political structure of the safavid empire

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 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. inch), 153940 C.E., Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan or Kirman, Iran, (now at the Victoria & Albert Museum; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). 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 (. 4.3 The Safavid Empire - World History Volume 2, from 1400 | OpenStax By the time the seventeen-year-old Abbas was crowned shah in 1588, Iran was in chaos. Shi'a's sacred sites were much closerin Iraq, captured by the Safavids in 1623 (but surrendered again to the Ottomans in 1639). Later, in 1722, an Afghan army led by Mir Wais' son, Mahmud, marched across eastern Iran, besieged, and sacked Isfahan and proclaimed Mahmud "Shah" of Persia. 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. Shia Islam is still the official state religion of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Corrections? citation tool such as, Authors: Ann Kordas, Ryan J. Lynch, Brooke Nelson, Julie Tatlock, Book title: World History Volume 2, from 1400. However, several scholars went one step further and extended the familys history back to the biblical Adam. The Safavids ultimately succeeded in establishing a new Persian national monarchy. He captured Tabrz from the Ak Koyunlu and became shah of Azerbaijan (1501) and Persia (1502). In one grand example, Pope facilitated a full-scale reproduction of a Safavid mosque at the 1926 Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exhibition. Government - Safavid Empire & Sikhism Review Through this alliance many members of the ulama became landowners themselves, creating a religious aristocracy that gave them a level of political independence. It seems that the Safavid family left its homeland and moved to Azarbaijan (modern northwestern Iran) in the twelfth century. 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. The Common people were the lowest class on the pyramid in which they mainly consisted of farmers and herders. Following the conquest of Iran, Ismail I made conversion mandatory for the largely Sunni population. (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. Bihzad, the famed miniaturist from Herat, was commissioned by Shah Ismail to direct this royal workshop. 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. 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. He was declared Shah of Iran in 1502. 4, p. 14. 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. 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 At the height of their reign, the Safavids controlled not . Between 1508 and 1524, the year of Ismail's death, the shah appointed five successive Persians to the office of vakil. In the following centuries, this religious schism would both cement Iran's internal cohesion and national feelings and provoke attacks by its Sunni neighbors. The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736 and 1750 to 1773) and, at their height, they controlled all of what is now Iran, Republic of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Georgia, parts of the North Caucasus including Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, 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. Roger M. Savory, "Safawidsiii, The establishment of the Safawid state,". There had been, however, Shi'a communities in some cities like Qom and Sabzevar as early as eighth century. An empire in fragments The South Asian subcontinentmodern India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan is part of the Eurasian landmass. The Safavids were a dynastic family that ruled over modern-day Iran. When the outside world finally began learning about the arts of Iran, it was through the lens and example of the Safavids. afavid dynasty summary | Britannica Safavid dynasty - Wikipedia He was able to reverse many of Irans territorial losses to the Russians and Ottomans; however, he had no interest in sharing power. Poetry lacked the royal patronage of other arts and was hemmed in by religious prescriptions. 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. Updates? Under them a political system emerged in which political and religious boundaries over-lapped. (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. The Safavid Empire, based in Persia ( Iran ), ruled over much of southwestern Asia from 1501 to 1736. To save content items to your account, what succession rules was followed by the Safavids? 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,". The Ottoman Turks and Safavids fought over the fertile plains of Iraq for more than 150 years. 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. In addition to fighting its perennial enemies, the Ottomans and Uzbeks, as the seventeenth century progressed, Iran had to contend with the rise of two more neighbors. 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. Tahmasps desire to fend off the Turkish threat led him to ally himself with a rising European power, the Habsburg Empire. The Safavid Empire dates from the rule of Shah Ismail (ruled 1501-1524). Bureaucracy and landed class who were considered the middle classes. It became more identifiably Shi'a in its orientation around the year 1400. As the spiritual heir of Sheikh Zahed, Safi Al-Din transformed the inherited Zahediyeh Sufi Order into the Safaviyeh Order. -Made shitism the official religion of the Safavid Empire. The capture of Baghdad by Ismail I in 1509, was only followed by its loss to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1534. 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). Despite the strong rivalry between the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals, all three empires produced paintings of this type (Figure 4.27). ), 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? Safavid Empire - New World Encyclopedia After waging war against the Uzbeks, Abbas realized that fighting the Ottomans with the country in upheaval would be nearly impossible. Despite these similarities, however, significant differences . afavid dynasty, (15021736) Persian dynasty. 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. The Sunni scholars, called Ulama (from alim, knowledge), were either killed or exiled. Want to cite, share, or modify this book? The art of the Safavids is simply magnificent. He ordered all Irans Sunni Muslims to become Shiites. When the Safavid state weakened in its later years, the ulama were able to step in and use their newly acquired wealth to benefit their communities. The Qizilbash were largely Turcoman, another Turkic group with its own language. 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. 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). Persian carpets of silk and wool were in high demand in Europe and other parts of the Islamic world. Never was the Divine Right of Kings more fully developed than by the Safavid shahs. Even those in hereditary positions had to prove themselves capable or be replaced. 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. Mar 31, 2023 OpenStax. He wholeheartedly adopted the use of gunpowder. In spite of all this, however, the general population of Iran remained mostly Sunni until the Safavid period. Thirdly, military and political power in Persia was generally in the hands of ethnic Turks, while ethnic Persians, called Tajiks, were dominant in the areas of administration and culture. The Ottoman and Safavid Empires: Comparison Essay Safavids in Persia | Article for mature travellers - Odyssey Travellers Shah Mosque (Royal Mosque), Isfahan, Iran, begun 1611 (photo: Another singular characteristic of Safavid architecture are the colorful tiles that covered exterior faced and interior domes of mosques. The three Islamic empires of the early modern period - the Mughal, the Safavid, and the Ottoman - shared a common Turko-Mongolian heritage. He used Persian as the language of government and composed poetry in Azeri, contributing to its development as a literary language. READ: Mughal Empire (article) | Khan Academy In practice, however, there were well defined limits to this absolutism, even when the shah was a strong and capable ruler. on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Capital of the Safavid Empire. Poetry stagnated under the Safavids; the great medieval ghazal form languished in over-the-top lyricism. "useRatesEcommerce": false At the apex of this structure was 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. However the brief puppet regime of Ismail III ended in 1760, when Karim Khan felt strong enough take nominal power of the country as well and officially end the Safavid dynasty. It did not last forever, however. Ali Mirza was also killed, and his infant brother Ismail was sent into exile. @free.kindle.com emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. Due to his fear of assassination, Shah Abbas either put to death or blinded any member of his family who aroused his suspicion. Browne, "A Literary History of Persia," Vol. 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. During the Safavid period, Iran was ethnically quite diverse. Abbas I reformed the military and civil service and built a showpiece capital city, Isfahan, which remains one of the masterworks of Persian Islamic art and architecture. The Ottoman (OE) and Safavid (SE) Empires are no exception to this rule. By 1511, however, Ismails troops had driven the Uzbek people across the Oxus River, establishing the eastern borders of modern Iran. (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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. OpenStax is part of Rice University, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. 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. The epic called the Shahnameh (Book of Kings), a stellar example of manuscript illumination and calligraphy, was made during Shah Tahmasp's reign. 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. Abbas I was particularly lenient toward the Armenian Christian population of Isfahan, due to their participation in the lucrative manufacture and export of silk. Except where otherwise noted, textbooks on this site 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. 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. Government of Safavid Empire - John McGarvey To establish political provenance, the Safavid rulers claimed to be descended from Imam Ali, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and his wife Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, through the seventh Imam Musa al-Kazim. Although a majority of the people in the kingdom were Iranians, there were also some Arabs, Turks, and Armenians. During his reign, the official language at the royal court was Azerbaijanian. Sunnis who resisted conversion but remained in Iran faced death. 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. Safavid Iran was one of the Islamic "gunpowder empires", along with its neighbours, the Ottoman and Mughal empires. Shiism was not officially tolerated by the Sunni caliphs of the Umayyad and Abbasid Empires because of its perceived challenge to their rule. 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. This book uses the The Safavid Empire: Creation, Rulers, Characteristics & Shi'ism Two decades of warfare severely strained the Iranian economy, however, and Tahmasp sought peace with the Ottomans. Never was the Divine Right of Kings more fully developed than by the Safavid shahs. The Ottomans pushed further and on August 23, 1514, managed to engage the Safavids in the Battle of Chaldiran west of Tabriz. 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. After the Mongol conquest of Baghdad in 1258, the Sunni caliphate became a weak figurehead position that held only symbolic authority. In 1522, the Safavid royal library of Shah Tahmasp produced the most exquisitely illustrated Shahnameh of all time, now known as the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp. Royal manuscripts such as this were highly collaborative enterprises that brought together miniaturists, illuminators, calligraphers, poets, scribes, and gold sprinklers. The pope also hoped Abbas would allow the construction of a cathedral in his new capital city of Isfahan, but on their arrival his emissaries found three Roman Catholic churches already there (Figure 4.24). 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. [2] Shah Abbas I recognized the commercial benefit of promoting the artsartisan's products provided much of Iran's foreign trade. 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. What was the Safavid Empire's political contributions to the world In this way, one of his sons was executed and two were blinded. 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. 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. Abbas then returned to the issue his grandfather had taken up: taming the Qizilbash, whose disputes had plunged Iran into civil conflict that twice nearly brought the country to ruin. Safavid Iran - Wikipedia How did the Safavid Empire rise to power AP world history? 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. Render date: 2023-04-30T14:46:17.907Z 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). The loss of his capital Tabriz to the enemyand to a Sunni Muslim at thatwas a huge blow to Shah Ismails standing among his own armies, made worse by the fact that he had declared himself invincible based on his fictionalized semidivine ancestry. The Safavids unified much of Iran under single political control. Nevertheless, Safavid rulers were aggressive toward the Armenians, Georgians, and other Christians in the Caucasus region, whom they considered potentially rebellious. Since two other sons had predeceased him, when he died on January 19, 1629, he had no son capable of succeeding him. The art of the Safavids is simply magnificent. 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. The Qizilbashi tribes were essential to the military of Iran until the rule of Shah Abbas Itheir leaders were able exercise enormous influence and participate in court intrigues (assassinating Shah Ismail II, for example). 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 Middle Ages had seen a series of invasions of Iran by Turks, Mongols, and others. At the time, he governed only Azerbaijan and part of the Caucasus. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. 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. Royal and elite women often funded the construction or maintenance of caravansaries, demonstrating the value of trade to both the state and individual wealth. However, the original ancestral line of the Safavids was a religious order of Sufi mystics that lived in Ardabil, a city now in Azerbaijan (Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam that originated during the, Shah Ismail, the founder of the Safavid dynasty, rejoined the western and eastern halves of the Iranian plateau through military achievement. 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). What might account for the differences in style between the Safavid and Mughal paintings? Then he turned against the Ottomans, recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq, and the Caucasian provinces, by 1622. 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. The Shia movement originated with a dispute over Muhammads successor after his death in 632. 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. Royal elites collaged them into, The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid Dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. 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. While silk had always been a highly sought after Persian commodity, dating back to ancient times, the Safavid era produced one of the most lucrative silk industries of the early modern world. Political and Social Structure of 3 Islamic Empires - Prezi One of the reasons the Qizilbash were eventually replaced as palace administrators, bureaucrats, and military elites is that they had occasionally used their collective power to render some of the weaker shahs mere figureheads. [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 . He was a disciple of the famed Sufi Grand Master Sheikh Zahed Gilani (12161301) of Lahijan. Find out more about saving to your Kindle. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. Thus, Abbas I was able to break the dependence on the Qizilbash for military might and centralized control. 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). During his reign, the Safavid state reached the height of its military, political, and economic power. For this reason, most Shia movements developed far outside the control of these caliphates, in places like Morocco, Yemen, Iran, and central Asia. -This caused tension between the Safavid Empire and Ottoman Empires, which was a Sunni empire. According to many historians, the Safavid empire marked the beginning of modern Persia. This system brought the brightest and most talented into government service while preventing the development of an entrenched and unchecked aristocracy. The Ardabil carpet, still one of the largest Persian carpets in existence, was made during the Safavid period. Culture flourished under Safavid patronage. They invested a great deal of their capital into the building and decoration of shrines of Shia saints. Initially, like most of Irans population, the Safavids were primarily Sunni Muslims. The Ottomans sued for peace in 1612, relinquishing the Caucasus to the Iranians. 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. 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. 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. How are their styles similar? The armies of Peter the Great took the Caucasus in the Russo-Persian war of 17221723, while the Ottomans reoccupied northwestern Iran.

Baylor Basketball Forum, Where Are The Ortiz Brothers Racing Today, Articles P