This class is granted special privileges because they have aided the Ottoman Empire with expansion efforts. When the young Shah Tahmsp took the throne, Iran was in a dire state. The highest level in the government was that of the Prime Minister, or Grand Vizier (Etemad-e Dowlat), who was always chosen from among doctors of law. [34] Sam Mirza, the son of Ismail I was himself a poet and composed his poetry in Persian. [185] Majlisi promoted specifically Shii rituals such as mourning for Hussein ibn Ali and visitation (ziyarat) of the tombs of the Imams and Imamzadas, stressing "the concept of the Imams as mediators and intercessors for man with God."[186]. Isfahan bears the most prominent samples of the Safavid architecture, all constructed in the years after Shah Abbas I permanently moved the capital there in 1598: the Imperial Mosque, Masjid-e Shah, completed in 1630, the Imam Mosque (Masjid-e Imami) the Lutfallah Mosque and the Royal Palace. The epic Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), a stellar example of manuscript illumination and calligraphy, was made during Shah Tahmasp's reign. [72] The victory resulted at least in part from Safavid use of firearms, which they had been acquiring and drilling with since Chaldiran.[73]. A specific Turkic language was attested in Safavid Persia during the 16th and 17th centuries, a language that Europeans often called Persian Turkish ("Turc Agemi", "lingua turcica agemica"), which was a favourite language at the court and in the army because of the Turkic origins of the Safavid dynasty. 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. After the death of Haydar, the Safaviyya gathered around his son Ali Mirza Safavi, who was also pursued and subsequently killed by Ya'qub. In August 1514 Isml was seriously defeated at Chldirn by his Sunni rival, the Ottoman sultan Selim I. 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. Shah Abbas: the ruthless king who became an Iranian legend, p. 165. Blow; chapter: "English adventurers at the servise of Shah Abbas.". Slavery, Freedom Suits, and Legal Praxis in the Ottoman Empire, ca He had removed them from power and banished them from Iran by 1729. Password Strength: Weak . [118] Ruthless discipline was enforced and looting was severely punished. [78][79] After Humayun converted to Shii Islam (under extreme duress),[78] Tahmsp offered him military assistance to regain his territories in return for Kandahar, which controlled the overland trade route between central Iran and the Ganges. Traditional pre-1501 Safavid manuscripts trace the lineage of the Safavids to the Kurdish dignitary, Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah. The idea of such an anti-Ottoman alliance was not a new oneover a century before, Uzun Hassan, then ruler of part of Iran, had asked the Venetians for military aidbut none of the Safavids had made diplomatic overtures to Europe. [167][failed verification].mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}html.client-js body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .mbox-text-span{margin-left:23px!important}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}, Shah Tahmasp introduced a change to this, when he, and the other Safavid rulers who succeeded him, sought to blur the formerly defined lines between the two linguistic groups, by taking the sons of Turkic-speaking officers into the royal household for their education in the Persian language. Blow, D.; Shah Abbas: The ruthless king who became an Iranian legend; p. 211. The Safavid and Ottoman empires are usually compared because of the wars that broke . [160] He considered them to be a well-educated and well-behaved people. In addition to fighting its perennial enemies, their archrival the Ottomans and the Uzbeks as the 17th century progressed, Iran had to contend with the rise of new neighbors. As the scale and frequency of Ottoman military successes declined, however, the proportion of slaves on the Ottoman market supplied by the Tatars increased. "Shahsevan in Safavid Persia". In 1598, when Shah Abbas decided to move the capital of his Iranian empire from the north-western city of Qazvin to the central city of Isfahan, he initiated what would become one of the greatest programmes in Iranian history; the complete remaking of the city. [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. Moreover, Shah Abbas's conversion to a ghulam-based military, though expedient in the short term, had, over the course of a century, weakened the country's strength by requiring heavy taxation and control over the provinces. Three bodies of troops were formed, all trained and armed in an early modern manner and paid out of the royal treasury: the ghulms (slaves), the tofangchs (musketeers), and the topchs (artillerymen). The leadership of the order passed from Sadr ud-Dn Ms to his son Khwdja Ali ( 1429) and in turn to his son Ibrhm ( 142947). He also used his new force to dislodge the Portuguese from Bahrain (1602) and, with English help, from Hormuz (1622), in the Persian Gulf (a vital link in Portuguese trade with India). 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. [190] The Chief Physician (Hakim-bashi) was a highly considered member of the Royal court,[192] and the most revered astrologer of the court was given the title Munajjim-bashi (Chief Astrologer). He did so by taking the humiliating step of coming to peace terms with the Ottomans by making, for now, permanent their territorial gains in Iraq and the territories in the north, including Azerbaijan, Qarabagh, Ganja, eastern Georgia (comprising the Kingdom of Kartli and Kakheti), Dagestan, and Kurdistan. It lasted from 1501 to 1722 and was strong enough to challenge the Ottomans in the west and the Mughals in the east. [130][131] Nowadays, there is a community of nearly 1.7 million people who are descendants of the tribes deported from Kurdistan to Khorasan (Northeastern Iran) by the Safavids.[132]. The Byzantine Empire saw itself as a continuation of the Roman Empire. [149] The end of the reign of Abbas II, 1666, thus marked the beginning of the end of the Safavid dynasty. [207], The Safavid economy was to a large extent based on agriculture and taxation of agricultural products. 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]. The exercises that they took part in were for keeping the body supple and sturdy and to acquire skills in handling of arms. "Review of Emile Janssens'. He also reduced the taxes of districts that were traditionally Shii, regulated services in mosques and engaged Shii propagandists and spies. (2009). Roemer, H. R. (1986). In Esposito, John L. Isfahan became one of the world's most elegant cities. Although already by the early years of king Abbas' reign (r. 15881629) they were no longer controlling the state, the Turkoman Qizilbash continued to provide many of the senior army officers and to fill important administrative and ceremonial offices in the royal household. Ayatollah Khomeini's challenge to the Shah's Royal authority confirmed a deep religious tradition in Iranian society and history. (ed.). He then besieged the capital of Isfahan, until Shah Soltan Hoseyn abdicated and acknowledged him as the new king of Iran. The Safavid dynasty under Shah Ismail (961/1501) adopted Persian and the Shiite form of Islam as the national language and religion. Learn about the Islamic empire. 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 Qezelb tribal politics. Chardin described one such event:[163]. In 1501, the Safavid Shahs declared independence when the Ottomans outlawed Shi'a Islam in their territory. [219] He convinced the British to assist him by allowing them to open factories in Shiraz, Isfahan and Jask. Following his conquest of Iran and Azerbaijan, Ismail I made conversion mandatory for the largely Sunni population. She did not last much longer than Mohammad's installation at Qazvin, where she was murdered. [194] There were also the large number of gholams or "slaves of the shah", who were mainly Georgians, Circassians and Armenians. Under Safavid rule eastern Persia became a great cultural centre. However, at that time it was referred to by various other names. Every office had a deputy or superintendent, whose job was to keep records of all actions of the state officials and report directly to the Shah. The Safavid Empire was built upon and thrived through continuous military conquest. The most significant of these was Ashura, when Shia Muslims mark the death of Husayn. The Mughal Empire had a very powerful military that had a large impact in Mughal history. [194] Under Abbas, the eunuchs became an increasingly important element at the court. [83] Their formation, implementation, and usage was very much alike to the janissaries of the neighbouring Ottoman Empire. The siege of Isfahan was a six-month-long siege of Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, by the Hotaki -led Afghan army. In the east Murshid Quli Khan, of the Ustajlu tribe, managed to snatch Abbas away from the Shamlus. And, just as the higher levels of the social hierarchy was divided between the Turkish "men of the sword" and the Persian "men of the pen"; so were the lower level divided between the Turcoman tribes, who were cattle breeders and lived apart from the surrounding population, and the Persians, who were settled agriculturalists. In 1613, Abbas had appointed these trusted Georgian gholams of his on the puppet thrones of Kartli and Kakheti, the Iranian Safavid ruled areas of Georgia. how did spain rule its colonies differently than england The authority of the Safavids was religiously based, and their claim to legitimacy was founded on being direct male descendants of Ali,[30] the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, and regarded by the Shia as the first Imam. They finally arrived at the court of Philip III of Spain in 1602. The conflicts between the Ottoman and Safavid empires, as well as their successor dynasty the Afshars, lasted from 1514 until 1747. The Safavid Empire (1502-1736) was a Persian military state that dominated the region for two centuries and initiated one of Persia's golden ages. The Safavid Empire, which was founded as a political dynasty in 1501, was the second Great Islamic Empire to form.It originated as a religious sect, and it acquired the military and political traits of an empire only after 1501. 904. In the 16th century, carpet weaving evolved from a nomadic and peasant craft to a well-executed industry with specialization of design and manufacturing. [1] One feature of the battle was that the Ottoman army used guns and cannons to defeat the cavalry corps. 900901, tr. Chardin was present at some feasts in Isfahan were there were more than fifty different kinds of fruit. A new age in Iranian architecture began with the rise of the Safavid dynasty. Began military campaigns to purify and reform Islam . The Spanish demanded Abbas break off relations with the English before they would consider relinquishing the town. Poetry stagnated under the Safavids; the great medieval ghazal form languished in over-the-top lyricism. Mongols and Mamluks were military elites that hailed from the Eurasian Steppe. Mughal Military. These three empires all had military strength, Sovereign Pride, Religious commitment, and Aesthetic sophistication in common to varying degrees. [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 . Efahn fell to the Ghilzai Afghans of Kandahr in 1722. Open Document. By 1595, Allahverdi Khan, a Georgian, became one of the most powerful men in the Safavid state, when he was appointed the Governor-General of Fars, one of the richest provinces in Iran. [105] The Ustajlu chief, Murshid Quli Khan, immediately acquiesced and received a royal pardon. Part of these reforms was the creation of the 3rd force within the aristocracy and all other functions within the empire, but even more important in undermining the authority of the Qizilbash was the introduction of the Royal Corps into the military. Explanation: Any true power or strength that the Ottomans had were not really from themselves but from those they conquered and weapons trade between the Ottomans and the farther east. Corrections? [172] 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.[173]. This defection of two of the shah's most trusted subjects and gholams infuriated the shah, as reported by the Safavid court historian Iskander Beg Munshi. The Safavid Empire, 1501-1736 - Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas A third route was therefore devised which circumvented Ottoman territory. The dependence of Abbas on the Qizilbash (which provided the only military force) was further reinforced by the precarious situation of the empire, in the vice of Ottoman and Uzbek territorial plunder. It became a military group as well as a religious one in the 15th century. Between 1508 and 1524, the year of Ismail's death, the shah appointed five successive Persians to the office of vakil. Women from the provinces and slaves pierced their left nostrils with rings, but well-born Persian women would not do this. Shah Abbss remarkable reign, with its striking military successes and efficient administrative system, raised Iran to the status of a great power. The Gunpowder Empires: Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal - ThoughtCo 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 Persian 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 Turkmens. As a quote relating to Shah Abbas the Great . The Safavid shahs ruled over one of the Gunpowder Empires. What was the basis of their military strength?, Discuss the religious and political issues that separated the Ottoman Turks and the Safavid Turks, two neighboring Islamic states, in the sixteenth century., By what steps did Shah Abbas achieve a strong and unified Safavid . It covered all of Iran, and parts of Turkey and Georgia, All other religions, and forms of Islam were suppressed, The Empire's economic strength came from its location on the trade routes, The capital, Isfahan, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, The Empire declined when it became complacent and corrupt. The Safavid state was one of checks and balance, both within the government and on a local level. The rise of the Pahlavis (1925 -79) saw the reaffirmation of a strong central authority in Iran and the re-emergence of the dynastic principle. The Safavid dynasty (/sfvd, s-/; Persian: , romanized:Dudmne Safavi,[1] pronounced[dudmne sfvi]) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Greece vs France | vs | total Military Strength | 2023 And the Naqsh-e Jahan Square ("Examplar of the World"). 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]. Almost simultaneously with the emergence of the Safavid Empire, the Mughal Empire, founded by the Timurid heir Babur, was developing in South-Asia. In cultural matters, Tahmsp presided the revival of the fine arts, which flourished under his patronage. In 700/1301, Safi al-Din assumed the leadership of the Zahediyeh, a significant Sufi order in Gilan, from his spiritual master and father-in-law Zahed Gilani. From 1540 and onwards, Shah Tahmasp initiated a gradual transformation of the Iranian society by slowly constructing a new branch and layer solely composed of ethnic Caucasians. His painting and calligraphic style influenced Iranian artists for much of the Safavid period, which came to be known as the Isfahan school. Early Safavid power in Iran was based on the military power of the Qizilbash. There were five main branches of military force - infantry, cavalry, fire-arms, elephants, and war boats. Abbas I recognized the commercial benefit of promoting the artsartisan products provided much of Iran's foreign trade. 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. [182] However, shortly thereafter Muhammad Baqir Behbahani (died 1792), along with other Usuli mujtahids, crushed the Akhbari movement. 34, 597634. [187] To ensure transparency and avoid decisions being made that circumvented the Shah, a complex system of bureaucracy and departmental procedures had been put in place that prevented fraud. The Mongol invasions that began in the 13th century drastically reconfigured the Islamic world. SAFAVID ISFAHAN, FR. Af first, Kopek Sultn's Ustajlu tribe suffered the heaviest, and he himself was killed in a battle. Shah Ismail was a poet and Shah Tahmasp a painter. Founded by Shah Ismail I, the empire stretched . The Safavid Empire began in 1501 BC when the Safavid leader Esma'il conquered Persia. BACKGROUNDTHE SAFAVID SUFI ORDER. It was a grading system used by the Mughals to fix rank, salary and military responsibilities. The 150-year tug-of-war accentuated the Sunni and Shi'a rift in Iraq. John R. Perry, "Turkic-Iranian contacts", establishing Twelver Shsm as the state religion of Iran, a war with Iran that would last until 1590, Abbas I's Kakhetian and Kartlian campaigns, conquered the Hotaki's last stronghold in Kandahar, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Al-Hikma al-mutaaliya fi-l-asfar al-aqliyya al-arbaa, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, "Chronicling a Dynasty on the Make: New Light on the Early afavids in ayt Tabrz's, "Islamic Culture and Literature in Iran and Central Asia in the early modern period", "The emergence of the Safavids as a mystical order and their subsequent rise to power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries", "BARDA and BARDA-DRI v. Military slavery in Islamic Iran", "GEORGIA vii. 1. The Safavid dynasty lasted until 1135/1722 when Isfahan was occupied by Afghan riots. His History of Shah Abbas the Great written a few years after its subject's death, achieved a nuanced depth of history and character. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Richard Tapper. Examples of such were the trade and artisan guilds, which had started to appear in Iran from the 1500s. The Safavid Empire of Persia - ThoughtCo Persianization went hand in hand with the popularization of 'mainstream' Shii belief. The Ottoman Empire: The Strengths Of The Ottoman Empire [194], During the first century of the dynasty, the primary court language remained Azeri,[189] although this increasingly changed after the capital was moved to Isfahan. The impressive achievements of its 400,000 residents prompted the inhabitants to coin their famous boast, "Isfahan is half the world". 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. 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. 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. The Safavid empire was called a "gunpowder empire" since military strength 113131. 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". Ismil followed the line of Iranian and Turkmen rulers prior to his assumption of the title "Padishah-i-Iran", previously held by Uzun Hasan and many other Iranian kings. Roemer, The Safavid Period, in Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. Since the earliest days of the Safavid dynasty, the Qizilbash generals had been appointed to most of these posts. The Ottomans were able to overthrow the Seljuks and after that they were able to repopulate the city and stay in power until 1922. It was a Turkish dialect, the dialect of the Qizilbash Turkomans, which is still spoken today in the province of Azerbaijan, in north-western Iran.