[220][221] With the later end of the Portuguese Empire, the British, Dutch and French in particular gained easier access to Persian seaborne trade, although they, unlike the Portuguese, did not arrive as colonisers, but as merchant adventurers. The Safavid dynasty was founded about 1501 by Shh Ism'l I. A system of government based on military strength, B. [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. Later that year, when the shah summoned them to join him on a hunting expedition in Mazandaran, they didn't show up due to the fear they would be either imprisoned or killed. A year after his victory in Tabriz, Ismil I claimed most of Iran as part of his territory,[31] and within 10 years established a complete control over all of it. It became a military group as well as a religious one in the 15th century. He enjoyed tremendous power and control over national affairs as he was the immediate deputy of the Shah. The crown prince (the vizier's son-in-law) meekly turned him over, and the Qizilbash executed him and confiscated his property. But even he stood accountable to a deputy (vakanevis), who kept records of his decision-makings and notified the Shah. [15] The inscriptions on Safavid currency were also in Persian. Another official selected by the consensus of the local community was the kadkhoda, who functioned as a common law administrator. 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. 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". The legal system was built up of two branches: civil law, which had its roots in sharia, received wisdom, and urf, meaning traditional experience and very similar to the Western form of common law. Find this resource: Google Preview WorldCat SAFAVID ISFAHAN, FR. Ismil was known as a brave and charismatic youth, zealous with regards to his faith in Sha Islam, and believed himself to be of divine descentpractically worshipped by his Qizilbash followers. "Iran and Pre-Independence Lebanon" in Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi. The Ottoman Turks and Safavids fought over the fertile plains of Iraq for more than 150 years. The tribal rivalries among the Qizilbash, which temporarily ceased before the defeat at Chaldiran, resurfaced in intense form immediately after the death of Ismil, and led to ten years of civil war (930040/15241533) until Shh Tahmsp regained control of the affairs of the state. [104] The following year the loyal Qizilbash forces (the Turkmen and Takkalu who controlled Qazvin), with vizier Mirza Salman and crown prince Sultan Hamza Mirza at their head, confronted the rebelling Ustajlu-Shamlu coalition which had assumed control of Khorasan under the nominal rule of young Abbas. [101], The palace intrigues reflected ethnic unrest which would soon erupt into open warfare. Yet over the course of ten years Abbas was able, using cautiously-timed but nonetheless decisive steps, to affect a profound transformation of Safavid administration and military, throw back the foreign invaders, and preside over a flourishing of Persian art. Most of the extant poetry of Shah Ismail I is in Azerbaijani pen-name of Khatai. The Shah had stables in all the principal towns, and Shah Abbas was said to have about 30,000 horses in studs around the country. Concurrently, the Shahs themselves also supported Persian literature, poetry and art projects including the grand Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp,[26][27] while members of the family and some Shahs composed Persian poetry as well.[28][29]. [235] The ingenuity of the square, or Maidn, 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 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 Ali Qapu Palace. [165], The most precious accessory for men was the turban. 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]. [179] There were large Shii communities in some cities like Qom and Sabzevar as early as the 8th century. Notwithstanding the success with firearms at Jm, Tahmsp still lacked the confidence to engage their archrivals the Ottomans, choosing instead to cede territory, often using scorched earth tactics in the process. [251] According to Professor Roger Savory:[252][253]. The public land was under the rule of local governors, or Khans. Siege of Isfahan. According to official Safavid history, before passing away, Ali had designated his young brother Ismail as the spiritual leader of the Safaviyya.[31]. Although no one could have bristled more at the power grab of his "mentor" Murshid Quli Khan, he rounded up the leaders of a plot to assassinate the wakl and had them executed. Between 1508 and 1524, the year of Ismail's death, the shah appointed five successive Persians to the office of vakil. 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. A third route was therefore devised which circumvented Ottoman territory. These three empires all had military strength, Sovereign Pride, Religious commitment, and Aesthetic sophistication in common to varying degrees. [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. When he reached the capital with Abbas a public demonstration in the boy's favor decided the issue, and Shah Mohammad voluntarily handed over the insignia of kingship to his son, who was crowned Abbas I on October 1, 1588. [153][154] In the OttomanIranian War (173035), he retook all territories lost by the Ottoman invasion of the 1720s, as well as beyond. Not only did the invasions bring about the end of the Abbasid empire and leave the centre of eastern Islamdom fractured, but the arrival of new Turkic peoples and dynasties throughout much of Islamdom shifted the axes of power into the hands of Turkic clans. The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safavid order of Sufism, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Iranian Azerbaijan region. [31] The establishment of Twelver Shsm as the state religion of Safavid Iran led to various f orders (tariqa) openly declaring their Shte position, and others to promptly assume Sha Islam. They would thus retain the official ownership and secure their land from being confiscated by royal commissioners or local governors, as long as a percentage of the revenues from the land went to the ulama. Their patronage, which included opening royal workshops for artists, created a favourable climate for the development of art. He then went on to completely reduce the number of Qizilbash provincial governorships and systematically moved qizilbash governors to other districts, thus disrupting their ties with the local community, and reducing their power. Much of the early art was devoted to celebrating the glories of the earlier Iranian kingdom, and thus, by implication, making legitimate the Safavids as that kingdom's current heirs. Most were replaced by a ghulam, and within short time, Georgians, Circassians, and to a lesser extent Armenians had been appointed to many of the highest offices of state, and were employed within all other possible sections of society. Mongols and Mamluks were military elites that hailed from the Eurasian Steppe. Since two other sons had predeceased him, the result was a personal tragedy for Shah Abbas. In the Safavid era, there was remarkable military, jurisprudential, and artistic . Central Press / Getty Images. 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. Jan 20, 2017. Two years later in 1587, the massive invasion of Khorasan by the Uzbeks proved the occasion whereby Murshid Quli Khan would make a play for supremacy in Qazvin. He blamed this on misgovernment, the sparse population of the country, and lack of appreciation of agriculture amongst the Persians. In 1503, the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti were made his vassals as well. [242] As such, the status of medicine in the Safavid period did not change much, and relied as much on these works as ever before. The original name was just turki, and so a convenient name might be Turki-yi Acemi. Richard Wilson, When Golden Time Convents: Twelfth Night and Shakespeare's Eastern Promise, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFMunsh1978 (, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFSstn (, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFJavakhishvili1970 (. His letter of remorse never reached Suleiman, and he was forced to flee abroad to avoid execution. The Safavids' archrivals, the neighbouring Ottomans, invaded western and northwestern Safavid Iran and took swaths of territory there, including the city of Baghdad. Power was shifting to the new class of Caucasian deportees and imports, many of the hundreds of thousands ethnic Georgians, Circassians, and Armenians. The fourth vakil was murdered by the Qizilbash, and the fifth was put to death by them. [111][112] At the same time, he took steps to ensure that the Qizilbash did not mistake this apparent show of weakness as a signal for more tribal rivalry at the court. It continued until the end of the Qajar reign.[236]. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. This form of Turkish was also the mother-tongue of Shah Abbas, although he was equally at ease speaking Persian. The Safavids benefited from their geographical position at the centre of the trade routes of the ancient world. 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. State criminals were subjected to the karkan, a triangular wooden collar placed around the neck. The wealth from oil enabled him to head an opulent and corrupt court. [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. So absolute was his power, that the French merchant, and later ambassador to Iran, Jean Chardin thought the Safavid Shahs ruled their land with an iron fist and often in a despotic manner. Thus, the majority of the people suffered from rapacity and corruption carried out in the name of the Shah. 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. As the former represented the "people of the sword" and the latter, "the people of the pen", high-level official posts would naturally be reserved for the Persians. Distinctive monuments like the Sheikh Lotfallah (1618), Hasht Behesht (Eight Paradise Palace) (1469) and the Chahar Bagh School (1714) appeared in Isfahan and other cities. [13] From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region,[14] thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sasanian Empire to establish a national state officially known as Iran.[15]. 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. Meeting with little success, Abbs engaged in a major army reform. With their major enemy keeping quiet, the Safavid Shahs became complacent, and then corrupt and decadent. Martha's mother Theodorabetter known as Despina Khatun[43]was a Pontic Greek princess, the daughter of the Grand Komnenos John IV of Trebizond. The shah used that occasion to proclaim the 11-year-old Sultan Hamza Mirza (Mahd-i Uly's favorite) crown-prince. Each magistrate executes justice in his own house in a large room opening on to a courtyard or a garden which is raised two or three feet above the ground. JOHN LENNON. [83] This was a huge impedance for the authority of the Shah, and furthermore, it undermined any developments without the agreeing or shared profit of the Qizilbash. It was the Safavids who made Iran the spiritual bastion of Shiism, and the repository of Persian cultural traditions and self-awareness of Iranianhood, acting as a bridge to modern Iran. [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. As Tahmasp understood and realized that any long-term solutions would mainly involve minimizing the political and military presence of the Qizilbash as a whole, it would require them to be replaced by a whole new layer in society, that would question and battle the authority of the Qizilbash on every possible level, and minimize any of their influences. [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. Abbas I built a new city next to the ancient Persian one. THE ULTIMATE MIXES. This was the beginning of the East India Company's long-running interest in Iran. Rather than rely on another Turkmen tribe, he appointed a Persian wakl. Consequently, the vast majority of captives available in seventeenth-century Istanbul were "Rus'," most hailing from what is today Ukraine. They particularly established monopoly of the spice and porcelain trade between the Far East and Iran. 1. Although the Uzbeks continued to make occasional raids into Khorasan, the Safavid empire was able to keep them at bay throughout its reign. More importantly, for the first time in Iranian history, a substantial infantry corps of musketeers (, Artillery Corps: with the help of Westerners, he also formed an artillery corps of 12 000 men, although this was the weakest element in his army. In any event, he was ultimately killed (according to some accounts) by his Circassian half-sister, Pari Khn Khnum, who championed him over Haydar. just another region to be gained and lost according to geopolitical circumstances and military strength or weakness. In the war against the Uzbeks he showed that the Safavids had become a gunpowder empire. The Safavid Empire (1501-1722) . [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. At the height of their reign, the Safavids controlled not . The capture of Baghdad by Ismail I in 1509 was only followed by its loss to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I in 1534. [2] Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history,[3] as well as one of the gunpowder empires. [194] There were the Persians who still dominated the bureaucracy and under Abbas held the two highest government offices of Grand Vizier and Comptroller-General of the Revenues (mostoufi-ye mamalek), which was the nearest thing to a finance minister. (1986). Learn about the Islamic empire. Savory, "Safavid Persia" in: Ann Katherine Swynford Lambton, Peter Malcolm Holt, Bernard Lewis, F. Daftary, "Intellectual Traditions in Islam", I.B.Tauris, 2001. p. 147: "But the origins of the family of Shaykh Safi al-Din go back not to Hijaz but to Kurdistan, from where, seven generations before him, Firuz Shah Zarin-kulah had migrated to Adharbayjan". [156], A proper term for the Safavid society is what we today can call a meritocracy, meaning a society in which officials were appointed on the basis of worth and merit, and not on the basis of birth. The Ottoman Empire was motivated by an interest in spreading their religion which is Islam. The first two years of Tahmsp's reign was consumed with Div Sultns efforts to eliminate Ustajlu from power. According to Willem Floor and Hasan Javadi,[250]. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The series of campaigns that Tahmsp 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,[169] but they brought home large numbers (over 70,000)[170] of Christian Georgian, Circassian and Armenian slaves as its main objective, and would be the basis of this third force; the new (Caucasian) layer in society. Lack of investment in ship building and the navy provided the Europeans with the opportunity to monopolize this trading route. 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. Isfahan became one of the world's most elegant cities. [244], Safavids also used Persian as a cultural and administrative language throughout the empire and were bilingual in Persian. [100] 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. But eschewing politics after his defeat in Chaldiran, he left the affairs of the government to the office of the wakl (chief administrator, vakil in Turkish). This freed him of his dependence on Qizilbash warriors loyal to local tribal chiefs. [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. By this time, the bulk of the Safaviyya were nomadic Oghuz Turkic-speaking clans from Asia Minor and Azerbaijan and were known as Qizilbash "Red Heads" because of their distinct red headgear. Go to the primary resource. [90] Shortly after the installation of Ismail II on August 22, 1576, Haydar was beheaded. In 1732 by the Treaty of Resht and in 1735 Treaty of Ganja, he negotiated an agreement with the government of Empress Anna Ioanovna that resulted in the return of the recently annexed Iranian territories, making most of the Caucasus fall back into Iranian hands, while establishing an Irano-Russian alliance against the common neighbouring Ottoman enemy. adherence to Shi'a Islam. Which would be the most useful source of evidence to support McNeill's contention that "the Safavid [Safavid] empire remained a profoundly disturbing force in the Moslem [Muslim] world?" Units 3 - 4 practice test! Second to the Prime Minister post were the General of the Revenues (mostoufi-ye mamalek), or finance minister,[189] and the Divanbegi, Minister of Justice. [199], In Safavid Iran there was little distinction between theology and jurisprudence, or between divine justice and human justice, and it all went under Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). [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. Each town had their own troop of wrestlers, called Pahlavans. [214] According to Chardin, they were also more abundant than in the Mughal or Ottoman Empires, where they were less frequent but larger. [114], What effectively fully severed Abbas's dependence on the Qizilbash, however, was how he constituted this new army. The Ottomans, a Sunni dynasty, considered the active recruitment of Turkmen tribes of Anatolia for the Safavid cause as a major threat. That done, they slap their thighs, buttocks and hips to the rhythm of the drum. The early Safavid empire was effectively a theocracy. Figueroa heard Abbas speak Georgian, which he had no doubt acquired from his Georgian ghulams and concubines. Abbas was unable to comply. The Shumlu leader, Ali Quli Khan, however, holed himself inside Herat with Abbas. They sustained one of the longest running empires of Iranian history, lasting from 1501 to 1736. From here, Persian traders ventured eastwards to Southeast Asian kingdoms, most notably Ayutthaya Siam, where influential Persian families like the Bunnag helped foster cordial diplomatic relations between Thailand and Iran, as evidenced in the expedition of Suleyman's Ship. The tribal Afghans rode roughshod over their conquered territory for seven years but were prevented from making further gains by Nader Shah, a former slave who had risen to military leadership within the Afshar tribe in Khorasan, a vassal state of the Safavids.
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