Nizaris – Isma‘ili Shi‘ites (formerly
a.k.a. the Assassins)
12th c. Nizaris active in Persia and Levant
13th c. Nizaris suppressed by Mamluks
and Mongols, driven underground
c. 1460 Nizari Imam establishes HQ at
Anjudan, re-establishes network, posing
as Sufis
mid 14th c. Collapse of the
Ilkhanate. Safavids build support
shaykh (Sufi among Qizilbash (“redheads”)
master)
1499 Safavid Isma‘il attacks local
Turkish rulers
Safi al-Din
(lived 12521334)
1501 Isma‘il takes Tabriz
1501-24 Reign of Isma‘il as shah
Map Link: The Safavid Empire:
<http://online.sfsu.edu/mroozbeh/Maps/Map-safavid.gif>
Ottomans
Selim I
(r. 1512-20)
Uzbeks
wakil
(deputy)
shah
1510 Safavids have taken
eastern Asia Minor, Iraq and
western Persia. Defeat Uzbeks
in battle
1512-13 Safavids secure eastern
Border with Uzbeks
1514 Ottomans defeat Safavids
at Chaldiran
1524-76 Reign of Tahmasp
1533 Tahmasp takes de facto power
1534, 1548, 1554-55 Ottoman invasions of
Safavid territory. Peace finally made, Iraq
(including Baghdad) left in Ottoman hands.
Safavids keep Tabriz, but Tahmasp moves
capital to Qazvin
1587 Murshid Quli Khan raises ‘Abbas to
throne
1587-1629 Reign of ‘Abbas
1598 ‘Abbas transfers capital to Esfahan
1603-23 Safavids push Ottomans out of
north-west Persia, Baghdad and south-east
Asia Minor
Maydan-e Shah
Trade links with Europe, tolerance of nonMuslims
Suppression of non-Twelver Muslims, incl.
Sufis, leading to change in Nizari
approach to concealment of religion
Confinement of royal princes to harem
1629-42 Reign of Safi
1642-66 Reign of ‘Abbas II
1645 ‘Abbas II takes de facto power
1648 Safavids take Qandahar from Mughals
1666-94 Reign of Safi II/Sulayman
1694-1722 Reign of Sultan Husayn
1709 Afghan Ghilzai tribe takes Qandahar
1722 Mahmud Ghilzai takes Esfahan.
Sultan Husayn abdicates. Mahmud becomes
new ruler of Isfahan, effectively bringing
Safavid rule to an end
1736 End of Safavid line
1736-47 Reign of Nadir Shah
Persecution/fleeing of Twelver religious
scholars
1740s Nizari Imam moves to Kirman, allows
followers to show faith