The Safavis, under their leader Ismail, seize…

1396 CE to 1539 CE

The Safavis, under their leader Ismail, seize power in Tabriz, which becomes their capital, in 1501.

Ismail is proclaimed shah of Iran.

The rise of the Safavis marks the reemergence in Iran of a powerful central authority within geographical boundaries attained by former Iranian empires.

The Safavis declare Shia Islam the state religion and use proselytizing and force to convert the large majority of Muslims in Iran to the Shia sect.

Iran is a theocracy under the early Safavis.

Ismail's followers venerate him as the murshid-kamil, the perfect guide, who combines in his person both temporal and spiritual authority.

In the new state, he is represented in both these functions by the vakil, an official who acts as a kind of alter ego.

The sadr heads the powerful religious organization; the vizier, the bureaucracy; and the amir alumara, the fighting forces.

These forces, the Qizilbash, come primarily from the seven Turkic-speaking tribes that had supported the Safavi bid for power.

Locations
Tabriz Azarbayjan-e Sharqi Iran View →

People
Ismail I View →

Groups
Iranian peoples View → Arab people View → Transoxiana View → Khorasan, Greater View → Oghuz Turks View → Muslims, Sunni View → Muslims, Shi'a View → Turkmen, Iraqi View → Sufism View → Turkmen people View → Mongols View → Kara Koyunlu (Black Sheep Turks), (Turkmen) Emirate of the View → Ag Qoyunlu (White Sheep Turks), (Turkmen) Emirate of the View → Ag Qoyunlu (White Sheep Turks), (Turkmen) Emirate of the View → Qizilbash or Kizilbash, (Ottoman Turkish for "Crimson/Red Heads") View → Ag Qoyunlu (White Sheep Turks), (Turkmen) Emirate of the View → Ag Qoyunlu (White Sheep Turks), (Turkmen) Emirate of the View → Persia, Safavid Kingdom of View →

Topics
Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam View →

Commodities
Grains and produce View →

Subjects
Commerce View → Engineering View → Painting and Drawing View → Government View → Theology View →

Regions

Subregions

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