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Safavid Empire

Safavid dynasty
دودمان صفوی
Dudmān e Safavi
1501–1736
Flag[1] Emblem[2]
The Safavid Empire under Shah Abbas the Great
Capital Tabriz
(1501–1555)
Qazvin
(1555–1598)
Isfahan
(1598–1736)
Languages
  • Persian (official, coinage, civil administration, court (since Isfahan became capital), high literature, literary, theological discourse, diplomatic correspondence, belles-lettres (adab), historiography, court-based religious posts)
  • Azerbaijani (court, religious dignitaries, military)
  • Georgian/Circassian/Armenian (court)
Religion Twelver Shia Islam
Government Theocratic Monarchy
Shahanshah
 •  1501–1524 Ismail I (first)
 •  1732–1736 Abbas III (last)
Vizier
 •  1501–? Muhammad Zakariya Kujuji (first)
 •  1729–1736 Nader Qoli Beg (last)
Legislature Council of State
History
 •  Establishment of the Safaviyya by Safi-ad-din Ardabili 1301
 •  Established 1501
 •  Hotaki Invasion 1722
 •  Reconquest under Nader Shah 1726–29
 •  Disestablished March 1736
 •  Nader Shah crowned 1 October 1736
Area 2,850,000 km² (1,100,391 sq mi)
Currency Tuman, Abbasi (incl. Abazi), Shahi.
  • 1 Tuman = 50 Abbasi.
  • 1 Tuman = 50 French Livre.
  • 1 Tuman = £3 6s 8d.
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Timurid Empire
Ak Koyunlu
Shirvanshah
Marashiyan
Paduspanids
Mihrabanids
Afrasiab dynasty
Kingdom of Ormus
Hotaki dynasty
Afsharid dynasty
Russian Empire
Ottoman Empire
Today part of
a State religion.

The Safavid dynasty (/ˈsɑːfəvɪd/; Persian: دودمان صفوی‎‎ Dudmān e Safavi, Azerbaijani: صفويلر سولاله‌سىSəfəvilər sülaləsi) was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran, often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history. The Safavid shahs ruled over one of the so-called gunpowder empires. They ruled one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Iran, and established the Twelver school of Shia Islam as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in Muslim history.

The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safaviyya Sufi order, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region. It was of mixed ancestry (Kurdish and Azerbaijani, which included intermarriages with Georgian,Circassian, and Pontic Greek dignitaries). From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sasanian Empire to establish a unified Iranian state.


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