political structure of the safavid empire

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. In the east, the Mughal dynasty of India had expanded into Afghanistan at the expense of Iranian control, taking Kandahar and Herat. 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. Total loading time: 0 Bureaucracy and landed class who were considered the middle classes. The Safavid shahs were wary of groups that sought to exert too much power over them and the government. please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. The Safavids (Persian: ) were a native Iranian dynasty from Azarbaijan that ruled from 1501 to 1736, and which established Shi'a Islam as Iran's official religion and united its provinces under a single Iranian sovereignty in the early modern period. 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. What might account for the differences in style between the Safavid and Mughal paintings? He was able to reverse many of Irans territorial losses to the Russians and Ottomans; however, he had no interest in sharing power. 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. 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 (. 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. 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. Safavids in Persia | Article for mature travellers - Odyssey Travellers Following the conquest of Iran, Ismail I made conversion mandatory for the largely Sunni population. As Vladimir Minorsky put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Qezelbash "were no party to the national Persian tradition." Render date: 2023-04-30T14:46:17.907Z In these paintings, artists used mineral-based dyes, which produced brilliant and long-lasting colors (Figure 4.26). 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. 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. Safi al-Din is believed to have come from a family of Kurds who spoke Azeri. Known as, Muqarnas and mirror mosaics, outdoor portal, Chehel Sotoun (photo: Amir Pahaei, CC BY-SA 4.0). He wholeheartedly adopted the use of gunpowder. 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). As an empire, the Safavids succeeded in placing the nomadic people groups of the region under their. 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). They wanted to spread "Shiism by military means." They viewed the leader of the Empire with reverence, and they. Members of the Safavid Dynasty likely were of Kurdish Persian descent and belonged to a unique order of Sufi -infused Shi'a Islam called Safaviyya. consent of Rice University. 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 earliest stages. Mar 31, 2023 OpenStax. 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. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Safavid dynasty | History, Culture, Religion, & Facts | Britannica Mirror mosaics were used in religious spaces as well, especially in Shia mosques and shrines to important Shia saints. We recommend using a Started in the Safavid period, mirror mosaics became an enduring Persian decorative motif that was used by the subsequent dynasties. Ismail also invited foreign Shiites living in places where they were persecuted by the Sunni majority to move to Iran, promising them land and protection. Then he turned against the Ottomans, recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq, and the Caucasian provinces, by 1622. 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. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. Despite falling revenues and military threats, later shahs were said to have had lavish lifestyles. (Azeri is a Turkic language.) 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. Their demise was followed by a period of unrest. 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. citation tool such as, Authors: Ann Kordas, Ryan J. Lynch, Brooke Nelson, Julie Tatlock, Book title: World History Volume 2, from 1400. (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. 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: Brilliantly painted manuscripts. The emergence of the Safavids marked the first time the region was ruled by Persian kings since the. 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. For instance, the Qajar dynasty (17891925), the first major dynasty to succeed the Safavids, continued the tradition of Safavid book arts, painting, and architecture. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Safavid Empire Flashcards | Quizlet An empire in fragments The South Asian subcontinentmodern India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan is part of the Eurasian landmass. 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. 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. 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 Common people were the lowest class on the pyramid in which they mainly consisted of farmers and herders. The princes had Turcoman, Persian, Kurdish, and even Armenian, Indian, Afghan, or Georgian mothers. It became more identifiably Shi'a in its orientation around the year 1400. 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. Isfahan Define Anarchy Lawless and disorder; no one leader, no government Define Orthodoxy Traditional (not flexible) manner to follow a religion Define Shah King of the Safavid empire Define warfare in the Safavid Empire .They had a system similar to the janissaries. 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. Persian carpets of silk and wool were in high demand in Europe and other parts of the Islamic world. 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 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). Shah Abbas II was known as a poet, writing Turkic verse with the pen name of Tani. Based on the idea that the religiosity of the Turkish-speaking milieu that constituted the Safavid movement's grassroots was primarily shaped by this Karbala-oriented epic literature, this essay argues that Shaykh Jonayd, Shaykh Haydar, and especially Shah Esmil successfully reformulated the Safavid Sufi program to address the codes of . The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safaviyya Sufi order, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region. The fourth vakil was murdered by the Qezelbash, and the fifth was put to death by them. How are their styles similar? Some reflections on the Persian theory of government, Theory and Practice in Medieval Persian Government, Bibliography on the History of Iran under the afavids, The principal offices of the Safavid state during the reign of Ism'l I, Bulletin of the School of Oriental (and African) Studies, The principal offices of the Safavid state during the reign of ahmsp I, Some notes on the provincial administration of the early afavid empire, The struggle for supremacy in Persia after the death of Timr, Find out more about saving to your Kindle, Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521200943.007. There had been, however, Shi'a communities in some cities like Qom and Sabzevar as early as eighth century. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive. 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. -Made shitism the official religion of the Safavid Empire. 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. 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. However, Safi al-Dins great-grandson Junayd made several changes to the orders doctrine, adopting specifically Shia ideas. Located in the central Middle East, the kingdom occupied a fundamental geographic location and had substantial effect in the stability of the region. It did not last forever, however. He used Persian as the language of government and composed poetry in Azeri, contributing to its development as a literary language. 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 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. Omissions? 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. BBC - Religions - Islam: Safavid Empire (1501-1722) 1999-2023, Rice University. 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. 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. 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. (credit: Shah Isma'il, History of Shah Isma'il, by Mu'in Musavvir, Isfahan, Iran by Muin Musavvir/British Library/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain), The interior of the Armenian Christian Holy Savior Cathedral in Isfahan, built in 1606, incorporates both Christian imagery, such as scenes from the life of Christ, and Islamic-style decorative tilework. This system brought the brightest and most talented into government service while preventing the development of an entrenched and unchecked aristocracy. Safavid dynasty, (1501-1736), ruling dynasty of Iran whose establishment of Twelver Shiism as the state religion of Iran was a major factor in the emergence of a unified national consciousness among the various ethnic and linguistic elements of the country. At the apex of this structure was the shah. In practice, however, there were well defined limits to this absolutism, even when the shah was a strong and capable ruler. 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. 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. 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. Nevertheless, Safavid rulers were aggressive toward the Armenians, Georgians, and other Christians in the Caucasus region, whom they considered potentially rebellious. Immediately after Nadir Shah's assassination in 1747, the Safavids were re-appointed as shahs of Iran in order to lend legitimacy to the nascent Zand dynasty. Safavid Empire - New World Encyclopedia Their capitals were Tabriz, Qazvin, Isfahan. Tabriz was the center of this industry. Iran also continued to face threats from outside. This street was flanked by palaces and public gardens that featured fruit trees and fountains with running water. 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. As a result, he signed a peace treaty in 1590 that gave nearly half his territory, including the former capital of Tabriz, to the Ottomans. afavid dynasty, (1502-1736) Persian dynasty. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked. The three Islamic empires of the early modern period - the Mughal, the Safavid, and the Ottoman - shared a common Turko-Mongolian heritage. They sought to control these populations by enslaving or deporting their members, and nobles were often requested to convert to Shiism. The most distinctive and prized artworks of the Safavid era were illuminated manuscripts of well-known texts decorated with miniature paintings. In 1750, it was mostly governed through a loose confederation of powerful princely states ^1 1 and rich port cities. They sustained one of the longest running empires of Iranian history, lasting from 1501 to 1736. 20th and Pattison, Philadelphia (, The Safavids established an artistic identity that resonated with the dynasties that came after. From 1609-1610, war broke out between Kurdish tribes and Safavid Empire. He expanded commercial links with the English East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. Throughout the rest of the decade, Ismail I fended off attacks from the Ottomans, stamped out the remnants of a rival faction, called the Ak Koyunlu, and continued to expand his territoryHamadan in 1503, Shiraz and Kerman in 1504, Najaf and Karbala in 1507, Van in 1508, Baghdad in 1509, Khorasan and Herat in 1510. 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 Empire: Creation, Rulers, Characteristics & Shi'ism By the seventeenth century, trade routes between East and West had shifted away from Iran, causing a decline in commerce and trade. Abbs I (r. 15881629) brought the dynasty to its peak; his capital, Efahn, was the centre of afavid architectural achievement. 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 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. 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. The subjects, even if they sponsored the work, are generally idealized rather than actual persons. 6 - THE SAFAVID ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM - Cambridge Core In this period, handicrafts such as tile making, pottery, and textiles developed and great advances were made in miniature painting, bookbinding, decoration, and calligraphy. Shi'a's sacred sites were much closerin Iraq, captured by the Safavids in 1623 (but surrendered again to the Ottomans in 1639).

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political structure of the safavid empire

political structure of the safavid empire