safavid empire political structure

The Ottomans, a Sunni dynasty, considered the active recruitment of Turkmen tribes of Anatolia for the Safavid cause as a major threat. 904. Savory, II, p. 1116. the rise of the Safavid empire was when king shah Abbas took power in 1629 and lead the safavid empire. The fourth vakil was murdered by the Qezelbash, and the fifth was put to death by them. Haydar married Martha 'Alamshah Begom,[38] Uzun Hassan's daughter, who gave birth to Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty. In 1501, the Safavid Shahs declared independence when the Ottomans outlawed Shi'a Islam in their territory. V. Minorsky, "The Poetry of Shh Isml I". Although no one could have bristled more at the power grab of his "mentor" Murshid Quli Khan, he rounded up the leaders of a plot to assassinate the wakl and had them executed. For instance, the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925), the first major dynasty to succeed the Safavids, continued the tradition of Safavid book arts, painting, and architecture. Shah Abbas wanted to undermine this political structure, and the recreation of Isfahan, as a Grand capital of Iran, was an important step in centralizing the power. Tahmasp then handed the prince over to the Ottoman ambassador. The Empire's economic strength came from its location on the . [121], The following spring in 1614, Abbas I appointed a grandson of Alexander II of Imereti to the throne of Kartli, Jesse of Kakheti also known as "Is Khn". Soleymn agreed to permit Safavid Shia pilgrims to make pilgrimages to Mecca and Medina as well as tombs of imams in Iraq and Arabia on condition that the shah would abolish the taburru, the cursing of the first three Rashidun caliphs. Archery took first place. They are present on the level ground, and a small drum is always playing during the contest for excitement. In the 16th century, the Turcophone Safavid family of Ardabil in Azerbaijan, probably of Turkicized Iranian, origin, conquered Iran and established Turkic, the language of the court and the military, as a high-status vernacular and a widespread contact language, influencing spoken Persian, while written Persian, the language of high literature and civil administration, remained virtually unaffected in status and content. Safavid culture is often admired for the large-scale city planning and architecture, achievements made during the reign of later shahs, but the arts of persian miniature, book-binding and calligraphy, in fact, never received as much attention as they did during his time. [194] Under Abbas, the eunuchs became an increasingly important element at the court. Ferrier, RW, A journey to Persia: Jean Chardin's Portrait of a Seventeenth-century Empire, pp. The Safavids ultimately succeeded in establishing a new Persian national monarchy. Then they had a bureaucracy and other classes in which through their own merit they could possible rise up in the ranks. His descriptions of the public appearance, clothes and customs are corroborated by the miniatures, drawings and paintings from that time which have survived. In 1514, the Ottoman Sultan Selim I invaded western Armenia, causing the ill-prepared Safavid army to retreat. Their military power was essential during the reign of the Shahs Ismail and Tahmasp. Particularly important in this regard were the Gilan and Mazandaran provinces, which produced Iran's single most important export; silk. What was the most significant role that the Safavid dynasty played? During the Safavid period Azerbaijani Turkish, or, as it was also referred to at that time, Qizilbash Turkish, occupied an important place in society, and it was spoken both atcourt and by the common people. Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing GRAB THE BEST PAPER 95.7% of users find it useful Thereafter, the continuing struggle against the Sunnisthe Ottomans in the west and the Uzbeks in the northeastcost the Safavids Kurdistan, Diyarbakr, and Baghdad, while Tabrz was continuously under threat. [25][26][27][28] It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history,[29] as well as one of the gunpowder empires. Szczepanski, Kallie. The Safavid state was one of checks and balance, both within the government and on a local level. "[184], Muhammad Baqir Majlisi, commonly referenced to using the title Allamah, was a highly influential scholar during the 17th century (Safavid era). "Review of Emile Janssens'. Blow, David. Georgian, Circassian and Armenian were also spoken, since these were the mother-tongues of many of the ghulams, as well as of a high proportion of the women of the harem. This would not change with the Arab conquest of Iran, and it was primarily the Persians that took upon them the works of philosophy, logic, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, music and alchemy. [165], The most precious accessory for men was the turban. Although the early afav order was originally Sunni, following the jurisprudence of the Shfi school, it gravitated toward Shiism over time, perhaps pulled along by the popular veneration of Al. Three bodies of troops were formed, all trained and armed in an early modern manner and paid out of the royal treasury: the ghulms (slaves), the tofangchs (musketeers), and the topchs (artillerymen). The dynasty began as a Sufi order but evolved into a major gunpowder empire. The primary court language [with Abbas I's reign (r. 15881629)] remained Turkish. The Safavid Empire was a theocracy. The writer mlu documented the most important of them in his history. [121] Moreover, he planned to deport all nobles of Kartli. The Ottoman Empire ran for over many centuries and consisted of a complex governmental organization which has the Sultan at the top of the pyramid of the hierarchical structure. Although Turkish was widely spoken in Safavid Iran this fact is rarely mentioned. The Ilkhanid ruler ljait converted to Twelver Shiism in the 13th century. A Study of the Migration of Shii Works from Arab Regions to Iran at the Early Safavid Era. Outside of Iran, Safavid art was the portal to the wider world of Persian art and architecture when art historians first began studying Islamic art in the early nineteenth century. 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. They were of Kurdish Persian decent with unique customs. The Safavids were descended from Sheikh af al-Dn (12531334) of Ardabl, head of the Sufi order of afaviyyeh (afawiyyah). According to author Moojan Momen, "up to the middle of the 19th century there were very few mujtahids (three or four) anywhere at any one time," but "several hundred existed by the end of the 19th century. [68], At the downfall of Husain Khan, Tahmsp asserted his rule. [219] He convinced the British to assist him by allowing them to open factories in Shiraz, Isfahan and Jask. Despite the reforms, the Qizilbash would remain the strongest and most effective element within the military, accounting for more than half of its total strength. Because of the relative insecurity of property ownership in Iran, many private landowners secured their lands by donating them to the clergy as so called vaqf. As one of the powerful "gunpowder empires" of the age, the Safavids re-established Persia's place as a key player in economics and geopolitics at the intersection of the eastern and western worlds. Shah ljeitthe sultan of Ilkhanate converted to Twelver Shiism in thirteenth century. It ruled over Persia, today known as Iran for many years from 1501 to 1736. It became more identifiably Shi'a in its orientation around the year 1400. Tahmsp resolved to end hostilities and sent his ambassador to Soleymn's winter quarters in Erzurum in September 1554 to sue for peace. [224][225][226], In the long term, however, the seaborne trade route was of less significance to the Persians than was the traditional Silk Road. The Safavids, a militant Sufi order, rose to prominence in the early part of the 16th century CE, as the head of a radical Shia movement. The latter included merchants trading in the bazaars, the trade and artisan guilds (asnf) and members of the quasi-religious organizations run by dervishes (futuvva). Abbas offered trading rights and the chance to preach Christianity in Iran in return for help against the Ottomans. Summary. "[citation needed] At that time, the most powerful dynasty in Iran was that of the Kara Koyunlu, the "Black Sheep", whose ruler Jahan Shah ordered Junyd to leave Ardabil or else he would bring destruction and ruin upon the city. All other religions, and forms of Islam were suppressed. Following the conquest of Iran, Ismail I made conversion mandatory for the largely Sunni population. [190], As for the royal household, the highest post was that of the Nazir, Court Minister. [134] For his part, Abbas declared that he "preferred the dust from the shoe soles of the lowest Christian to the highest Ottoman personage. The Takkalu replaced the Rumlu as the dominant tribe. Regarding the usage of Georgian, Circassian and Armenian at the Royal Court, David Blow states,[195]. Ya'qub allied himself with the Shirvanshah and killed Haydar in 1488. [6] It appears that with the advent of the Mughal empire, the harem began to directly exert political power. [121] Ultimately forming an alliance, the two sought refuge with the Ottoman forces in Ottoman ruled Imereti. After a long and bloody siege led by the Safavid grand vizier Hatem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, the Kurdish stronghold of Dimdim was captured. He suggests that this longevity might be most usefully . [76] Under the Peace, the Ottomans agreed to restore Yerevan, Karabakh and Nakhjuwan to the Safavids and in turn would retain Mesopotamia (Iraq) and eastern Anatolia. But in spite of a weak economy, a civil war and foreign wars on two fronts, Tahmsp managed to retain his crown and maintain the territorial integrity of the empire (although much reduced from Ismail's time). More importantly, the Dutch East India Company and later the English/British used their superior means of maritime power to control trade routes in the western Indian Ocean. In any event, he was ultimately killed (according to some accounts) by his Circassian half-sister, Pari Khn Khnum, who championed him over Haydar. Poetry stagnated under the Safavids; the great medieval ghazal form languished in over-the-top lyricism. Almost simultaneously with the emergence of the Safavid Empire, the Mughal Empire, founded by the Timurid heir Babur, was developing in South-Asia. And with the assistance of the Muscovy Company they could cross over to Moscow, reaching Europe via Poland. Economically robust and politically stable, this period saw a flourishing growth of theological sciences. The Safavid Empire lasted from 1501-1722. As a result, the empire began a long, slow slide into obscurity after his death in 1629. Due to the great spiritual charisma of Safi al-Din, the order was later known as the Safaviyya. Furthermore, the Safavids maintained a sizeable sphere of influence overseas, particularly in the Deccan region of India. the peace treaty signed between the ottoman empire and the safavid empire on may 17, 1639, after the conquest of baghdad, which had been in the hands of the iranians for 14 years as a result of murat's baghdad campaign, ending the 1623-1639 ottoman-safavid war and determining the current turkey-iran border.13 from a general point of view, it 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). It covered all of Iran, and parts of Turkey and Georgia. In the meantime, the navy-less Safavids lost the island of Hormuz to the Portuguese in 1507. As Tahmasp understood and realized that any long-term solutions would mainly involve minimizing the political and military presence of the Qizilbash as a whole, it would require them to be replaced by a whole new layer in society, that would question and battle the authority of the Qizilbash on every possible level, and minimize any of their influences. They were able to summon for a divorce and were given a lot more trust and respect than usual. They would adorn their clothes, wearing stones and decorate the harness of their horses. The arguably most renowned historian from this time was Iskandar Beg Munshi. . Their sport also provided the masses with entertainment and spectacle. The Safavid Period, 1501-1732", "18 Iran, Armenia and Georgia Rise of a Shii State in Iran and New Orientation in Islamic Thought and Culture", "The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors", "Georgians in the Safavid administration", Artistic and cultural history of the Safavids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Safavid Empire lasted from 1501-1722. This extensive development of architecture was rooted in Persian culture and took form in the design of schools, baths, houses, caravanserai and other urban spaces such as bazaars and squares. The two parties with their witnesses pleaded their respective cases, usually without any counsel, and the judge would pass his judgment after the first or second hearing. [166], The power structure of the Safavid state was mainly divided into two groups: the Turkic-speaking military/ruling elitewhose job was to maintain the territorial integrity and continuity of the Iranian empire through their leadershipand the Persian-speaking administrative/governing elitewhose job was to oversee the operation and development of the nation and its identity through their high positions. [105] The Ustajlu chief, Murshid Quli Khan, immediately acquiesced and received a royal pardon. Shah Soltan Hosein tried to forcibly convert his Afghan subjects in eastern Iran from Sunni to Shi'a Islam. We will write a custom Essay on The Ottoman and Safavid Empires: Comparison specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page 808 certified writers online Learn More Introduction All empires, no matter how great they are, inevitably have to experience the same cycle of gradual development, the possible rise, and the inevitable downfall. [220][221] With the later end of the Portuguese Empire, the British, Dutch and French in particular gained easier access to Persian seaborne trade, although they, unlike the Portuguese, did not arrive as colonisers, but as merchant adventurers. Mulla Sadra has become the dominant philosopher of the Islamic East, and his approach to the nature of philosophy has been exceptionally influential up to this day. Tasmsp at the same time removed his son Ismail from his Qizilbash followers and imprisoned him at Qahqaha. [150], The country was repeatedly raided on its frontiersKerman by Baloch tribes in 1698, Khorasan by the Hotakis in 1717, Dagestan and northern Shirvan by the Lezgins in 1721, constantly in Mesopotamia by Sunni peninsula Arabs. But eschewing politics after his defeat in Chaldiran, he left the affairs of the government to the office of the wakl (chief administrator, vakil in Turkish). Safavid power and territory grew quickly, yet the empire was prone to Sunni attack from the Uzbeks in the North, Mughals in the . Role of the Military in Society Because all government officials were part of the army, military and political power went hand in hand for the Mughals. The Safavid empire had a strong social structure with kings and royals at the top and peasants at the bottom. There had been, however, Shi'a communities in some cities like Qom and Sabzevar as early as eighth century. The kingdom further extended its territory to include overseas lands that were acquired through declarations of loyalty to the Ottoman Sultan and caliph. (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license) The Rise of the Safavid Empire - The Ottomans were able to capture Constantinople in 1453 by using a 26-foot bronze cannon and several other cannons from 15 to 22 feet in-The methods that the safavid empire used to expand their empire was using an early safavid military hero named ismail who was also 14-15 years old conquered most of persia and iraq (Desiree)-They conquered . As Vladimir Minorsky put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Qizilbash "were no party to the national Persian tradition". [62] By 1511, the Uzbeks in the north-east, led by their Khan Muhammad Shaybni, were driven far to the north, across the Oxus River, where they continued to attack the Safavids. The language chiefly used by the Safavid court and military establishment was Azerbaijani. Traditional architecture evolved in its patterns and methods leaving its impact on the architecture of the following periods. By the time of Isml I, the orders sixth head, the afavs commanded enough support from the Kizilbashlocal Turkmens and other disaffected heterodox tribesto enable him to capture Tabrz from the Ak Koyunlu (Turkish: White Sheep), an Uzbek Turkmen confederation. They in turn would be replaced by the Shamlu, whose amir, Husain Khan, became the chief adviser. Founded by Shah Ismail in the early 1500s, the Safavid dynasty broke with the Sunni Muslims, declared independence and enforced Shiite Islam as their state religion. The Mughals adhered (for the most part) to a tolerant Sunni Islam while ruling a largely Hindu population. [181], It achieved its greatest influence in the late Safavid and early post-Safavid era, when it dominated Twelver Shii Islam. First, he bargained for peace with the Ottomans in 1590, giving away territory in the north-west. Even though Safavids were not the first Shi'a rulers in Iran, they played a crucial role in making Shi'ism the official religion in Iran. Moreover, he began to strengthen Shii practice by such things as forbidding in the new capital of Qazvin poetry and music which did not esteem Ali and the Twelve Imams. The elegantly baroque, yet famously misnamed, "Polonaise" carpets were made in Iran during the seventeenth century. In day-to-day affairs, the language chiefly used at the Safavid court and by the great military and political officers, as well as the religious dignitaries, was Turkish, not Persian; and the last class of persons wrote their religious works mainly in Arabic. The loyal Qizibash recoiled at their treatment by Mirza Salman, who they resented for a number of reasons (not least of which was the fact that a Tajik was given military command over them), and demanded that he be turned over to them. The Ottoman-Safavid War of 1623-1639 was the last of a series of conflicts fought between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire, then the two major powers of Western Asia, over control of Mesopotamia. [222] The Persians complied, and thousands of Persians emigrated to the Deccan during the 16th and 17th centuries, continuing a process that already began under the Bahmani Sultanate of the Deccan. He admired their consideration towards foreigners, but he also stumbled upon characteristics that he found challenging. Ismail sought to reintroduce Sunni orthodoxy. Isfahan Define Anarchy Lawless and disorder; no one leader, no government Define Orthodoxy Traditional (not flexible) manner to follow a religion Define Shah King of the Safavid empire Define warfare in the Safavid Empire .They had a system similar to the janissaries. (1986). Whereas neither the ancient Greeks nor the Romans accorded high social status to their doctors, Iranians had from ancient times honored their physicians, who were often appointed counselors of the Shahs. The Common people were the lowest class on the pyramid in which they mainly consisted of farmers and herders. [195] Abbas himself was able to speak Georgian as well. The Safavid Empire was a theocracy. Martha's mother Theodorabetter known as Despina Khatun[43]was a Pontic Greek princess, the daughter of the Grand Komnenos John IV of Trebizond. The first Safavid king, Esml I (907-30/1501-24), initiated a process of political and religious change in Persia that profoundly affected the economic structure. -After declared shah (emperor), he banished his father, who was the previous shah, and blinded his brothers. From the time of Shah Abbas onwards, more land was brought under the direct control of the shah. Then he turned against the Ottomans, recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq, and the Caucasian provinces, by 1622. The term dowlat, which in modern Persian means "government", was then an abstract term meaning "bliss" or "felicity", and it began to be used as concrete sense of the Safavid state, reflecting the view that the people had of their ruler, as someone elevated above humanity. The Safavid Empire of Persia. [190], Next in authority were the generals: the General of the Royal Troops (the Shahsevans), General of the Musketeers, General of the Ghulams and The Master of Artillery. It ruled over many parts of southern Europe, west Asia and North Africa. "[93] His conduct might also be explained by his drug use. o Early Safavid women had considerable power and respect and could be patrons of art, architecture, and religious institutions o Early Safavid differed with other Islamic socities o Divorce could be caused by either the wife or husband o After death of Abbas the Great, women lost some rights Political Capitals: Tabriz- Qazvin- Isfahan This unique headdress represented the Shici ideology of the Safavid dynasty, with the twelve folds of the turban symbolizing the imams in Twelver Shiism. 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. In cultural matters, Tahmsp presided the revival of the fine arts, which flourished under his patronage. Early Safavid power in Iran was based on the military power of the Qizilbash. After Uzun Hassan's death, his son Ya'qub felt threatened by the growing Safavid religious influence. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. RELIGIONS IN IRAN (2) Islam in Iran (2.3) Shiism in Iran Since the Safavids: Safavid Period", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Safavid_Iran&oldid=1128652747, Shahsevans: these were 12,000 strong and built up from the small group of, Ghulams: Tahmasp I had started introducing huge amounts of, Musketeers: realizing the advantages that the Ottomans had because of their firearms, Shah Abbas was at pains to equip both the qurchi and the ghulam soldiers with up-to-date weaponry.
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