Safavid Iran

The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting <a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iranian</a> empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the <a href="/facts/Safavid_dynasty/QmhkbI06">Safavid dynasty</a>. It is often considered the beginning of <a href="/facts/History_of_Iran/0Q0WRDqo">modern Iranian history</a>, as well as one of the <a href="/facts/Gunpowder_empires/CfxvRd0h">gunpowder empires</a>. The Safavid <a href="/facts/List_of_monarchs_of_Persia/NyYXHApF">Shāh</a> <a href="/facts/Ismail_I/aEo7TWN3">Ismā'īl I</a> established the <a href="/facts/Twelver/sUejq9pd">Twelver</a> denomination of <a href="/facts/Shia_Islam/JIQl7ooz">Shīʿa Islam</a> as the <a href="/facts/Safavid_conversion_of_Iran_to_Shia_Islam/Pbud0xlU">official religion of the empire</a>, marking one of the most important turning points in the <a href="/facts/History_of_Islam/E3tqBlMm">history of Islam</a>.
An <a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iranian</a> dynasty rooted in the <a href="/facts/Sufi/2NVoELdX">Sufi</a> <a href="/facts/Safavid_order/Jw6m6XAm">Safavid order</a> founded by <a href="/facts/Sheikh/0Upp3Dbz">sheikhs</a> claimed by some sources to be of <a href="/facts/Kurds/nfHFlVlq">Kurdish</a> origin, it heavily intermarried with <a href="/facts/Turkoman_(ethnonym)/ertEYum2">Turkoman</a>, <a href="/facts/Georgians/dq2Sd3Cw">Georgian</a>, <a href="/facts/Circassians/fTWD67Tg">Circassian</a>, and <a href="/facts/Pontic_Greeks/WaxbHESS">Pontic Greek</a> dignitaries and was Turkish-speaking and <a href="/facts/Turkification/Bd3K0zeJ">Turkified</a>; From their base in <a href="/facts/Ardabil/2HdbrmV5">Ardabil</a>, the Safavids established control over parts of <a href="/facts/Greater_Iran/tWa3u3Uv">Greater Iran</a> and reasserted the <a href="/facts/Culture_of_Iran/3nU0YMQH">Iranian identity</a> of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the <a href="/facts/Buyid_dynasty/70QR31qF">Buyids</a> to establish a national state officially known as Iran.
The main group that contributed to the establishment of the Safavid state was the <a href="/facts/Qizilbash/LK4jgns1">Qizilbash</a>, a Turkish word meaning 'red-head', <a href="/facts/Turkoman_(ethnonym)/ertEYum2">Turkoman</a> tribes. On the other hand, ethnic Iranians played roles in bureaucracy and cultural affairs.
The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736 and 1750 to 1773) and, at their height, they controlled all of what is now <a href="/facts/Iran/24yukge8">Iran</a>, <a href="/facts/Azerbaijan/Ho5joRTJ">Azerbaijan</a>, <a href="/facts/Armenia/t3GQx9sU">Armenia</a>, eastern <a href="/facts/Georgia_(country)/ccBF8bBE">Georgia</a>, parts of the <a href="/facts/North_Caucasus/GpxBJatP">North Caucasus</a> including <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russia</a>, and <a href="/facts/Iraq/pqYSFJw8">Iraq</a>, as well as parts of <a href="/facts/Turkey/KIYAWAs0">Turkey</a>, <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a>, <a href="/facts/Pakistan/cbIsvJy1">Pakistan</a>, <a href="/facts/Afghanistan/v63Auu1C">Afghanistan</a>, <a href="/facts/Turkmenistan/YqJ4NvjU">Turkmenistan</a>, and <a href="/facts/Uzbekistan/o8wfw2xR">Uzbekistan</a>.
Despite their demise in 1736, the legacy that they left behind was the revival of Iran as an economic stronghold between <a href="/facts/Eastern_world/at6GLs4l">East</a> and <a href="/facts/Western_world/UQl4e7du">West</a>, the establishment of an efficient state and <a href="/facts/Bureaucracy/V9oFPCuG">bureaucracy</a> based upon "<a href="/facts/Separation_of_powers/erlL7IMq">checks and balances</a>", their <a href="/facts/Safavid_art/dXydbr3P">architectural innovations</a>, and <a href="/facts/Mecenate/7PwxjCXt">patronage for fine arts</a>. The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by <a href="/facts/Safavid_conversion_of_Iran_to_Shia_Islam/Pbud0xlU">establishing Twelver Shīʿīsm as the state religion of Iran</a>, as well as spreading Shīʿa Islam in major parts of the <a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a>, <a href="/facts/Central_Asia/rB8k0CyT">Central Asia</a>, <a href="/facts/Caucasus/sE8P8Ejg">Caucasus</a>, <a href="/facts/Anatolia/vMkrLrPr">Anatolia</a>, the <a href="/facts/Persian_Gulf/W78AfnC1">Persian Gulf</a>, and <a href="/facts/Mesopotamia/f0mmbhTK">Mesopotamia</a>.
The Safavid dynasty is considered a turning point in the history of Iran after the <a href="/facts/Muslim_conquest_of_Persia/o3y3Wxhk">Muslim conquest of Persia</a>, as after centuries of rule by non-Iranian kings, the country became an independent power in the <a href="/facts/Islamic_world/n9vVGogr">Islamic world</a>.

Safavid Iran open-in-new

Safavid Iran