THE SAFAVID EMPIRE

Notes from The Earth & Its Peoples

Similarities to Ottoman State military: initially relied on cavalry paid through land grants culture: population spoke several different languages orientation: landward instead of seaward Differences derived legitimacy from pre-Islamic dynasties of ancient Iran adopted Shiism Safavid Society & Religion adoption of Shiism deep rift b/w Iran (Persia) & its Sunni neighbors Iran became truly separate country

Differences b/w Iran & Neighbors Persian 2nd language of Islam post Mongol destruction of Baghdad Iran developing on own with contacts with India Distinctive artistic forms: painted & molded tiles & tile mosaics; Persian poetry Shiism all temporal rulers, regardless of title, are temporary stand-ins for the Hidden Imam some scholars concluded that faithful should calmly accept the world as is others argued they should play a stronger role in political affairs b/c they were best qualified to know HIs wishes psychological life: annual commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (Alis son & 3rd Imam) emotional outpouring (weeping believers, street processions, self-flagellating marchers) identity as a people Istanbul vs. built on 7 hills, skyline with gray stone domes & skinny minarets high walls surrounded sultans palace Isfahan unobtrusive minarets & brightly tiled domes

harbor teemed with sailing ships & small craft, belonging to colony of Euro merchants perched on hilltop wheeled vehicles uncommon streets narrow & irregular houses crowded, focused on interior courtyards artisans & merchants organized into guilds; shops of each guild adjoined each other in markets WOMEN seldom seen in public @ home in harem forbidden area, separate from public rooms where men recd visitors Womens society not entirely cut off: wives, children, female servants, eunuchs Women, using male agents, were active in urban real estate market Most sold inheritance from fathers estate most European codes, Islamic law permits wife to retain her own property after marriage women permitted to testify for selves in court (Islamic courts had no attorney) Womens Dress // mens: all covered arms, legs, hair OVERALL FEEL: Istanbul (capital) at great seaport & crossroads separating Europe & Asia Diverse: Venetians, Genoese, Arabs, Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Albanians, Serbs, Jews, Bulgarians

capital focused on giant royal plaza (polo), airy palace overlooking plaza to receive dignitaries & review troops occasionally visited by European merchants; trade dominated by Jews, Hindus, colony of Armenian Xians nonexistent ditto ditto ditto Ditto anderun interior, ditto probable //s in Iran

OVERALL FEEL: prosperous Armenian quarter, but not really cosmopolitan (more homogeneous) Capital located toward center of domain

Arts & Public Life poetry & art extolled charms of beardless boys & pretty women tho homosexuality disapproved, attachments to teenaged boys neither unusual nor hidden paintings depicted female dancers musicians, acrobats in positions decorous to erotic women in public were non-Muslims, aged, poor & slaves

THE SAFAVID EMPIRE Notes from History of World Societies

The Persian Theocratic State Safavid Dynasty name from Safi al-Din (1252-1334), supposed descendant of Ali (the 4th caliph) began as leaders of contemplative Sufi sect became a militant & heretical Shiite regime Why masses attracted to Shiism? religion as expression of political feeling (against Mongol domination) Ismail (r. 1502-1524) defeated petty Turkish leaders united Persia under his leadership & proclaimed self shah (king)

Key Strengths of Safavid State 1. loyalty & military support of nomadic tribesmen shah granted them vast grazing lands ( loyalty) in return, the tribesmen supplied shah with troops (// Ottoman land grants) 2. Safavid state utilized skills of urban bureaucrats & made them key to civil machinery of govt 3. Shiite Faith Shiites claimed descent from Ali (Muhammads cousin & son-in-law) believed that leadership among Muslims belonged to Prophets descendants Ismail claimed descent from a line of 12 infallible imams (leaders beginning with Ali) & was regarded as the imams representative on earth in 1501 Ismail declared Shiism the official & compulsory religion of Persia (under penalty of death) today Iran is only Muslim state in which Shiism is official religion recent scholars suggest he wasnt motivated to use religion as a political tool BUT, Shiisms puritanical emphasis on holy law & on self-flagellation in penance for any disloyalty to Ali Persia to become a triumphant, religiously uniform theocracy Shah Abbas (r. 1587-1629) greatest ruler of Safavid Dynasty promoted trade & commerce & the arts the Great Military successes built national army on Ottoman model (Armenian & Georgian Xian recruits/slaves) armed, paid for, & loyal to Shah fought Turks & captured Baghdad, Mosul, Diarbakr in Mesopotamia // Ottomans, had difficulty finding $ to pay troops armed with firearms later than Ottomans, b/c distance from Europe // Ottomans, landed cavalry reluctant to turn over land to pay for firearms trade expansion & cultivation // to Colbert Carpet-weaving from cottage to factory industry Isfahan (capital) had 25K weavers in factories woolen carpets, brocades, silks of brilliant color, design, quality Xian Armenians controlled carpet industry Safavids had brought them to Isfahan to protect them from Turkish persecution ( loyal to Persians) Tile market imported 300 Chinese potters to make glazed building tiles & teach craft to Persians captured much of Euro tile market Economy mostly subsistence faming or herding c16 Spanish American silver flooding markets inflation mismanagement of silk monopoly post Shah Abbas inland trade unable to pay army & bureaucracy harder to unseat landed cavalry from their land grants (than it had been in Ottoman Empire) By 1722 government defeated by invading Afghan army end Safavid rule Isfahan (jewel of empire) c17 English visitor described its bazaar (marketplace) as: the surprisingest piece of Greatness in Honour of commerce the world can boast of. rugs, pottery & fine china, metalwork of high quality, silks, velvets 750K people Public Facilities: 162 mosques, 48 schools (trained future ulema Muslim scholars), 273 public baths, vast imperial palace private houses with own garden courtyards, public gardens, pools, parks origin of word paradise attracted thousands of tourists in c17 & 18

Decline Shah Abbas succeeded by inept rulers: wine & harem pleasures weakening of monarchy & disintegration of state internal weakness vulnerability foreign aggression

THE SAFAVID EMPIRE

c18: Turks, Afghans & Russians invaded & divided Persia among themselves