When Abbas had a lively conversation in Turkish with the Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle, in front of his courtiers, he had to translate the conversation afterwards into Persian for the benefit of most of those present. It was from this time that the division of the Shia world into mujtahid (those who could follow their own independent judgment) and muqallid (those who had to follow the rulings of a mujtahid) took place. It covered all of Iran, and parts of Turkey and Georgia. 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. Abbas I built a new city next to the ancient Persian one. Pari Khn Khnum, sister of Ismail and Mohammad, hoped to act as regent for any of the three (including her older brother, who was nearly blind). [153][154] In the OttomanIranian War (173035), he retook all territories lost by the Ottoman invasion of the 1720s, as well as beyond. In the Safavid empire the land was arid making it hard for agriculture to thrive. In 1500, Ismil I invaded neighboring Shirvan to avenge the death of his father, Sheik Haydar, who had been murdered in 1488 by the ruling Shirvanshah, Farrukh Yassar. [25][26][27][28] It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history,[29] as well as one of the gunpowder empires. As well as wrestling, what gathered the masses was fencing, tightrope dancers, puppet-players and acrobats, performing in large squares, such as the Royal square. One of the strikingly significant things about the Safavid dynasty--a religious order that over the centuries took on military and political elements--is the many wars that were fought. Chardin described one such event:[163]. As Vladimir Minorsky put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Qizilbash "were no party to the national Persian tradition". (2020, August 25). [197], In 16th and 17th century Iran, there existed a considerable number of local democratic institutions. [110] Before he could begin to embark on the first stage, he needed relief from the most serious threat to the empire: the military pressure from the Ottomans. Anthony Bryer. He recognized the ineffectualness of his army, which was consistently being defeated by the Ottomans who had captured Georgia and Armenia and by Uzbeks who had captured Mashhad and Sistan in the east. He had effective control under Shah Tahmasp II and then ruled as regent of the infant Abbas III until 1736, when he had himself crowned shah. Sir E. Denison Ross, Sir Anthony Sherley and his Persian Adventure, pp. That condition would not change (and in fact it would worsen) until Tahmsp's grandson, Abbas I, assumed the throne. But his responsibilities also included that of being the treasurer of the Shah's properties. 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. Religious poetry from Safi al-Din, written in the Old Azari language[42]a now-extinct Northwestern Iranian languageand accompanied by a paraphrase in Persian that helps its understanding, has survived to this day and has linguistic importance.[42]. [5] In addition to that, the Safavids' power base included largely Turkic-speaking warrior tribes from Azarbaijan and Anatolia, who were collectively known as the Kizilbash, and were, at certain points in time, the de facto rulers of the empire. The Ottomans pushed further and on August 23, 1514, managed to engage the Safavids in the Battle of Chaldiran west of Tabriz. [58] The Ottoman sultans addressed him as the king of Iranian lands and the heir to Jamshid and Kai Khosrow.[59]. [65] Tahmsp was the ward of the powerful Qizilbash amir Ali Beg Rml (titled "Div Soltn Rumlu") who saw himself as the de facto ruler of the state. "Iran and Pre-Independence Lebanon" in Houchang Esfandiar Chehabi. [201], Criminal justice was entirely separate from civil law and was judged upon common law administered through the Minister of Justice, local governors and the Court minister (the Nazir). 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. Tabriz was taken but the Ottoman army refused to follow the Safavids into the Persian highlands and by winter, retreated from Tabriz. In January 1502, Esma'il defeated the army of Alvand Beig of Aq Qoyunlu, ruler of Azerbaijan, and seized Tabriz and made this city his capital. Each element constituted 20 percent of the crop production, and if, for instance, the farmer provided the labour force and the animals, he would be entitled to 40 percent of the earnings. All other . [31] Junayd sought refuge with the rival of Kara Koyunlu Jahan Shah, the Aq Qoyunlu (White Sheep Turkomans) Khan Uzun Hassan, and cemented his relationship by marrying Uzun Hassan's sister, Khadija Begum. But even here there may have been practical political considerations; namely, "concern about the excessively powerful position of Shii dignitaries, which would have been undermined by a reintroduction of the Sunna. [146] Overland trade grew notably however, as Iran was able to further develop its overland trade with North and Central Europe during the second half of the seventeenth century. During the early 17th century the power of the Qizilbash drastically diminished, the original militia that had helped Ismail I capture Tabriz and that had gained many administrative powers over the centuries. Rosemary Stanfield Johnson, "Sunni Survival in Safavid Iran: Anti-Sunni Activities during the Reign of Tahmasp I,", Abolala Soudavar, "The Patronage of Vizier Mirza Salman,", harvnb error: no target: CITEREFSavory1980 (, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFBomatiNahavandi1998 (, harvnb error: no target: CITEREFAsat'ianiBendianachvili1997 (. There was a systemic administrative organization in the empire which developed further into a dual system of civil administration and . In describing the lady's clothing, he noted that Persian dress revealed more of the figure than did the European, but that women appeared differently depending on whether they were at home in the presence of friends and family, or if they were in the public. His tactics in dealing with the Ottoman threat eventually allowed for a treaty which preserved peace for twenty years. [2] Shah Abbas I recognized the commercial benefit of promoting the artsartisan's products provided much of Iran's foreign trade. 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. The revenue came not so much from exports, as from the custom charges and transit dues levied on goods passing through the country. 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. Ismail I, brought in mainstream Twelver Shi'a religious leaders and granted them land and money in return for loyalty. He returned to Kartli, and in two punitive campaigns he devastated Tbilisi, killed 6070,000 Kakheti Georgian peasants, and deported between 130,000 and 200,000 Georgian captives to mainland Iran. Updates? [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. This would not change with the Arab conquest of Iran, and it was primarily the Persians that took upon them the works of philosophy, logic, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, music and alchemy. Junayd was killed during an incursion into the territories of the Shirvanshah and was succeeded by his son Haydar Safavi. [194] As Prof. David Blow states, foremost among the courtiers were the old nobility of Turkoman Qizilbash lords and their sons. [50] As such, he was the last in the line of hereditary Grand Masters of the Safaviyeh order, prior to its ascent to a ruling dynasty. [102] More seriously the Ottomans ended the Peace of Amasya and commenced a war with Iran that would last until 1590 by invading Iran's territories of Georgia and Shirvan. But the stumbling block of Hormuz remained, a vassal kingdom that had fallen into the hands of the Spanish Habsburgs when the King of Spain inherited the throne of Portugal in 1580. RELIGIONS IN IRAN (2) Islam in Iran (2.3) Shiism in Iran Since the Safavids: Safavid Period", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Safavid_Iran&oldid=1128652747, Shahsevans: these were 12,000 strong and built up from the small group of, Ghulams: Tahmasp I had started introducing huge amounts of, 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. Almost simultaneously with the emergence of the Safavid Empire, the Mughal Empire, founded by the Timurid heir Babur, was developing in South-Asia. Since Safavid was a theocracy they followed Gods will through the Shah, who at time was considered the entire government. Poetry lacked the royal patronage of other arts and was hemmed in by religious prescriptions. "The Safavid Empire of Persia." The Ottomans, a Sunni dynasty, considered the active recruitment of Turkmen tribes of Anatolia for the Safavid cause as a major threat. [191] In addition to these, there were separate officials appointed for the caretaking of royal banquets and for entertainment. Role of the Military in Society Because all government officials were part of the army, military and political power went hand in hand for the Mughals. They appear to have abandoned their identity as Sunni Muslims and embrace Shia ideals under their leader, one Khwaja Ali. The Safavid Period, 1501-1732", "18 Iran, Armenia and Georgia Rise of a Shii State in Iran and New Orientation in Islamic Thought and Culture", "The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors", "Georgians in the Safavid administration", Artistic and cultural history of the Safavids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This latest leader would only last until 1534, when he was deposed and executed. Shah Soltan Hosein tried to forcibly convert his Afghan subjects in eastern Iran from Sunni to Shi'a Islam. Despite their demise in 1736, the legacy that they left behind was the revival of Iran as an economic stronghold between East and West, the establishment of an efficient state and bureaucracy based upon "checks and balances", their architectural innovations, and patronage for fine arts. The abdication of Nicholas II on March 15, 1917, marked the end of the empire and its ruling Romanov dynasty. To further legitimize his power, Ismail I also added claims of royal Sassanian heritage after becoming Shah of Iran to his own genealogy. Majlisi's works emphasized his desire to purge Twelver Shiism of the influences of mysticism and philosophy, and to propagate an ideal of strict adherence to the Islamic law (sharia). Among luminaries of this school of philosophy, the names of Iranian philosophers such as Mir Damad, Mir Fendereski, Shaykh Bahai and Mohsen Fayz Kashani standout. Blow, D; Shah Abbas: The ruthless king who became an Iranian legend; pp. Omissions? There is some indication that Mirza Salman was the chief conspirator. Even though the Safavids were not the first Shii rulers in Iran, they played a crucial role in making Shia Islam the official religion in the whole of Iran, as well as what is nowadays the Republic of Azerbaijan. "The Safavid Period" in Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Laurence. With the Safavid state and its territories secured, in 1738 Nader conquered the Hotaki's last stronghold in Kandahar; in the same year, in need of fortune to aid his military careers against his Ottoman and Russian imperial rivals, he started his invasion of the wealthy but weak Mughal Empire accompanied by his Georgian subject Erekle II,[155] occupying Ghazni, Kabul, Lahore, and as far as Delhi, in India, when he completely humiliated and looted the militarily inferior Mughals. This freed him of his dependence on Qizilbash warriors loyal to local tribal chiefs. Figueroa heard Abbas speak Georgian, which he had no doubt acquired from his Georgian ghulams and concubines. [48] Although Ismil was defeated and his capital was captured, the Safavid empire survived. S Social Interactions and Organization The political structure of the Safavid Empire was structured like a pyramid with the Shah at the very top of the pyramid, like a pope. Another official selected by the consensus of the local community was the kadkhoda, who functioned as a common law administrator. 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 (. Later, he conquered territories as far as east as Delhi, but did not fortify his Persian base and eventually, he exhausted his army's strength. 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. [29] 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.[29][31]. [197] In time, this proved to become a burden to the people that were under the direct rule of the Shah, as these commissioners, unlike the former governors, had little knowledge about the local communities that they controlled and were primarily interested in increasing the income of the Shah. The empire's rulers, like the Ottoman rulers, were Muslim, yet the Safavid Empire used religion differently to promote order and stability within its realm. In May 1501, Ismail I declared Tabriz his capital and himself Shah of Azerbaijan. There are many reasons as to why the empire was as successful as it was, but some of them include its very strong and organized military and its centralized political structure. The carpets of Ardabil were commissioned to commemorate the Safavid dynasty. Shah Abbas ordered a general massacre in Beradost and Mukriyan (Mahabad, reported by Eskandar Beg Monshi, Safavid Historian (15571642), in "Alam Ara Abbasi") and resettled the Turkic Afshar tribe in the region while deporting many Kurdish tribes to Khorasan. The Ottoman Empire ran for over many centuries and consisted of a complex governmental organization which has the Sultan at the top of the pyramid of the hierarchical structure. The Mughals adhered (for the most part) to a tolerant Sunni Islam while ruling a largely Hindu population. After subsequent campaigns, the Safavids recaptured Baghdad, in 1623, but lost it again to Murad IV in 1638. The Safavid and Mughal both had a centralized government, based on military conquest, and were both Muslim based empires. [241], By the sixteenth century, Islamic science, which to a large extent meant Persian science, was resting on its laurels. Increased contact with distant cultures in the seventeenth century, especially Europe, provided a boost of inspiration to Iranian artists who adopted modeling, foreshortening, spatial recession, and the medium of oil painting (Shah Abbas II sent Zaman to study in Rome). Regarding the usage of Georgian, Circassian and Armenian at the Royal Court, David Blow states,[195]. During the reign of Shah Abbas I, as he tried to upgrade the Silk Road to improve the commercial prosperity of the Empire, an abundance of caravanserais, bridges, bazaars and roads were built, and this strategy was followed by wealthy merchants who also profited from the increase in trade. Both corps of musketeers and artillerymen totaled 12,000 men. Despite being based on urf, it relied upon certain sets of legal principles. [134] For his part, Abbas declared that he "preferred the dust from the shoe soles of the lowest Christian to the highest Ottoman personage. The original name was just turki, and so a convenient name might be Turki-yi Acemi. A new age in Iranian architecture began with the rise of the Safavid dynasty. 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. 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