1. Safavid Empire ( )
Empire of the Persians

2. Farsi Modern day Iran Population = 68+ million people 51% Persian
89% Shi’a Muslim
Predominant language =
Farsi

3. Map of Safavid Empire

4. Ottomans and Safavids duke-it-out in the middle east for 250 years!

5. Safavids in the 18th century

6. Shah Ismail established the Safavid Dynasty in 1501 .
He declared Shi’a Islam the new religion (over Sunni Islam).
He invited all shi’a to move to Iran where they would be protected.

7. Chaldiran: The Sunni Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (Selim) attacked the Safavid kingdom to stop the spread of Shiaism into Ottoman dominions in 1514.
Sultan Selim I also took Ismā'il's favorite wife hostage, demanding huge concessions for her release. Ismā'il refused to cede to the Ottoman demands, and is said to have died of a broken heart in 1524 at the early age of thirty-six, never having seen his beloved spouse again.

8. Chaldiran’s Importance
Importance of muskets and field cannons
Defeat of Safavids by Ottomans
End of westward expansion
End of rapid spread of Shi’a Islam; stayed mostly in Persia

9. Politics and War – Safavid Style
Tahmasp I (r )
Shah Abbas I (r – 1629)
Empire reached its height
Warrior nobility assigned villages and control over peasants

10. Abbas the Great
Educated and converted captured Russian youth to form military
Granted provincial governorships/high offices at court
Called on European assistance on wars with Ottomans
Wanted to establish empire as a major center of international trade and Islamic culture

11. State and Religion Wrote in Turkish, gave way to Persian
Elaborate court rituals
Huge palace complexes
Shifts in religious impulses
Shi’a faith modified
Faith became major pillar of dynasty
Most of Iranian population was converted (Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Sufi)

12. Affluence and Artistic Splendor
Encouraged trade outside of culture
Network of roads, rest houses built to protect merchants
Devoted special attention to capital: Isfahan
Great square
Mosques, Mosques, Mosques
Colleges
Public baths

13. Romantic Persians Love Poetry Sufi mysticism Persian paintings
Love potions
Musical instruments
Garden
Love stories/romances
Textiles and crafts
Architecture

14. Mahan Mosque, 1300’s

15. "Mosque of Time and Clock." Yazd, Iran ----------------
Agha Bozorg Mosque, 1700’s

16. Chehel-sotoon palace, Isfahan. Iran. 1647

17. Masjed-e Sheikh Lotfallah, Isfahan, Iran. 1615

18. The Shah Mosque, Isfahan

19. Shah Abbas 1571-1629 Defeated Ottoman Turks 1603 Took Baghdad
Respected diplomat,
Cruel warrior, tolerant
to Christians…

20. A painting by Riaz-i-Abbasi completed on January, 28, 1633, four years after Shah Abbas's death, and currently on display at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia, shows Shah Abbas passing a drink to Alam Khan after a hunting episode.

21. Safavid Decline Abbas I grandson placed on throne (weak)
Abbas II (r )
Could not stop the fall of the empire
March 1722
Afghani tribes laid siege to Isfahan
October Isfahan fell and ended Safavid power