political structure of the safavid empire

Even those in hereditary positions had to prove themselves capable or be replaced. Despite near-constant war, during this time Iran reached new cultural and economic heights. Second, it brought the royal workshops closer to the silk route, making it easier for the Safavids to control the sale of Persian silk. Although the Safavids were eventually able to reestablish authority, they never achieved their earlier level of control. We do know that Zahed appointed his son-in-law and disciple Safi al-Din Ardabili to succeed him, which angered his family and some of his followers. He expanded commercial links with the English East India Company and the Dutch East India Company. At the height of their reign, the Safavids controlled not only Iran, but also the countries we now know as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Georgia, parts of the North Caucasus, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Shah Ismail I himself wrote many poems in Azerbaijani, as well as in Persian and Arabic, while Shah Tahmasp was a painter. Safavid miniature painting remains one of the most prized examples of visual art. 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. 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. 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. According to many historians, the Safavid empire marked the beginning of modern Persia. -This caused tension between the Safavid Empire and Ottoman Empires, which was a Sunni empire. Exquisitely detailed miniatures. Its founder was the Persian[1] mystic Sheikh Safi al-Din (12541334), after whom the order was named. 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). To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser. Europeans imported some of the highest volumes of Safavid textiles. The Safavid Empire dates from the rule of Shah Ismail (ruled 1501-1524). 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. Safavid Persia had a succession of capitals: for the capital was where the shah and his entourage happened to be. 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. Sunni clerics and theologians were given the choice of conversion or exile. His son Ali Mirza took his place, but within a few years his capital at Ardabil was conquered by his enemies. 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). Poetry stagnated under the Safavids; the great medieval ghazal form languished in over-the-top lyricism. 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). (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. (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. They expanded their empire by wagging Jihads (Holy war) against other countries. Safi al-Din is believed to have come from a family of Kurds who spoke Azeri. 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. what succession rules was followed by the Safavids? 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. Updates? Chardin declares emphatically that outside court circles there was no arbitrary exercise of power by the shah, and both Chardin and Malcolm assert that the awe in which the shah was held by the court and the nobility was the primary reason for the relative security and freedom from oppression enjoyed by the lower classes. In addition, despite representing different cultures, the two share a range of similarities, which allows for an insightful analysis of the characteristics that great empires share. 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). Tabriz was taken but the Ottoman army refused to follow the Safavids into the Persian highlands and by winter, retreated from Tabriz. 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). Browne, "A Literary History of Persia," Vol. The art of these miniature paintings relies on a style called nonrepresentational. Instead of depicting a scene naturalistically, it uses forced or even impossible perspectives to show action on multiple tiers, revealing activity behind doors or walls that some of the subjects in the painting cannot see. The most distinctive and prized artworks of the Safavid era were illuminated manuscripts of well-known texts decorated with miniature paintings. Prior to the rise of the Safavids, the region was broken up into a mosaic of autonomous states, all governed by local rulers. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license), The Safavid Empire was as ethnically diverse as the Ottoman Empire. Given the sects government sponsorship, the Shia ulama were often able to act as intermediaries between the people and the government. They cleverly allied themselves with European powers in order to protect themselves from the Ottomans. The Ottomans pushed further and on August 23, 1514, managed to engage the Safavids in the Battle of Chaldiran west of Tabriz. Safavid military history had three phases. To save content items to your account, Power was shifting to a new class of merchants, many of them ethnic Armenians, Georgians, and Indians. During the period of Mongol rule over Iran and the Caucasus, the distinction between Shia and Sunni became less important than it had been. Sheikh Saf al-Dn Abdul Fath Is'haq Ardabil came from Ardabil, a city in today's Iranian Azerbaijan where his shrine still stands. 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. Capital of the Safavid Empire. This street was flanked by palaces and public gardens that featured fruit trees and fountains with running water. 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. 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. 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. History of the Safavids from Iran Chamber, Artistic and cultural history of the Safavids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Safavid_Empire&oldid=1092454, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. At the same time, however, the Safavids conversion policy brought tensions between Sunni and Shia to a level not seen since Muhammads death. What are the common features of the Safavid and Mughal paintings? 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. } please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. The Habsburg emperor Charles V, concerned by the Ottomans progression toward Vienna, approached first Ismail and then Tahmasp about an alliance. (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. please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. Thus, Abbas I was able to break the dependence on the Qizilbash for military might and centralized control. "useRatesEcommerce": false Later, Shah Abbas I moved the capital even deeper into central Iran, to the city of Isfahan, building a new city next to the ancient Persian one. 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. 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 Safavid concept of kingship, combining territorial control with . The Ardabil carpet, still one of the largest Persian carpets in existence, was made during the Safavid period. For the full article, see, https://www.britannica.com/summary/Safavid-dynasty. This left room for invasion by outside enemies, which is exactly what happened in 1722 when the Afghan army besieged the capital of Isfahan. Poetry lacked the royal patronage of other arts and was hemmed in by religious prescriptions. Corrections? Historians generally agree that the Safavids efforts to convert Muslims in their empire to Shiism utilized coercion and force. 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 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. The Safavid Empire was established in an Iran that had been long fragmented. In practice, however, there were well defined limits to this absolutism, even when the shah was a strong and capable ruler. 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. hasContentIssue false, THE JALAYIRIDS, MUZAFFARIDS AND SARBADRS, TRADE FROM THE MID-14TH CENTURY TO THE END OF THE SAFAVID PERIOD, RELIGION IN THE TIMURID AND SAFAVID PERIODS, SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS, PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY IN THE SAFAVID PERIOD, PERSIAN LITERATURE IN THE TIMURID AND TRKMEN PERIODS (782907/13801501), PERSIAN POETRY IN THE TIMURID AND SAFAVID PERIODS, For an annotated general bibliography of the Safavid period, see, https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521200943.007, Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. 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. 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. This encouraged pilgrimages across the great stretch of the Safavid empire, in places such as Karbala and Najaf, two cities in central Iraq. 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. This genealogy was most likely invented by court historians during the sixteenth-century reign of Shah Ismail I. Shah Soltan Hosein tried to forcibly convert his Afghan subjects in eastern Iran from Sunni to Shi'a Islam. Shi'a's sacred sites were much closerin Iraq, captured by the Safavids in 1623 (but surrendered again to the Ottomans in 1639). In one grand example, Pope facilitated a full-scale reproduction of a Safavid mosque at the 1926 Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exhibition. If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, From 1609-1610, war broke out between Kurdish tribes and Safavid Empire. Posted 7 months ago. 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. Their capitals were Tabriz, Qazvin, Isfahan. While the decoration of each of these buildings varied, the structural composition remained much the same, consisting of domes surrounded by four, Fresco, c. 1597 C.E., Ali Qapu Palace (photo: reibai, CC BY 2.0). Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. The country was repeatedly raided on its frontiersKerman by Baluchi tribesmen in 1698, Khorasan by Afghans in 1717, constantly in Mesopotamia by peninsula Arabs. They invested a great deal of their capital into the building and decoration of shrines of Shia saints. The city center was unique. 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. 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). 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. As in the Ottoman Empire, wealthy Safavid women raised their public stature by becoming patrons of the arts and endowing public buildings. By the seventeenth century, trade routes between East and West had shifted away from Iran, causing a decline in commerce and trade.

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