In one grand example, Pope facilitated a full-scale reproduction of a Safavid mosque at the 1926 Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exhibition. To spread the new beliefs and win converts, Ismail brought Shia scholars to Iran from Lebanon and Syria. Shah Ism'l I, who established the Safavid dynasty in 907/15012, considered himself to be the living emanation of the godhead, the Shadow of God upon earth, and the representative of the Hidden Imm by virtue of direct descent from the Seventh Imm of the Twelver (Ithn'ashariyya) Sh'a, Ms al-Kzim. of your Kindle email address below. (credit: Abbas I of Persia by Unknown/TRAJAN 117/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain), The Shah Mosque, built by Abbas I, is located on the south side of, In this image from a Persian history of his reign written about 1650, the Safavid ruler Shah Ismail (dressed in white) stands on the steps of a mosque prior to his coronation, having the sermon read in the name of the Twelve Imams and effectively declaring Shiism to be the state religion of Iran in 1501. inch), 153940 C.E., Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan or Kirman, Iran, (now at the Victoria & Albert Museum; photo: The Safavids commissioned and built hundreds of monuments during their reign, making them some of the most productive builders in all of Iranian history. Some Safavid ceramic artists went so far as to place a fake Chinese workshop stamp on the back of their products to increase their value. At the height of their reign, the Safavids controlled not . In fact, from Sheikh Junayd to Sheikh Ismail Ithe founder of the Safavid Empireall ruling Sheikhs of the Safavids had Turcoman mothers. 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. OpenStax is part of Rice University, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Junayd believed the Safavids should use their popular religious mandate to seek military and political power for themselves, and he found Shia doctrine more appropriate for his vision. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. Throughout the rest of the decade, Ismail I fended off attacks from the Ottomans, stamped out the remnants of a rival faction, called the Ak Koyunlu, and continued to expand his territoryHamadan in 1503, Shiraz and Kerman in 1504, Najaf and Karbala in 1507, Van in 1508, Baghdad in 1509, Khorasan and Herat in 1510. During the period of Mongol rule over Iran and the Caucasus, the distinction between Shia and Sunni became less important than it had been. Like the Ottomans and Mughals, the Safavids developed a powerful military, ran a strong and well-organized central state, and fostered a climate in which artistic and intellectual culture flourished. The other faction wished the leadership to remain within Muhammads biological family and backed Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammads cousin and son-in-law, whom they believed the Prophet had chosen as his successor. The Ardabil carpet, still one of the largest Persian carpets in existence, was made during the Safavid period. Then two Englishmen, Robert Sherley and his brother Anthony, helped Abbas I to reorganize the Shah's soldiers into a partially paid and well-trained standing army similar to the European model (which the Ottomans had already adopted). By 1511, however, Ismails troops had driven the Uzbek people across the Oxus River, establishing the eastern borders of modern Iran. 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 emergence of the Safavids marked the first time the region was ruled by Persian kings since the. In the same year he occupied Ghazni, Kabul, and Lahore. The city was designed as a treat for the senses, employing artistic motifs in tilework and calligraphy, broad sweeping arches and domes that mimicked the sky, the sounds of running water and wind blowing through leaves, and the scents of flowering shrubs and trees carried on the breeze. Mar 31, 2023 OpenStax. First, he bargained for peace with the Ottomans in 1590, giving away territory in the north-west. While Naqsh-e Jahan Square provided a focus, the city also featured a broad tree-lined avenue called the Chahar Bagh, stretching over four kilometers from the square to a royal country estate (Figure 4.28). If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, afavid dynasty, (1502-1736) Persian dynasty. His native language was Old Tati (zar), an extinct Iranian dialect of the north closely related to Persian. Haydar was killed in battle in 1488. Never was the Divine Right of Kings more fully developed than by the Safavid shahs. This system brought the brightest and most talented into government service while preventing the development of an entrenched and unchecked aristocracy. Safavid military history had three phases. In this way, one of his sons was executed and two were blinded. This gives a convincing explanation as to why the Turkic Azerbaijani language became so important in a land with an overwhelming Persian-speaking majority. Fine silks. [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 . It became more identifiably Shi'a in its orientation around the year 1400. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. 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. For instance, the Qajar dynasty (17891925), the first major dynasty to succeed the Safavids, continued the tradition of Safavid book arts, painting, and architecture. Fresco, c. 1597 C.E., Ali Qapu Palace (photo: The palaces of the Safavid era, such as the, Shah Mosque (Royal Mosque), Isfahan, Iran, begun 1611 (photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0). Feature Flags: { We recommend using a Abbs I, byname Abbs the Great, (born Jan. 27, 1571died Jan. 19, 1629), shah of Persia from 1588 to 1629, who strengthened the Safavid dynasty by expelling Ottoman and Uzbek troops from Persian soil and by creating a standing army. In these paintings, artists used mineral-based dyes, which produced brilliant and long-lasting colors (Figure 4.26). During the Safavid period, Iran was ethnically quite diverse. Given the sects government sponsorship, the Shia ulama were often able to act as intermediaries between the people and the government. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. As Vladimir Minorsky put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Qezelbash "were no party to the national Persian tradition." Iran became a feudal theocracy: There was no separation of religion and state; the Shah was held to be the divinely ordained head of both. Even those in hereditary positions had to prove themselves capable or be replaced. He was a disciple of the famed Sufi Grand Master Sheikh Zahed Gilani (12161301) of Lahijan. Various groups of Persian-speaking peoples lived in the Iranian plateau and were usually described as Tajik.. "useRatesEcommerce": false The Safavids declared Shia Islam the state religion of Iran in the early 1500s, and it remains so to this day, encompassing about 10 percent of the worldwide Muslim population. 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 Safavid dynasty had its origins in a long established Sufi order, called the Safaviyeh, which had flourished in Azarbaijan since the early fourteenth century. Even after their decline, the Safavids left an influential legacy with far reaching implications for Iranian art, religion, and culture. Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing GRAB THE BEST PAPER 92.2% of users find it useful The Middle Ages had seen a series of invasions of Iran by Turks, Mongols, and others. The Safavids began not as a political dynasty, but as the hereditary leaders of a Sufi order based in the city of Ardabil, located in today's northwestern Iran. Ismail -Was the founder of the Safavid empire at age 7. About 95 percent of Shia also believe Ali was the first of twelve infallible leaders chosen by God, so this sect is often called the Twelvers. In other words, the Safavid shahs usurped the function which the Ithn'ashar mujtahids had arrogated to themselves, namely, that of acting as the representative on earth of the Mahd, the Ithn'ashar' messiah. For this reason, most Shia movements developed far outside the control of these caliphates, in places like Morocco, Yemen, Iran, and central Asia. 28 March 2008. The Habsburg emperor Charles V, concerned by the Ottomans progression toward Vienna, approached first Ismail and then Tahmasp about an alliance. When he declared Twelver Shiism to be the state religion of Iran, he hoped to unify his Iranian subjects by having them adopt a form of Islam that gave them a unique identity and distinguished them from their military and political enemies the Ottomans and the Uzbeks, who were both Sunni. Since two other sons had predeceased him, when he died on January 19, 1629, he had no son capable of succeeding him. Shah ljeitthe sultan of Ilkhanate converted to Twelver Shiism in thirteenth century. 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. Europeans imported some of the highest volumes of Safavid textiles. By agreement, the Safavids would attack the Ottomans whenever the Ottomans attacked the Habsburgs to divide the Ottoman army between two fronts of battle and thereby weaken it. After subsequent campaigns, the Safavids recaptured Baghdad, in 1623, but lost it again to Murad IV in 1638. First, by bringing the capital closer to the center of the empire and away from the Ottoman border, it safeguarded the court from the Turks. (credit: Shah Isma'il, History of Shah Isma'il, by Mu'in Musavvir, Isfahan, Iran by Muin Musavvir/British Library/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain), The interior of the Armenian Christian Holy Savior Cathedral in Isfahan, built in 1606, incorporates both Christian imagery, such as scenes from the life of Christ, and Islamic-style decorative tilework. Shia Islam is still the official state religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the meantime, the navy-less Safavids lost the island of Hormuz to the Portuguese in 1507. They formed an early alliance with merchants, for instance, establishing and administering vaqfs to protect the merchants property and assets. The Safavid era witnessed a political, religious and military reorganisation and unification of which Iran as it stands today is in no small degree the legacy. The army divisions were: Ghulams ("crown servants or slaves" usually conscripted from Armenian, Georgian, and Circassian lands), Tofongchis (musketeers), and Topchis (artillery-men). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Miniatures were an important form of Persian art long before Islam appeared; Persian artists were prized at the court of the Abbasids, and artistic styles derived from their work, such as the nonfigurative elements used in the borders of miniatures, were later used to decorate manuscripts of the Quran. The Ottomans pushed further and on August 23, 1514, managed to engage the Safavids in the Battle of Chaldiran west of Tabriz. (credit: Portrait of Shah Ismail I of Persia by Uffizi Gallery/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain), This detail from a series of seventeenth-century paintings decorating the walls of the Chehel Sotoun Palace in Isfahan, Iran, depicts Shah Abbas I, who ruled over Iran at the height of the Safavid dynastys power. The Safavids were generally more tolerant of non-Muslim subjects than they were of the Sunni. As the Safavid dynasty approached the middle of the eighteenth century, the last shahs took less and less interest in foreign and local affairs, and retreated to the interior life of the palace. Direct link to hdarwish825's post what succession rules was. Safavid miniatures are highly prized today; some of the best examples have sold for millions of dollars at auction. Creative Commons Attribution License How are their styles similar? One of the most renowned Muslim philosophers, Mulla Sadra (1571-1640), lived during Shah Abbas I's reign and wrote the Asfar, a meditation on what he called "meta philosophy," which brought to a synthesis the philosophical mysticism of Sufism, the theology of Shi'ism, and the Peripatetic and Illuminationist philosophies of Avicenna and Suhrawardi Maqtul (1155-1191). Based in Iran, the Safavid Empire at its height ruled over much of what is now Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, and Iraq, as well as parts of several neighboring countries including Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (Figure 4.19). Nadir Shah defeated the Afghans in the Battle of Damghan, in 1729. At the apex of this structure was the shah. 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. When Shah Abbas I came to power in 1588, he immediately began making plans to move the Safavid capital to Isfahan, a city in central Iran. Constant wars with the Ottomans made Shah Tahmasp I move the capital from Tabriz, into the interior city of Qazvin in 1548. While used primarily in mosques and shrines, fragments of these mirror mosaics can still be seen in the outdoor portals of the Chehel Sotoun palace, as well as on the columns of the Ali Qapu palace. Like Europe, it has a long history of big empires and small states. 1999-2023, Rice University. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Persian carpets of silk and wool were in high demand in Europe and other parts of the Islamic world. By the end of this section, you will be able to: To the east of the lands of the Ottomans, another Islamic empire emerged at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Its founder was the Persian[1] mystic Sheikh Safi al-Din (12541334), after whom the order was named. All levels of society could mix there, from members of the royal court whose pavilion overlooked the square, to the Shiite clergy whose mosque was at the squares southern end, to foreign dignitaries, members of the military, merchants, and commoners. 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. Historians generally agree that the Safavids efforts to convert Muslims in their empire to Shiism utilized coercion and force. Shah Abbas ordered a general massacre in Beradost and Mukriyan (Mahabad) (Reported by Eskandar Beg Monshi, Safavid Historian, 1557-1642, in the Book "Alam Ara Abbasi") and resettled the Turkish Afshar tribe in the region while deporting many Kurdish tribes to Khorasan. Following the conquest of Iran, Ismail I made conversion mandatory for the largely Sunni population. One faction, which became known as the Sunnis, supported the candidacy of Abu Bakr al-Sadiq, Muhammads father-in-law. In the early eighteenth century under the reign of Tsar Peter the Great, Russia began to encroach on the northern shores of the Caspian Sea and to compete for influence in the Caucasus. The Ottoman Turks and Safavids fought over the fertile plains of Iraq for more than 150 years. It is axiomatic that such a ruler would command instant and unquestioning obedience from his subjects. The Sunni scholars, called Ulama (from alim, knowledge), were either killed or exiled. The net result of these various Safavid theories of kingship was absolutism. In practice, however, there were well defined limits to this absolutism, even when the shah was a strong and capable ruler. Bureaucracy and landed class who were considered the middle classes. It is 34-1/2 by 17-1/2 feet and is on view at Londons Victoria and Albert Museum. 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. The Safavid Empire was established in an Iran that had been long fragmented. His painting and calligraphic style influenced Iranian artists for much of the Safavid period, which came to be known as the Isfahan school. Under them a political system emerged in which political and religious boundaries over-lapped. The epic called the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), a stellar example of manuscript illumination and calligraphy, was made during Shah Tahmasp's reign. Other exports were horses, goat hair, pearls, and an inedible bitter almond hadam-talka used as a specie in India. Shah Ismail I himself wrote many poems in Azerbaijani, as well as in Persian and Arabic, while Shah Tahmasp was a painter. It did not last forever, however. The Rise of the Safavid Empire. Except where otherwise noted, textbooks on this site At the height of their reign, the Safavids controlled not only Iran, but also the countries we now know as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Georgia, parts of the North Caucasus, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. 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. In spite of all this, however, the general population of Iran remained mostly Sunni until the Safavid period. The carpets of Ardebil were commissioned to commemorate the Safavid dynasty. Members of the Safavid Dynasty likely were of Kurdish Persian descent and belonged to a unique order of Sufi -infused Shi'a Islam called Safaviyya. The political structure of the Safavid Empire was structured like a pyramid with the Shah at the very top of the pyramid, similar to a pope. They embarked on a military campaign, winning victory after victory until, in July 1501, Ismail entered the Shirvanshah capital of Tabriz and declared himself shah, or emperor, of all Iran (Figure 4.20). At its zenith, during the long reign of Shah Abbas I, the empire's reach comprised Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. After the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258, the Sunni caliphate became a weak figurehead position that held only symbolic authority. In 1501, various disaffected militia from Azerbaijan and eastern Anatolia who were known as the Kizilbash (Azeri for "red heads" due to their red headgear) united with the Ardabil Safaviyeh to capture Tabriz from the then ruling Sunni Turkmen alliance known as Ak Koyunlu (The White Sheep Emirate) under the leadership of Alwand. Since the ruler, as the representative of the Hidden Imm, was closer to the source of absolute truth than were other men, opposition to him was a sin. Isfahan Define Anarchy Lawless and disorder; no one leader, no government Define Orthodoxy Traditional (not flexible) manner to follow a religion Define Shah King of the Safavid empire Define warfare in the Safavid Empire .They had a system similar to the janissaries. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. Nevertheless, Safavid rulers were aggressive toward the Armenians, Georgians, and other Christians in the Caucasus region, whom they considered potentially rebellious. Since the ruler was directly appointed by God, men were required to obey his commands whether just or unjust. Later, Shah Abbas I moved the capital even deeper into central Iran, to the city of Isfahan, building a new city next to the ancient Persian one. In the following centuries, this religious schism would both cement Iran's internal cohesion and national feelings and provoke attacks by its Sunni neighbors. To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org What might account for the differences in style between the Safavid and Mughal paintings? His son Ali Mirza took his place, but within a few years his capital at Ardabil was conquered by his enemies. Safi al-Din is believed to have come from a family of Kurds who spoke Azeri. This book uses the But there was little public enthusiasm, and after his death most who had claimed to adopt Sunnism during his reign quietly reverted to Shiism. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. To save content items to your account, The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid Dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. @kindle.com emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply. Bureaucracy and landed class who were considered the middle classes. The main types of buildings constructed during this time were mosques, palaces, markets, shrines and caravansaries (structures used to shelter travelers during long journeys). This left room for invasion by outside enemies, which is exactly what happened in 1722 when the Afghan army besieged the capital of Isfahan. Safavid miniature painting remains one of the most prized examples of visual art. Tahmasp also moved his capital from Tabriz to Qazvin, closer to the Caspian Sea and at less risk of capture or siege by Ottoman forces. The conversion efforts of the Safavids have left long legacies in the Islamic world. There, the Safavids influenced the local Turcoman tribes, and they themselves were influenced by Turcomans, such that the originally Iranian-speaking Safavids became Turkic-speaking. This street was flanked by palaces and public gardens that featured fruit trees and fountains with running water. The dynasty declined in the century following his reign, pressed by the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal dynasty, and fell when a weak shah, ahmsp II, was deposed by his general, Ndir Shah. Disappointed by his experience navigating the rivalries within the Qizilbash, he began using enslaved Christians from Circassia and Georgia in the palace administration and civil services instead of members of the Qizilbash. Abbas I first fought the Uzbeks, recapturing Herat and Mashhad, in 1598.
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