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- Faith became a major pillar of the dynasty
- Mainly Shi'a muslim
- Sunni Muslim, Christian, Jews, Zorostrians and followers of Sufi preachers were pressured to convert
- Safavid Empire imported Arabic-speaking Shi'a religious experts, but later shahs relied on Persian religious scholars
- Much of the religion was under government control
- The early Safavid empire was effectively a theocracy. Religious and political power were completely intertwined, and encapsulated in the person of the Shah
- The people of the Empire soon embraced the new faith with enthusiasm, celebrating Shiite festivals with great piety. The most significant of these was Ashura, when Shi'a Muslims mark the death of Husayn. Ali was also venerated.
- Because Shiism was now a state religion, with major educational establishments devoted to it, its philosophy and theology developed greatly during the Safavid Empire
Positives
- Commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn, a son of Ali
- Public flagellation and passion plays
- Pilgrimages to Shi'a shrines (Karbala in Iraq)
- Shi'ism became part of Iranian identity
- Changes in status and shifts in religion were crucial to the rise of Safavid power
- Abbas I established his empire as a center of Islamic trade and culture
- Protected trade routes
- Set up workshops for different goods
- Encourage widespread trade with multiple nations
- Special attention placed on the capital (Isafahan)
- Great mosques
- One of Shah Ismail’s most important decision was to declare that the state religion would be the form of Islam called Shi’ism which was completely foreign to Iranian culture
- The Safavids launched a vigorous campaign to convert what was a predominantly Sunni population by persuasion and by force. The Sunni ulama (a religious council of wise men) either left or were killed.
- To promote this Shi’ism the Safavids brought in scholars from Shi’ite countries to form a religious elite. They appointed an official (the Sadr) to co-ordinate this elite- and ensure that it did what the Shah wanted. The religious leaders effectively became a tool of the government
- The Safavids also spent money to promote religion, making grants to shrine and religious schools. And most craftily of all, they used grants of land and money to create a new class of wealthy religious aristocrats who owed everything to the state.
Negatives
- In specifically religious terms the Safavids not only persecuted Sunni Muslims, but Shi’ites with different views, and all other religions. Alien shrines were vandalism, and Sufi mystic groups forbidden.
- This was surprising, since the Safavids owed their origins to a Sufi order and to a form of Shi’ism that they now banned. They also reduced the importance of the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), replacing it with pilgrimage to Shi’ite shrines.
- Geography & Political
- Shreya
- Economical & Culture
- Jennifer
- Religious & Social
- Raehash
- Long standing Hierarchy
- Theocracy that followed God's will through the Shah who was the government
- Dominated early on by warrior aristocracies (Kizilbash) that helped Shah Ismail capture Tabriz
- Kizilbash power declined at the time of Shah Abbas
- Power shifted to new merchant class including ethnic Armenians, Georgians, and Indians as well as the nobility
Shah Ismail
Shah Abbas 1
- Shah Ismail's curious blend of Shiism and Turkish militancy gave is regime a distinctive identity but also created powerful enemies
- The greatest of these enemies were the Sunni Ottomans who detested the Shiite Safavids and feared the spread of Safavid propaganda among the Nomadic Turks in their own territory
- Not equal to men
- Early Safavid Women had considerable power and respect and could be patrons of art, architecture, and religious institutions
- Early Safavid differed with other Islamic societies
- After death of Abbas the Great, women lost some rights
- Shah Abbas greatly revitalized the Safavid Empire and helped the empire recover from the disaster at Chaldiran
- They relied more heavily than Ismail on Persian bureaucracy and its administrative talents
- They also assigned lands grants to qizilbash officers to retain their loyalty and give them stake in the survival of the regime
- During his reign, a critical battle named the Battle on the Plain of Chaldiran occurred
- The Ottomans deployed heavy artillery
- During this time period, the Safavid were considered a "gunpowder empire" and they knew about the technology, but did not use it in the battle because it would seem cowardly
- Trusting the protective charisma of Shah Ismail, they fearlessly attacked the Ottoman line but suffered devastating casualities
- Shah Abbas went to great lengths for the revitalization of the empire
- He moved the capital to a more central location Isfahan
- Encouraged trade with other lands
- Increased the use of gunpowder weapons
- Sought European assistance against the Ottomans and Portuguese in the Persian Gulf
- After his devastating loss, Ismail slipped away and left his empire
- The Ottomans temporarily occupied his capital of Tabriz
- They lacked the proper resources to destroy the empire completely, but they still badly damaged the empire.
-The two empires remained locked in an everlasting conflict for over two centuries
- With newly strengthened military forces, Shah Abbas led the Safavid to numerous victories
- His campaigns brought most of northwestern Iran, the Caucasus and Mesopotamia under Safavid rule
- He harassed the Ottomans mercilessly in series of wars from 1603 to the end of his reign