Shāh ‘Abbās the Great (or Shāh ‘Abbās I) (January 27, 1571 – January 19, 1629), Shah (king) of Iran, and the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty, is the third son of Shah Mohammad.
Abbas comes to the throne during a troubled time for Iran.
Under his weak-willed father, the country had been riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who had killed Abbas' mother and elder brother.
Meanwhile, Iran's enemies, the Ottoman Empire and the Uzbeks, have exploited this political chaos to seize territory for themselves.
In 1587, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Qoli Khan, overthrows Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne, but Abbas is no puppet and soon seizes power for himself.
He reduces the influence of the Qizilbash in the government and the military and reforms the army, enabling him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and reconquer Iran's lost provinces.
He also takes back land from the Portuguese and the Mughals.
Abbas is a great builder and moves his kingdom's capital from Qazvin to Isfahan.
In his later years, the shah becomes suspicious of his own sons and has them killed or blinded.
