p. 234.</ref>

 

 

====Foreign threats to the Empire====

{{Main|Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555)|Peace of Amasya}}

 

Notwithstanding the success with firearms at Jām, Tahmāsp still lacked the confidence to engage their archrivals the Ottomans, choosing instead to cede territory, often using [[scorched earth]] tactics in the process.<ref>Mikheil Svanidze, "The Amasya Peace Treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Iran (June 1, 1555) and Georgia," ''Bulletin of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences'', Vol. 3, pp. 191–97 (2009) ("Svanidze"), p. 191.</ref> The goal of the Ottomans in the 1534 and 1548–1549 campaigns, during the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555)|1532–1555 Ottoman–Safavid War]], was to install Tahmāsp's brothers (Sam Mirza and [[Alqas Mirza]], respectively) as shah in order to make Iran a vassal state. Although in those campaigns (and in 1554) the Ottomans captured [[Tabriz]], they lacked a communications line sufficient to occupy it for long.<ref name="Streusand, p. 147"/> Nevertheless, given the insecurity in Iraq and its northwest territory, Tahmāsp moved his court from Tabriz to [[Qazvin]].

When the young Shah Tahmāsp took the throne, Iran was in a dire state. But in spite of a weak economy, a civil war and foreign wars on two fronts, Tahmāsp managed to retain his crown and maintain the territorial integrity of the empire (although much reduced from Ismail's time). 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. In the war against the Uzbeks he showed that the Safavids had become a [[Gunpowder empires|gunpowder empire]]. His tactics in dealing with the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] threat eventually allowed for a treaty which preserved peace for twenty years.

 

 

Tahmāsp also planted the seeds that would, unintentionally, produce change much later. 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. Not taken care of accordingly, these were a serious threat to the ruler, or worse, could bring the fall of the former or could lead to unnecessary court intrigues. According to ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', for Tahmāsp, the problem circled around the military tribal elite of the empire, the [[Qizilbash|Qezelbāš]], who believed that physical proximity to and control of a member of the immediate Safavid family guaranteed spiritual advantages, political fortune, and material advancement.<ref name="Tahmāsp I">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tahmasp-i|title=Tahmāsp I|access-date=12 May 2015}}</ref> Despite that Tahmāsp could nullify and neglect some of his consternations regarding potential issues related to his family by having his close direct male relatives such as his brothers and sons routinely transferred around to various governorships in the empire, he understood and realized that any long-term solutions would mainly involve minimizing the political and military presence of the Qezelbāš as a whole. According to ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', his father and founder of the Empire, Ismail I, had begun this process on a bureaucratic level as he appointed a number of prominent Persians in powerful bureaucratic positions, and one can see this continued in Tahmāsp's lengthy and close relationship with the [[List of Safavid grand viziers|chief vizier]], Qāżi Jahān of Qazvin, after 1535.<ref name="Tahmāsp I"/> While Persians continued to fill their historical role as administrators and clerical elites under Tahmāsp, little had been done so far to minimize the military role of the Qezelbāš.<ref name="Tahmāsp I"/> Therefore, in 1540, Shah Tahmāsp 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 [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Circassians|Circassian]] and [[Georgians|Georgian]] slaves, who would form the basis of a military slave system,<ref name="Streusand, p. 148">Streusand, p. 148.</ref> alike to the [[janissaries]] of the neighbouring Ottoman Empire,<ref name="iranicaonline.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/barda-v|title=BARDA and BARDA-DĀRI v. Military slavery in Islamic Iran|access-date=15 April 2014}}</ref> as well as at the same time forming a new layer in Iranian society composed of ethnic [[Ethnic groups in the Caucasus|Caucasians]].

Although the first slave soldiers would not be organized until the reign of Abbas I, during Tahmāsp's time Caucasians would already become important members of the royal household, [[Harem]] and in the civil and military administration,<ref name="Manz">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/carkas-cherkes-term-used-in-persian-arabic-and-turkic-for-the-circassian-people-of-the-northwest-caucasus-who-call-thems|title=Čarkas|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|last=Manz|first=Beatrice|access-date=1 April 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102192506/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/carkas-cherkes-term-used-in-persian-arabic-and-turkic-for-the-circassian-people-of-the-northwest-caucasus-who-call-thems|archive-date=2 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="books.google.nl">{{cite book|last=Lapidus|first=Ira M.|author-link=Ira M. Lapidus|title=Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qcPZ1k65pqkC&pg=PA494|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-51441-5|page=494}}</ref> and by that becoming their way of eventually becoming an integral part of the society. One of Tahmāsp's sisters married a Circassian, who would use his court office to team up with Tahmāsp's daughter, [[Pari Khān Khānum]] to assert themselves in succession matters after Tahmāsp's death.

 

 

When Tahmāsp died in 984/1576, Iran was calm domestically, with secure borders and no imminent threat from either the Uzbeks or the Ottomans. What remained unchanged, however, was the constant threat of local disaffection with the weak central authority. That condition would not change (and in fact it would worsen) until Tahmāsp's grandson, Abbas I, assumed the throne.

 

===Chaos under Tahmasp's sons===

 

{{Main|Ismail II}}

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. He had all his relatives killed except for his older brother, Mohammad Khudabanda, who, being nearly blind, was not a real candidate for the throne, and Mohammad's three sons, Hamza Mirza, Abbas Mirza and Abu Talib Mirza.<ref>Streusand, p. 149.</ref> While the murderous actions of Ismail might be explained by political prudence (Ottoman sultans occasionally purged the bloodline to prevent succession rivals<ref>Roemer, p. 251.</ref>), his actions against Shi’a suggest retaliation against his father, who saw himself as a pious practitioner. Ismail sought to reintroduce Sunni orthodoxy. But even here there may have been practical political considerations; namely, "concern about the excessively powerful position of Shiʻi dignitaries, which would have been undermined by a reintroduction of the Sunna."<ref>Roemer, p. 252.</ref> His conduct might also be explained by his drug use. In any event, he was ultimately killed (according to some accounts) by his Circassian half-sister, [[Pari Khan Khanum|Pari Khān Khānum]], who championed him over Haydar. She is said to have poisoned his opium.<ref>Savory, p. 70.</ref>

 

{{Main|Mohammad Khodabanda}}

[[File:Jealousy among Rivals.png|thumb|upright|"Jealousy among Rivals" attributed to Muhammadi. Miniature painting contained in a Persian volume entitled ''Busta'' by Sa'di in 1579, possibly under the patronage of Vizier [[Mirza Salman Jaberi]]. E.M. Soudavar Trust, Houston, Texas.]]

On the death of Ismail II there were three candidates for succession: Shāh Shujā', the infant son of Ismail (only a few weeks old), Ismail's brother, Mohammad Khodabanda; and Mohammad's son, Sultan Hamza Mirza, 11 years old at the time. Pari Khān Khānum, sister of Ismail and Mohammad, hoped to act as regent for any of the three (including her older brother, who was nearly blind). Mohammad was selected and received the crown on February 11, 1579.<ref>Roemer, p. 253.</ref> Mohammad would rule for 10 years, and his sister at first dominated the court, but she fell in the first of many intrigues which continued even though the Uzbeks and Ottomans again used the opportunity to threaten Safavid territory.

 

 

<blockquote> She was by no means content to exercise a more or less indirect influence on affairs of state: instead, she openly carried out all essential functions herself, including the appointment of the chief officers of the realm. In place of the usual royal audience, these high dignitaries had to assemble each morning at the entrance to the women's apartments in order to receive the Begum's orders. On these occasions the royal edicts were drawn up and sealed.<ref name="Roem 255" /></blockquote>

The amirs demanded that she be removed, and Mahd-i Ulya was strangled in the harem in July 1579 on the ground of an alleged affair with the brother of the [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean khan]], Adil Giray,<ref name="Roem 255" /> who was captured during the 1578–1590 Ottoman war and held captive in the capital, Qazvin.{{sfn|Sicker|2001|pp=2–3}} None of the perpetrators were brought to justice, although the shah lectured the assembled amirs on how they departed from the old ways when the shah was master to his Sufi disciples. The shah used that occasion to proclaim the 11-year-old Sultan Hamza Mirza (Mahd-i ‘Ulyā's favorite) crown-prince.<ref>Roemer, p. 256.</ref>

 

 

{{Continental Asia in 1600 CE|right|{{center|The Safavid Empire and contemporary Asian polities circa 1588}}|{{Annotation|0|0|[[File:Continental Asia date mask.png|300px]]}}{{Annotation|270|05|[[1588 CE|<span style="color:#4F311CFF">1588</span>]]|text-align=center|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=10|color=#000000}}|Map_of_Safavid_Empire_circa_1588.png}}

====Restoration of central authority====

 

 

[[File:Matthaus 1598.jpg|thumb|left|Safavid Persia, 1598]]

[[File:Hondius 1610.jpg|thumb|left|Safavid Persia, 1610]]

 

 

Abbas also greatly increased the number of cannons at his disposal, permitting him to field 500 in a single battle.<ref name=BN142/> Ruthless discipline was enforced and looting was severely punished. Abbas was also able to draw on military advice from a number of European envoys, particularly from the English adventurers Sir [[Anthony Shirley]] and his brother [[Robert Shirley]], who arrived in 1598 as envoys from the [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Earl of Essex]] on an unofficial mission to induce Iran into an anti-Ottoman alliance.<ref>{{harvnb|Bomati|Nahavandi|1998|p=143}}</ref> As mentioned by the ''[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]'', lastly, from 1600 onwards, the Safavid statesman [[Allahverdi Khan|Allāhverdī Khan]], in conjunction with Robert Sherley, undertook further reorganizations of the army, which meant among other things further dramatically increasing the number of ''ghulams'' to 25,000.<ref name="ALLĀHVERDĪ KHAN 1">{{cite web|last1=R.M.|first1=Savory|title=ALLĀHVERDĪ KHAN (1)|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/allahverdi-khan-d-1|website=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=1 January 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Abbas I of Persia.jpg|thumb|upright|Abbas I as shown on one of the paintings in the [[Chehel Sotoun]] pavilion.]]

 

 

The [[Ottoman Turks]] and Safavids fought over the fertile plains of Iraq for more than 150 years. The capture of Baghdad by Ismail I in 1509 was only followed by its loss to the Ottoman Sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Suleiman I]] in 1534. After subsequent campaigns, the Safavids [[Capture of Baghdad (1624)|recaptured Baghdad in 1624]] during the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1623–39)]] yet lost it again to [[Murad IV]] in 1638 after Abbas had died. Henceforth a treaty, signed in [[Qasr-e Shirin]] known as the [[Treaty of Zuhab]] 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 [[Iraq]].

[[File:Husain Ali Beg.jpg|thumb|upright|The ambassador [[Hossein Ali Beg Bayat|Husain Ali Beg]] led the first [[Persian embassy to Europe (1599–1602)]].]]

 

 

[[File:Embassy to Europe.jpg|thumb|left|Fresco in the [[Doge's Palace]], depicting [[Marino Grimani (doge)|Doge Marino Grimani]] receiving the Persian Ambassadors, 1599]]

 

 

[[File:Abbas I as a new Caesar being honoured by the trumpets of fame and the Persian embassy in Allegorie de l Occasion by Frans II Francken 1628.jpg|thumb|upright|Abbas I as a new [[Caesar (title)|Caesar]] being honoured by the Trumpets of Fame, together with the [[Persian embassy to Europe (1609–15)|1609–1615 Persian embassy]], in ''[[:File:Allegorie de l Occasion Frans II Francken 1628.jpg|Allégorie de l'Occasion]]'', by [[Frans II Francken]], 1628]]

 

 

 

====Succession and legacy of Abbas I====

In 1659, the [[Kingdom of Kakheti]] rose up against the Safavid Iranian rule due to a change of policy that included the mass settling of [[Qizilbash]] Turkic tribes in the region in order to repopulate the province, after Shah Abbas' [[Abbas I's Kakhetian and Kartlian campaigns|earlier]] mass deportations of between 130,000<ref>{{harvnb|Munshī|1978|p=1116}}</ref> – 200,000{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2015|pp=291, 536}}{{sfn|Blow|2009|p=174}}<ref>{{harvnb|Sīstānī|p=509}}{{Full citation needed|date=May 2015}}</ref> [[Georgians|Georgian]] subjects to Iran's mainland and massacre of another thousand in 1616 virtually left the province without any substantial population. This [[Bakhtrioni Uprising]] was successfully defeated under personal direction of Shah [[Abbas II of Persia|Abbas II]] himself. However, strategically it remained inconclusive.<ref>{{harvnb|Javakhishvili|1970}}{{page needed|date=May 2015}}</ref> 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.

 

 

 

[[File:Persia,_Caspian_Sea,_part_of_Independent_Tartary.png|thumb|Map of the Safavid Empire, published 1736.]]

 

 

[[File:Moll 1720 Persian Empire.JPG|thumb|left|A map of Safavid Empire in 1720, showing different states of [[Persia]]]]

 

 

[[File:Safavid Persian Empire.jpg|thumb|Part of the Safavid Persian Empire (on right), the Ottoman Empire, and [[West Asia]] in general, Emanuel Bowen, 1744–52]]

While large in terms of land area, the large proportion of deserts and mountains in its territory meant density was very low; the empire's population is estimated to have probably numbered between eight and ten million in 1650, as compared to {{circa|20 million}} for the Ottoman Empire in 1600.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/time-in-early-modern-islam/safavid-mughal-and-ottoman-empires/9D55F0A0262017473EC8A9A7ED86C508/core-reader#:~:text=In%201600%20the%20population%20of%20the%20empire%20was%20about%20twenty%20million Safavid, Mughal, and Ottoman Empires.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927203951/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/time-in-early-modern-islam/safavid-mughal-and-ottoman-empires/9D55F0A0262017473EC8A9A7ED86C508/core-reader#:~:text=In%201600%20the%20population%20of%20the%20empire%20was%20about%20twenty%20million|date=2021-09-27}} Cambridge Core. See also [[List of Countries by population in 1700]].</ref>

 

 

Nevertheless, the Iranian society during the Safavids was that of a hierarchy, with the Shah at the apex of the hierarchical 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">[[Roger Savory]], ''Iran under the Safavids'', p. 77.</ref>

 

===Turks and Tajiks===

 

===The third force: Caucasians===

 

The series of campaigns that Tahmāsp subsequently waged after realising this in the wider [[Caucasus]] between 1540 and 1554 were meant to uphold the morale and the fighting efficiency of the Qizilbash military,<ref>[[Roger Savory]]; ''Iran under the Safavids''; p. 65</ref> but they brought home large numbers (over 70,000)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BMVnw9JQh8C|title=Slaves of the Shah:New Elites of Safavid Iran|year=2004|access-date=1 April 2014|isbn=9781860647215|last1=Babayan|first1=Associate Professor of Iranian History Culture Kathryn|last2=Babaie|first2=Sussan|last3=Babayan|first3=Kathryn|last4=McCabe|first4=Ina|last5=Farhad|first5=Massumeh|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |author-link5=

 

Following the full implementation of this policy by Abbas I, the women (only Circassian and Georgian) now very often came to occupy prominent positions in the harems of the Safavid elite, while the men who became part of the ghulam "class" as part of the powerful third force were given special training on completion of which they were either enrolled in one of the newly created ''ghilman'' regiments, or employed in the royal household.<ref>Blow, D; Shah Abbas: The ruthless king who became an Iranian legend, p. 9.</ref> The rest of the masses of deportees and importees, a significant portion numbering many hundreds of thousands, were settled in various regions of mainland Iran, and were given all kinds of roles as part of society, such as craftsmen, farmers, cattle breeders, traders, soldiers, generals, governors, woodcutters, etc., all also part of the newly established layer in Iranian society.<ref>Matthee, Rudolph P. (1999), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=5U0yECMV--wC The Politics of Trade in Safavid Iran: Silk for Silver, 1600–1730] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020172718/https://books.google.com/books?id=5U0yECMV--wC |date=2022-10-20 }}.''</ref>

 

====Emergence of a clerical aristocracy====

 

=====Akhbaris versus Usulis=====

 

==Government==

 

===Structure===

There probably did not exist any [[parliament]], as we know them today. But the Portuguese ambassador to the Safavids, [[García de Silva Figueroa|De Gouvea]], 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.

 

 

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"/>

[[File:49 Chardin Safavid Legal system Karkan.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''Karkan'', a tool used for punishment of state criminals]]

 

 

 

According to [[Jean Chardin|Chardin]]:<ref name="Ferrier; p. 91">Ferrier p. 91.</ref>

[[File:Safavid-helmet.jpg|thumb|upright|A Safavid helmet]]

 

 

A major problem faced by [[Ismail I]] after the establishment of the Safavid state was how to bridge the gap between the two major ethnic groups in that state: the [[Qizilbash]] ("Redhead") Turcomans, the "men of sword" of classical Islamic society whose military prowess had brought him to power, and the [[Persia]]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 Iran, be they [[Arabs]], [[Mongols]], or [[Turkmen people|Turkmen]]s. As [[Vladimir Minorsky]] put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Qizilbash "were no party to the national Persian tradition".

====Reforms in the military====

[[File:Persian Musketeer.jpg|thumb|upright|Persian Musketeer in time of Abbas I by Habib-Allah Mashadi after Falsafi (Berlin Museum of Islamic Art).]]

 

* Ghulams: Tahmasp I had started introducing huge amounts of [[Georgian people|Georgian]], [[Circassians|Circassian]] and [[Armenians|Armenian]] slaves and deportees from the [[Caucasus]], of whom a sizeable amount would become part of the future ghulam system. Shah Abbas expanded this program significantly and fully implemented it, and eventually created a force of 15,000 ghulam cavalrymen and 3,000 ghulam royal bodyguards. With the advent of the brother's Shirley at Abbas' court and by the efforts of statesman [[Allahverdi Khan]], from 1600 onwards, the ghulam fighting regiments were further dramatically expanded under Abbas reaching 25,000.<ref name="ALLĀHVERDĪ KHAN 1"/> Under Abbas, this force amounted to a total of near 40,000 soldiers paid for and beholden to the Shah.<ref name="Savory 1980 79"/><ref name="BN142"/><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Roemer|1986|p=265}}</ref> They would become the elite soldiers of the Safavid armies (like the Ottoman [[Janissary]]).<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/>

* Musketeers: 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.

 

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.

 

===Agriculture===

 

The Safavid economy was to a large extent based on agriculture and taxation of agricultural products. According to the French jeweller [[Jean Chardin]], the variety in agricultural products in Iran 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>

Despite 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 stark 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>

 

 

===Travel and caravanserais===

[[File:Hotel Shah Abbas Sahn.jpg|thumb|right|The Mothers Inn caravanserai in Isfahan, that was built during the reign of [[Abbas II of Persia|Shah Abbas II]], was a luxury resort meant for the wealthiest merchants and selected guests of the shah. Today it is a luxury hotel and goes under the name of [[Abbasi Hotel|Hotel Abassi]].]]

 

 

 

{{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...}}

[[File:Chehel Sotoon.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Chehel Sotoun]] Palace in Isfahan was where the Shah would meet foreign dignitaries and embassies. It is famous for the frescoes that cover its walls.]]

 

 

 

[[File:Silk route.jpg|thumb|right|The Silk Road]]

 

 

==Culture==

{{Culture of Iran}}

 

 

===Art===

{{Main|Safavid art}}

[[File:Riza-yi-Abbasi 008.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Reza Abbasi]], ''Youth reading'', 1625–26]]

 

 

====Architecture====

A new age in [[Iranian architecture]] 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.

 

 

[[File:Qazvin - Chehel Sotun.jpg|thumb|The 16th-century Chehel Sotun pavilion in Qazvin, Iran. It is the last remains of the palace of the second Safavid king, Shah Tahmasp; it was heavily restored by the Qajars in the 19th century.]]

The Chief architect of this colossal task of urban planning was [[Shaykh Bahai]] (Baha' ad-Din al-`Amili), who focused the programme on two key features of Shah Abbas's master plan: the [[Charbagh, Isfahan|Chahar Bagh]] avenue, flanked at either side by all the prominent institutions of the city, such as the residences of all foreign dignitaries. And the [[Naqsh-e Jahan Square]] ("''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, Iran had a decentralized power-structure, in which different institutions battled for power, including both the military (the [[Qizilbash]]) 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 Iran, 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 Iran in his own backyard; the power of the clergy, represented by the [[Shah mosque|Masjed-e Shah]], the power of the merchants, represented by the Imperial Bazaar, and of course, the power of the Shah himself, residing in the [[Ālī Qāpū|Ali Qapu]] Palace.

 

 

====Literature====

The arguably most renowned historian from this time was [[Iskandar Beg Munshi]]. His ''History of Shah Abbas the Great'' written a few years after its subject's death, achieved a nuanced depth of history and character.

 

{{See also|School of Isfahan|Mulla Sadra|Mir Damad|Mir Fendereski|Shaykh Bahai|Mohsen Fayz Kashani}}

[[File:Chahar bagh school drawing.jpg|thumb|left|19th-century painting of the [[Chahar Bagh School]] in Isfahan, built during the time of Soltan Hossein to serve as a theological and clerical school]]

 

According to the [[Iranologist]] [[Richard Nelson Frye]]:<ref>RN Frye, ''The Golden Age of Persia'', Phoenix Press, 2000, p. 234</ref>

 

===Medicine===

 

 

 

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 [[Ange de Saint Joseph|Angulus de Saint]], under the name "Pharmacopoea Persica".<ref>Savory, p. 222.</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.}}

 

 

===Clothes and appearances===

[[File:73 Chardin Safavid Persia men customs.jpg|thumb|Men's clothing in the 1600s]]

[[File: Atlas_cloth_iran_17th_century.jpg|thumb|A brocade garment, Safavid era]]

 

The most precious accessory for men was the [[turban]]. Although they lasted a long time it was necessary to have changes for different occasions like weddings and the [[Nowruz]], 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>

 

==Language==

| isbn = 978-0-521-52291-5

| chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qwwoozMU0LMC&pg=PA86

| quote = Safavid power with its distinctive Persian-Shiʻi 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 name="Roemer 189">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 Shiʻi, the monarchical system, the planning and architectural features of the urban centers, the centralised administration of the state, the alliance of the Shiʻi 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>

 

[[File:The Mantiq al-tair.jpg|thumb|upright|Scene from [[Attar of Nishapur|Attar]]'s ''[[The Conference of the Birds]]'', by Habibulla Meshedi (1600).]]

 

 

{{blockquote |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}}

 

 

{{blockquote |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.}}

 

 

{{blockquote |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.}}

According to É. Á. Csató et al.,<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>

 

 

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>

During the Safavid period Azerbaijani Turkish, or, as it was also referred to at that time, Qizilbash Turkish, occupied an important place in society, and it was spoken both atcourt and by the common people. Although Turkish was widely spoken in Safavid Iran this fact is rarely mentioned. Usually neither Persian nor European authors mention in which language people communicated with each other. The Turkish spoken in Safavid Iran was mostly what nowadays is referred to as Azeri or Azerbaijani Turkish. However, at that time it was referred to by various other names. It would seemthat the poet and miniaturist Sadeqi Afshar (1533–1610), whose mother tongue was not Azerbaijani Turkish, but Chaghatay (although he was born in Tabriz), was the first to refer to speakers of Qizilbashi (motakallemin-e Qizilbash), but he, and one century later ‘Abdol-Jamil Nasiri, were the exception to this general rule of calling the language "Turki".}}

 

{{Blockquote|Shah Ismail's Azeri dialect never became a state language and its use remained largely confined to [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]], where it is still spoken by many Iranians. Otherwise, Turkic speech in Iran largely remained a tribal/Qizilbash and provincial Azerbaijani phenomenon, subordinate to Persian as the language of formal education and the dominant literary culture.}}

 

 

==Bibliography==

* {{The Cambridge History of Iran | volume = 6 }}

*{{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}}

*[http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/reflections_safavid_history_historiography1.php Why is Safavid history important?] (Iran Chamber Society)

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100616060412/http://imamreza.net/eng/imamreza.php?id=3021 Historiography During the Safawid Era]

 

{{Safavid Iran}}