Heading East: The Safavid Empire
Origins of the Empire
Isma’il & Military Expansion
Religious Impulse of Messianism
Continued Rise to Power
Organization & Religious Principles
Policies & Differences from Others
Splintering & Splitting Off
Safavid-Ottoman Relations
Religious Intolerance
Isma’il, Selim, & the Battle of Chaldiron
Change Toward Imamite Shi’a
Consolidation & Culture under Abbas
Pragmatism & Security
Isfahan the Cosmopolitan Capital
The Persian Empire, early
18th Cent., German
Origins of the Empire
Isma’il & Military Expansion
Rise to Power 1501/2 as Safavid Shah; Tabriz
Military Aid: Qizilbash (Turkish Warriors)
Strong Supporters of Shi’ism
Persecuted Group under Ottomans
Consolidating Smaller Territories
Linguistic, Cultural Variation
Pushing East (Uzbeks, Central Asia)
Pushing West (Ottomans, Baghdad)
Religious Impulse of Messianism
Safavids a Sufi Order from 14th C.
Military & Religious Brotherhood
Deep Roots in Sufi Aspect of Islam
Mystical, Ascetic
Shi’ism as Heterdox or Orthodox Sect
Matter of Perspective
Shah Isma’il
Sufism: “dedication to worship, total
dedication to Allah most High,
disregard for the finery and
ornament of the world, abstinence
from the pleasure, wealth, and
prestige sought by most men, and
retiring from others to worship
alone.”
Ibn Khaldun, Arab Historian, 14th C.
Continued Rise to Power
Organization & Religious Principles
Shi’ism Official State Religion
Sunni Conversion Mandatory
Theocracy: Shah Divinely Ordained
Strong Central State & Church
Controlling Turkish Qizilbash & Native Persian Elements
Potential for Disunity
Policies & Differences from Others
Splintering & Splitting Off
Shi’ites Followers of Ali (Son-in-Law)
Hidden Imam – 12th Descendant
Safavid Dynasty & Religious Uniformity
Emphases on Religious Texts, Rites
Banned Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)
Strong Shi’ite Identity in Education, Philosophy, Culture, & Politics
Pilgrims at The Sacred/Holy
Mosque, Celebrating their Hajj
Safavid-Ottoman Relations
Religious Intolerance (cf. Xty)
Ottomans vs. Qizilbash Shi’a
Safavids vs. Sunni & Others
Forced Conversions; Banishment
Educational/Cultural Indoctrination
Isma’il, Selim, & the Battle of Chaldiran
Territorial Expansion (Both)
Saw Each Other as Threat
Selim’s Key Victory at Chaldiran, 1514
Captured Tabriz (Temporarily)
Use of Modern Artillery Change Toward Imamite Shi’a
Less Focus on Militant Qizilbash
Isma’il Withdraws from Administration
Shah’s Divinity Questioned
Battle of Chaldiran, Where Isma’il’s
Fate Turned
Safavid-Ottoman Rivalry in Letters
Selim to Isma’il, 1514, before Chaldiran
. . . “I, sovereign chief of the Ottomans, master of the heroes of the age . . .
exterminator of idolators, destroyer of the enemies of the true faith . . . address
myself graciously to you, Emir Ismail. . . . You have denied the sanctity of the
divine laws . . . have deserted the path of salvation and sacred
commandments . . . have impaired the purity of the dogmas of Islam . . . have
dishonored, soiled, and destroyed the altars of the Lord[.] . . . Animated by the
spirit of this fatwa [religious ruling], conforming to the Quran, the code of
divine laws, and wishing on the one side to strengthen Islam, on the other to
liberate the lands and peoples who writhe under your yoke, we have resolved to
lay aside our imperial robes in order to put on the shield and coat of mail
[armor] . . . to assemble our invincible armies . . . to march with our soldiers,
whose sword strikes mortal blows[.] . . . [W]e hope soon to strike down your
tyrannous arm, blow away the clouds of glory and grandeur which trouble your
head and cause your fatal blindness[.] . . . However, . . . [w]e urge you to look
into yourself, to renounce your errors, and . . . give up possession of the
territory violently seized from our state[.] . . . But if . . . you persist in your past
conduct . . . you will see in a few days your plains covered with our tents and
inundated with our battalions.”
Consolidation & Culture under Abbas (r. 1587-1629)
Pragmatism & Security
Less Aggressive Military Policy
But Still Had to Fight Off Ottomans
Treaties of 1555 & 1590
Turn to Secular > Theocratic Administration
Abbas (the Great) Reasserts Imperial Role
Wars vs. East & West to Secure Boarders
Putting Down Qizilbash Rebellions
Utilizing Position Along Trade Route
English East India Company Using Land
Isfahan the Cosmopolitan Capital
Tabriz – Qazwin – Isfahan; Central Location
A Major Global City of the 17th Cent.
Seat of Persian Culture & Nationalism
Parks, Libraries, Buildings, Palaces
“Isfahan is Half the World”
Uzbek Warrior, Perennial
Threat to the East
Persians Playing Polo, mid-16th
Cent., as They Did on the Square
Isfahan’s Central Square, with the Ali Qapu Palace at Right