The Safavid Dynasty (jan 1, 1501 – jan 1, 1736)

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The Mongol invasions of the 13th century completely reconfigured the Islamic world. The arrival of new Turkic people shifted the axes of power to the Turkic clans. The Safavi order at Ardabil remained neutral and the Perisan mystic built a strong following. By the time of Ismail l, the order's sixth head, the Safavis had enough support from local tribes to capture Tabriz from an Uzbek Turkemen Confederation. In 1501, Ismail was enthroned as shah and expanded control from Azerbaijan to Iran and the Iraqi Provinces of Baghdad and Mosul. He proclaimed and enforced Shi’ism as the state religion. He continued to struggle against rival Sunni powers - the Ottomans in the west and the Uzbeks in the northeast. Turkem forays into Safavid territory increased under his incompetent successors. Shah Abbas l made peace with the Ottomans in 1590 and focused his onslaught against the Uzbeks. Meeting little success, he engaged in a major army reform and the Turks in 1603, regaining all territory previously lost. Shah Abbas’s remarkable reign raised Iran to the status of a great power. After his death, the dynasty lasted for a century more, but it was a period of decline.

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