Safavian Dynasty

Safavid Dynasty

سلسله صفویان ، دودمان صفوی

Safavian Dynasty: (1502-1736) Iranian dynasty founded by Shah Ismail who, by converting his people from Sunni to Shiite Islam and adopting the trappings of Persian monarchy, planted the seeds of a unique national and religious identity. The Safavid were first native dynasty since the Sassanid to establish a unified Iranian state.
Safavid history begins with the establishment of the Safaviyeh Sufi Order by its founder Sheikh Safi-addīn Abul Fath Isaaq Ardabili (1252-1334). Sheikh Safiaddin assumed the leadership of the Zahediyeh, a significant Sufi order in Gilan, from his spiritual master Sheikh Zahed Gilani who was also his father-in-law. After Safiaddin, the leadership of the Safaviyeh passed onto Sheikh Sadroddin Musa and then to Sadroddin's his son Khawja Ali, and then to Ibrahim. Sheikh Juneyd, the son of Ibrahim married Ak Koyunlu leader Uzun Hassan Uzun Hasan's sister Khadija Begum. Juneyd's son Sheikh Heydar married Uzun Hasan's daughter who gave birth to Ismail, the founder of the Safavid dynasty
In 1500 Ismail attacked Shirvan to avenge the death of his father, Sheikh Heydar, who had been murdered in 1488 by the ruling Shirvanshah, Farrokh Yasar.. Shah Ismail captured Tabriz from the Ak Koyunlu and became shah of Azerbaijan (1501) and Persia (1502). During the next 10 years, the Safavid ultimately won the struggle for power in all of Persia which had been going on for nearly a century between various dynasties and political forces. Hamadan came under Safavid power in 1503, Shiraz and Kerman in 1504, Najaf and Karbala in 1507, Van in 1508, Baghdad in 1509, and Herat, as well as other parts of Khorasan, in 1510. By 1511, the Uzbeks i were driven far to the north across the Jeyhoon River.
Shah Abbas I (r. 1588-1629) brought the dynasty to its peak; his capital, Isfahan, was the centre of Safavid architectural achievement.
The Safavid Kings themselves claimed to be Seyyed, family descendants of the prophet Mohammad although some Safavid kings including Shah Safi and Shah Soleyman were born of Georgian mothers
The dynasty declined in the century following Sultan Hossein’s reign, pressed by the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal dynasty, and fell when a weak shah, Ṭahmasp II, was deposed by his general, Nader Shah Afshar.
Rulers of Safavid Dynasty:
1. Shah Ismail I 1501-1524
2. Shah Tahmasp I 1524-1576
3. Shah Ismail 2. 1576-1578
4. Sultan Mohammed Khodabandeh 1578-1587
5. Shah Abbas 1st 1587-1629
6. Shah Safi 1629-1642
7. Shah Abbas 2. 1642-1666
8. Soleyman I 1666-1694
9. Sultan Hossein I 1694-1722
10. Tahmasp 2. 1722-1732
11. Abbas 3. 1732-1736

---