Following the conquest of Iran, Ismail I made conversion mandatory for the largely Sunni population. Other exports were horses, goat hair, pearls, and an inedible bitter almond hadam-talka used as a specie in India. [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. In the same year he occupied Ghazni, Kabul, and Lahore. Safavid miniatures are highly prized today; some of the best examples have sold for millions of dollars at auction. The art of the Safavids is simply magnificent. Corrections? 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. They cleverly allied themselves with European powers in order to protect themselves from the Ottomans. Sheikh Saf al-Dn Abdul Fath Is'haq Ardabil came from Ardabil, a city in today's Iranian Azerbaijan where his shrine still stands. In the previous century, Russia Muscovy had deposed two western Asian khanates of the Golden Horde and expanded its influence into the Caucasus Mountains and Central Asia. As a result of Mongol conquest, and relative religious tolerance of Ilhanids, Shi'a dynasties were established in IranSarbedaran in Khorasan being the most important. The Ottoman Turks and Safavids fought over the fertile plains of Iraq for more than 150 years. In May 1501, Ismail I declared Tabriz his capital and himself Shah of Azerbaijan. 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. what succession rules was followed by the Safavids? 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. Since the ruler was directly appointed by God, men were required to obey his commands whether just or unjust. The subjects, even if they sponsored the work, are generally idealized rather than actual persons. Museums around the world commissioned Pope and Ackerman to organize symposia and exhibitions on the topic of Persian art, where works from the Safavid Empire were especially of interest. During his reign, the Safavid state reached the height of its military, political, and economic power. Shah Abbas II was known as a poet, writing Turkic verse with the pen name of Tani. The art of the Safavids is simply magnificent. 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. The Safavids were generally more tolerant of non-Muslim subjects than they were of the Sunni. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox. Below is the article summary. First, he bargained for peace with the Ottomans in 1590, giving away territory in the north-west. In this period, handicrafts such as tile making, pottery, and textiles developed and great advances were made in miniature painting, bookbinding, decoration, and calligraphy. One faction, which became known as the Sunnis, supported the candidacy of Abu Bakr al-Sadiq, Muhammads father-in-law. 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. There had been, however, Shi'a communities in some cities like Qom and Sabzevar as early as eighth century. The net result of these various Safavid theories of kingship was absolutism. Safavid Persia had a succession of capitals: for the capital was where the shah and his entourage happened to be. By 1511, the Uzbeks in the north-east were driven across the Oxus River where they captured Samarkand establishing the Shaibanid dynasty, and from which they would continue to attack the Safavids. Tahmasp went on to become the longest-reigning Safavid shah. Mar 31, 2023 OpenStax. 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. At the apex of this structure was the shah. afavid dynasty, (1502-1736) Persian dynasty. 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 Here, Bihzad helped establish the birth of a new Safavid aesthetica hybrid of the colorful expressionism and naturalistic rendering of the dynasties that preceded the Safavids. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive. He expanded commercial links with the English East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. In spite of all this, however, the general population of Iran remained mostly Sunni until the Safavid period. Shiism was not officially tolerated by the Sunni caliphs of the Umayyad and Abbasid Empires because of its perceived challenge to their rule. 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. 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. With the capture of Tabriz, the Safavid dynasty officially began. Shah Tahmasp supported both schools at a royal painting workshop where artistic masters were invited to work with luxury materials such as gold leaf and ground lapis lazuli (Figure 4.25). While strongly influenced by Persian miniatures, Mughal miniatures tended to represent a more realistic depiction of animals and humans. The Safavid empire was founded by the Safavids.They became a centralized government. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. The Safavid Empire was one ruled by Sufi Muslims who later became Shia Muslims. The Safavids are therefore widely known for bringing this historic change to the region. Started in the Safavid period, mirror mosaics became an enduring Persian decorative motif that was used by the subsequent dynasties. Content may require purchase if you do not have access. 1999-2023, Rice University. He was declared Shah of Iran in 1502. Its founder was the Persian[1] mystic Sheikh Safi al-Din (12541334), after whom the order was named. Their demise was followed by a period of unrest. ISBN links support NWE through referral fees, Establishment of Shi'ism as the state religion, Conflict between Turcomans and Persians during the Safavid period, E. Yarshater, "Language of Azerbaijan, vii., Persian language of Azerbaijan,". 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). Despite the Safavid dynasty's Sufi origins, most Sunni or Shi'a Sufi groups were prohibited by the Nimatullahi order. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The emergence of the Safavids marked the first time the region was ruled by Persian kings since the. 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. Representation of the human form has been forbidden in Islamic art at times; in Persian illuminated manuscripts, the artists response was to use the image to bring a specific person to the viewers mind without representing them accurately. Omissions? 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. Not only had Ismails forces occupied the empires border cities, but he had begun recruiting for his army among the ethnic Turkish tribes of eastern Anatolia and encouraging the Shia Muslims in Ottoman lands to revolt against their Sunni rulers. 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. The article analyses the social and political structure of the Safavid Empire. The Safavids generally ruled over a peaceful and prosperous empire. They sustained one of the longest running empires of Iranian history, lasting from 1501 to 1736. During the period of Mongol rule over Iran and the Caucasus, the distinction between Shia and Sunni became less important than it had been. Updates? (credit: The Feast of Sada, Folio 22v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp by Ferdowsi/Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Arthur A. Houghton Jr., 1970 /Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain), This miniature created in the Mughal Empire in 1594 shows a scene from the, https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction, https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/4-3-the-safavid-empire, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, Identify the factors that contributed to the rise of the, Discuss the similarities and differences between, Describe the political structure of the Safavid Empire. 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 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. 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. After being sheltered by allies, the twelve-year-old Ismail emerged from exile in 1499 claiming to be the Mahdi or messiah and began rallying the Qizilbash troops who had fought for his father and brother. At the apex of this structure was the shah. [2] Shah Abbas I recognized the commercial benefit of promoting the artsartisan's products provided much of Iran's foreign trade. We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. They formed an early alliance with merchants, for instance, establishing and administering vaqfs to protect the merchants property and assets. is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings Through his mother, Shah Ismail I was descended from the Komnenos dynasty that once ruled the Byzantine Empire. Like that of many Sufi orders, their ideology incorporated elements of both Sunni and Shia doctrines to proclaim a universal message and attract followers from both sects. (credit: Armenian Frescoes by David Stanley/Flickr, CC BY 2.0), This detail of a sixteenth-century miniature by the Persian artist Farrukh Beg shows Shah Tahmasp, who was a great patron of the arts. 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). 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. This strengthening of direct ties between the ulama and the people, and the separation of the religious establishment from the state, is believed to be one of the reasons Shiism long outlasted the Safavid era. To spread the new beliefs and win converts, Ismail brought Shia scholars to Iran from Lebanon and Syria. 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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The Safavid Empire was established in an Iran that had been long fragmented. He had completely driven out the Afghans, who were still occupying Persia, by 1730. 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. 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. Fine silks. 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. 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 Qezelbash Turkmens, the "men of the 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 Persia, be they Arabs, Turkic, Mongols, or Turkmens. Has data issue: false We recommend using a The Safavid Empire, based in Persia ( Iran ), ruled over much of southwestern Asia from 1501 to 1736. The greatest of the Safavid monarchs, Shah Abbas (15871629) came to power in 1587, at the age of 16, following the forced abdication of his father, Shah Muhammad Khudbanda. It seems that the Safavid family left its homeland and moved to Azarbaijan (modern northwestern Iran) in the twelfth century. 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. In one grand example, Pope facilitated a full-scale reproduction of a Safavid mosque at the 1926 Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exhibition. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the Buwayhids, who were of Zeydi a branch of Shi'ism ruled in Fars, Isfahan, and Baghdad. Originally, the Safaviyeh was a spiritual, less denominational response to the upheavals and unrest in northwest Iran/eastern Anatolia in the decades following the Mongol invasion. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Iskander Beg Monshis History of Shah Abbas the Great, written a few years after its subject's death, achieved a nuanced depth of history and character. This left room for invasion by outside enemies, which is exactly what happened in 1722 when the Afghan army besieged the capital of Isfahan. After subsequent campaigns, the Safavids recaptured Baghdad, in 1623, but lost it again to Murad IV in 1638. 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. This clearly differentiated Iran from the Ottomans, who were Sunnis. The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid Dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. 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. Safavid miniature painting remains one of the most prized examples of visual art. Iranian ceramics became highly valued for export because of their remarkable similarity in style and quality to treasured Chinese porcelain, with even more intricately painted decorations. Never was the Divine Right of Kings more fully developed than by the Safavid shahs. Culture flourished under Safavid patronage. In response, a Ghilzai Pashtun chieftain named Mir Wais Khan began a rebellion against the Georgian governor, Gurgin Khan, of Kandahar and defeated a Safavid army. 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. Sunni clerics and theologians were given the choice of conversion or exile. The princes had Turcoman, Persian, Kurdish, and even Armenian, Indian, Afghan, or Georgian mothers. Detail, Sultan Muhammad, The Court of Gayumars, Shahnameh for Shah Tahmasp I, c. 152425, opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper, 45 x 30 cm, folio 20v (Aga Khan Museum, Toronto; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). The Safiviyeh came to be led by a fifteen-year old, Ismail I. Safavid military history had three phases. It did not last forever, however. 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 todays northwestern Iran. Ali Mirza was also killed, and his infant brother Ismail was sent into exile. Under them a political system emerged in which political and religious boundaries over-lapped. Two decades of warfare severely strained the Iranian economy, however, and Tahmasp sought peace with the Ottomans. 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.

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