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. As the Safavid order developed, its members intermarried with other Turkic groups such as the Turcomen, Lar, and Bakhtiyari, and with Georgian, Armenian, and Pontic Greek Christians within their lands and bordering territories. He also made Efahn the capital of Persia and fostered commerce and the arts, so that Persian artistic achievement reached a high point in his reign . Then enter the name part 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. However, beneath the shah and the powerful elites, the Safavid hierarchy was unique for its time in being largely based on merit; worth and talent, not status or birth, were the keys to upward mobility. Located in the central Middle East, the kingdom occupied a fundamental geographic location and had substantial effect in the stability of the region. The Safavid Empire dates from the rule of Shah Ismail (ruled 1501-1524). In the east, the Mughal dynasty of India had expanded into Afghanistan at the expense of Iranian control, taking Kandahar and Herat. "useRatesEcommerce": false Their capitals were Tabriz, Qazvin, Isfahan. This encouraged pilgrimages across the great stretch of the Safavid empire, in places such as Karbala and Najaf, two cities in central Iraq. It did not last forever, however. The Safavid Empire at its 1512 borders. In response, the Ottoman sultan Bayezid II deported the Shiites of his empire from Anatolia to other regions where they would be unable to heed the Safavid call. He was a disciple of the famed Sufi Grand Master Sheikh Zahed Gilani (12161301) of Lahijan. 4, p. 14. Later, during the Safavid and especially Qajar period, the role of Shi'a ulema increased and they were able to exercise a role in social and political life independent of the government. What fueled the growth of Safavid economy was Iran's position between the burgeoning civilizations of Europe to its west and India and Islamic Central Asia to its east and north. The Ottomans pushed further and on August 23, 1514, managed to engage the Safavids in the Battle of Chaldiran west of Tabriz. In 1736, Nader deposed the infant Abbas III and crowned himself shah, bringing the Safavid Empire to an end and establishing the short-lived Afsharid dynasty. The country was repeatedly raided on its frontiersKerman by Baluchi tribesmen in 1698, Khorasan by Afghans in 1717, constantly in Mesopotamia by peninsula Arabs. Feature Flags: { Safavid miniature painting remains one of the most prized examples of visual art. The hostility between the sects that continues today is usually traced to the Safavid era and the dynastys military rivalry with the Ottomans, especially after the sultan acquired the Sunni title of caliph in 1517. It is 34-1/2 by 17-1/2 feet and is on view at Londons Victoria and Albert Museum. This system brought the brightest and most talented into government service while preventing the development of an entrenched and unchecked aristocracy. please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. Capital of the Safavid Empire. Since two other sons had predeceased him, when he died on January 19, 1629, he had no son capable of succeeding him. In the meantime, the navy-less Safavids lost the island of Hormuz to the Portuguese in 1507. afavid dynasty, (15021736) Persian dynasty. In 1536, the Ottomans formalized their own alliance with the king of France, an enemy of the Habsburgs, who sent a military adviser to counsel Sultan Suleiman about his war with Iran in 1547. After Abbass death, the Safavid state met another internal threat, this time from the Georgian kingdom of Kakheti. Arthur Upham Pope, a former Professor of aesthetics at Berkeley, and his wife Phyllis Ackerman, a specialist in Islamic textiles, were part of this movement that opened doors to the arts of Iran. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. It was founded by Isml I, who, by converting his people from Sunnite to Shite Islam and adopting the trappings of Persian monarchy, planted the seeds of a unique national and religious identity. While Safi al-Dins origins are lost to history, it is generally believed that he came from a family of Azeri-speaking Kurds, although even this is uncertain. 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. 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. The most popular of these themes was the Persian, The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid Dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. 28 March 2008. SAFAVID AND QAJARThe Safavid period (1501-1722) continued many Mongol and Timurid practices, but may also be seen as the beginning of modern Iranian history. The silk industry of early modern Iran was one of the cornerstones of the Safavid economy. With the capture of Tabriz, the Safavid dynasty officially began. His grandfather had acquired over thirty thousand enslaved people employed as civil servants and palace administrators; turning to the Caucasus region again, Abbas decided to also create an enslaved soldier corps like the Ottoman Janissaries. Through his mother, Shah Ismail I was descended from the Komnenos dynasty that once ruled the Byzantine Empire. This book uses the 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). Before the principal phases in the development of the Safavid administrative system are discussed in detail, a brief outline of the Safavid administrative and social structure may be helpful. Shah Ismail, who saw himself as infallible and semidivine, believed his strong religious convictions had won him the Iranian throne, and he used his political and military authority to impose his religious ideology on the country (Figure 4.23). 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. Safavid Persia had a succession of capitals: for the capital was where the shah and his entourage happened to be. This warfare pattern repeated itself under Shah Tahmasp I and Sultan Suleiman I. Before the principal phases in the development of the Safavid administrative system are discussed in detail, a brief outline of the Safavid administrative and social structure may be helpful. Second, it brought the royal workshops closer to the silk route, making it easier for the Safavids to control the sale of Persian silk. on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Creative Commons Attribution License Our mission is to improve educational access and learning for everyone. In this portrait of Shah Ismail by an Italian painter of the sixteenth century, for example, the shahs reddish hair, possibly an inheritance from his Greek grandmother, is clearly visible. Abbs I (r. 15881629) brought the dynasty to its peak; his capital, Efahn, was the centre of afavid architectural achievement. Their demise was followed by a period of unrest. ), Reflections on the social and economic structure of Safavid Persia at its zenith, Artisans and Guild Life in the later Safavid period, Quis custodiet custodes? During his reign, the official language at the royal court was Azerbaijanian. -This caused tension between the Safavid Empire and Ottoman Empires, which was a Sunni empire. At the time, he governed only Azerbaijan and part of the Caucasus. Known as, Muqarnas and mirror mosaics, outdoor portal, Chehel Sotoun (photo: Amir Pahaei, CC BY-SA 4.0). This gives a convincing explanation as to why the Turkic Azerbaijani language became so important in a land with an overwhelming Persian-speaking majority. The borders of Iran were secure at the end of Tahmasps reign, but his son and grandson were ineffective leaders who failed to keep the Qizilbash rivalries from once again destabilizing the country, which led to yet more incursions by Ottoman and Uzbek forces. 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. 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. When the outside world finally began learning about the arts of Iran, it was through the lens and example of the Safavids. In this period, handicrafts such as tile making, pottery, and textiles developed and great advances were made in miniature painting, bookbinding, decoration, and calligraphy. Tahmasps grandson Abbas I, generally considered the strongest Safavid shah as well as one of the greatest rulers in Iranian history, found himself compelled to take up arms once again (Figure 4.21). Despite these similarities, however, significant differences . The production of silk was one of the most important industries in Iran. 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. For this reason, many silks used floral and vegetal motifs that appealed to both Persian and foreign markets. They sustained one of the longest running empires of Iranian history, lasting from 1501 to 1736. The conversion efforts of the Safavids have left long legacies in the Islamic world. Except for Shah Abbas II, the Safavid rulers after Abbas I were largely ineffectual. View images of the famous Ardabil carpet at the Victoria and Albert Museum website to see it in detail and also get a sense of its enormous size. Between 1508 and 1524, the year of Ismail's death, the shah appointed five successive Persians to the office of vakil. then you must include on every physical page the following attribution: If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, 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. Tahmasps desire to fend off the Turkish threat led him to ally himself with a rising European power, the Habsburg Empire. inch), 153940 C.E., Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan or Kirman, Iran (now at the Victoria & Albert Museum; photo: Scenes from popular stories and floral motifs were applied just as easily to the pages of books as they were to walls of palaces and, most commonly, to designs woven into silk and velvet textiles. Wealthy patrons commissioned artistslike those in the studio of Shah Tahmaspto paint these miniatures either to illustrate books or to be kept as a separate piece of art in an album of similar works. OpenStax is part of Rice University, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The patterns on Tahmasps robe have been embellished with gold. However, several scholars went one step further and extended the familys history back to the biblical Adam. Christians elsewhere in the Safavid realm, however, were given considerable freedom to build churches and honor their own customs and beliefs. Although he successfully repelled an attempt by the Uzbeks to invade northeastern Iran, they remained a threat to the east, and war with the Ottomans flared up soon afterward when Suleimans armies invaded Iran in the mid-1530s. (credit: Shah Tahmasp in the mountains by Freer Gallery of Art/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain), This Persian miniature produced in the studio of Shah Tahmasp depicts the Feast of Sada, a mythical event that celebrates the discovery of fire. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Safavid Iran was one of the Islamic "gunpowder empires", along with its neighbours, the Ottoman and Mughal empires. 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. The Safavid concept of kingship, combining territorial control with . 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. They expanded their empire by wagging Jihads (Holy war) against other countries. Given the sects government sponsorship, the Shia ulama were often able to act as intermediaries between the people and the government. He captured Tabrz from the Ak Koyunlu and became shah of Azerbaijan (1501) and Persia (1502). Sheikh Saf al-Dn Abdul Fath Is'haq Ardabil came from Ardabil, a city in today's Iranian Azerbaijan where his shrine still stands. They sustained one of the longest running empires of Iranian history, lasting from 1501 to 1736. 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. Then he turned against the Ottomans, recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq, and the Caucasian provinces, by 1622. He expanded commercial links with the English East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. Bureaucracy and landed class who were considered the middle classes. -Made shitism the official religion of the Safavid Empire. The maximum extent of the Safavid Empire under Shah Abbas I (CC BY-SA 4.0), The maximum extent of the Safavid Empire under Shah Abbas I (. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid Dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. Adam Olearius, "The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors" (excerpts). The Middle Ages had seen a series of invasions of Iran by Turks, Mongols, and others. The army divisions were: Ghulams ("crown servants or slaves" usually conscripted from Armenian, Georgian, and Circassian lands), Tofongchis (musketeers), and Topchis (artillery-men). The Safavids are therefore widely known for bringing this historic change to the region. In practice, however, there were well defined limits to this absolutism, even when the shah was a strong and capable ruler. The city was built as a showpiece, with administrative buildings and public markets opening on the enormous Naqsh-e Jahan (Exemplar of the world) Square (Figure 4.22). (Azeri is a Turkic language.) Women in Safavid Empire: Recent evidence suggests otherwise: There was a struggle against these restrictions Some women openly refused to wear face covers while in public Women donned bright clothing in defiance @ court women played an important political role (indirectly) and were often deeply involved in political conspiracies The emergence of the Safavids marked the first time the region was ruled by Persian kings since the. Royal manuscripts provide a glimpse into the fusion of regional styles used in early Safavid art. At the height of their reign, the Safavids controlled not . Sunnis respect Ali and all the Twelve Imams, but they do not believe the Twelve alone were divinely chosen to lead the Muslim community. By the seventeenth century, trade routes between East and West had shifted away from Iran, causing a decline in commerce and trade. By 1511, however, Ismails troops had driven the Uzbek people across the Oxus River, establishing the eastern borders of modern Iran. Abbas I was particularly lenient toward the Armenian Christian population of Isfahan, due to their participation in the lucrative manufacture and export of silk. Despite the strong rivalry between the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals, all three empires produced paintings of this type (Figure 4.27). The more than century of tug-of-war accentuated the Sunni and Shi'a rift in Iraq. The Ottoman Turks and Safavids fought over the fertile plains of Iraq for more than 150 years. Shiisms rise created a new religious hierarchy in Iran. The order in Ardabil was founded in the thirteenth century by the Sufi master Zahed Gilani, and little is known about its beliefs and practices in its . As Vladimir Minorsky put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Qezelbash "were no party to the national Persian tradition." Later Safavid shahs continued to expand Isfahan, adding buildings, avenues, and bridges and commissioning structures in other cities based on the style cultivated in the capital. Its founder was the Persian[1] mystic Sheikh Safi al-Din (12541334), after whom the order was named. To further legitimize his power, Ismail I also added claims of royal Sassanian heritage after becoming Shah of Iran to his own genealogy. The Safavids were defeated and, as the Ottoman force moved on Tabriz, engaged in scorched-earth combat. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings The Shia believe Ali, who finally succeeded Uthman to become the leader of the Muslim community in 656, was the first legitimate imam, the title they give their spiritual leader rather than caliph. They view the line of Muhammad that descends through Ali and his wife Fatima, Muhammads daughter, as the only source of definitive religious guidance. Muammad Mumin, A Young Lady Reclining After a Bath, leaf from the Read Persian Album Herat (Afghanistan), 1590s, 37.8 x 24.1 cm, MS M.386.5r (The Morgan Library and Museum), Around the middle of the sixteenth century, a trend developed for stand-alone illustrations of popular stories, including the, Rather than confined within the binding of books, individual miniatures were mobile. 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. Although the Safavids were eventually able to reestablish authority, they never achieved their earlier level of control. If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, From the beginning of the polity in 1501 until the Ottoman Sultan Selim (r. 1512-1520) defeated the founder of the Safavid polity, Shah Ismail I (r. 1501-1524) at Chaldiran in 1514, the Safavid army was a tribal army. He used state funds to construct schools where Shia beliefs were taught and to build shrines to Ali and members of his family. In these paintings, artists used mineral-based dyes, which produced brilliant and long-lasting colors (Figure 4.26). The Turkmen tribes ( uymaq) that followed the Safavid rulers were known as the . They sought to control these populations by enslaving or deporting their members, and nobles were often requested to convert to Shiism. The Art of the Safavids before 1600 on The Metropolitan Museum of Arts Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Safavid Period at the National Museum of Asian Art. They formed an early alliance with merchants, for instance, establishing and administering vaqfs to protect the merchants property and assets. Despite near-constant war, during this time Iran reached new cultural and economic heights. The Safavid. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Henceforth, a treaty, signed in Qasr-e Shirin, was established, delineating a border between Iran and Turkey in 1639, which still stands in northwest Iran/southeast Turkey. Junayds son Haydar created a solid political and military framework by establishing a Safavid military order known as the Qizilbash, after their distinctive red hats (qizil means red in Azeri). Royal and elite women often funded the construction or maintenance of caravansaries, demonstrating the value of trade to both the state and individual wealth. It became more identifiably Shi'a in its orientation around the year 1400. Despite falling revenues and military threats, later shahs were said to have had lavish lifestyles. They wanted to spread "Shiism by military means." They viewed the leader of the Empire with reverence, and they. When the second Persian "vakil" was placed in command of a Safavid army in Transoxiana, the Qezelbash, considering it a dishonor to be obliged to serve under him, deserted him on the battlefield with the result that he was slain. Haydar was killed in battle in 1488. An empire in fragments The South Asian subcontinentmodern India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan is part of the Eurasian landmass. 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. He also used his new force to dislodge the Portuguese from Bahrain (1602) and, with the English navy, from Hormuz (1622) in the Persian Gulf (a vital link in Portuguese trade with India). The art of the Safavids is simply magnificent. Bihzad, the famed miniaturist from Herat, was commissioned by Shah Ismail to direct this royal workshop. Safavid art and artistic production reflected Irans location at the center of global trade routes, incorporating elements and styles from countries with which Iran conducted trade. 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. The reflective light symbolized the presence and light of God, who was conceived as a mirror of the divine realm. The Safavids also introduced Shiism as the state religion at a time when Irans population was mostly Sunni, and in doing so they fostered the deep divisions between Shiism and Sunnism that continue to characterize relations between Iran and other Islamic nations today. However, Safi al-Dins great-grandson Junayd made several changes to the orders doctrine, adopting specifically Shia ideas. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license), The Safavid Empire was as ethnically diverse as the Ottoman Empire. Under the Peace of Amasya, concluded in 1555, Armenia and Georgia were divided between the two empires; the Ottomans gained control over Iraq and access to the Persian Gulf, while Irans control over Azerbaijan was guaranteed. Direct link to hdarwish825's post what succession rules was. @kindle.com emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply. Started in the Safavid period, mirror mosaics became an enduring Persian decorative motif that was used by the subsequent dynasties. 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.