nov 1, 1642 - Iran

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In Iran, Abbas II becomes the seventh shah of the Safavid dynasty. Renewing friendly contacts with Europe he is to regain for his dynasty some prestige, while Shia scholars, the ulama, oppose him, believing the shahs are lax and God's punishment. Increasingly, ulama believe that temporal authority should belong to a mujtahid – a scholar predating the ayatollahs.

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