Week 20-21: Muslim Empires and Asian Transitions IDs
The Safavid Empire...It was GGRRRRRREAT!
- The Safavid Empire was ruled by a family in Southeast Asia from 1501 to 1722
- Controlled all parts of present day Iran, Iraq, Azerbijan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan
- Made Shiah Islam the official religion of the empire
- The name Safavid comes from Sheik Safi al-Din who formed a mystical religious order
Mysticism is the belief that God or truth can be known by individual insight rather than by reasoning or study
- In 1501 Ismail became head of the order
* He declared himself shah (king) and claimed that he was a divine messiah
* His disciples were Turkic warriors known as Qizilbash (red heads)
* Ismail and his disciples conquered Persia
* The conquest marked the beginning of the Safavid Empire
- Ismail expanded the empire for the next 13 years
* One of his expansions was the Ottoman Empire territory
* Tension between the two areas grew and the Ottomans turned back the Safavids at Chaldiran
* After the defeat Ismail withdrew from public life and never again led an army into battle
- After Ismail the two greatest Safavid shahs were Tahmasb and Abbas I
- Art, architecture, and literature flourished under then
- Height of the empire came under Abbas I - he helped keep the Portuguese and Spanish from expanding into Islamic areas
- The Safavid Empire declined when Abbas I died
- Culture flourished under Safavid patronage; tilemaking, pottery, and textiles developed and great advances were made in miniature painting, bookbinding, decoration, and calligraphy
- Ended in 1722 when a group of Afghan invaders from the east conquered the Safavid
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.