The Safavids

The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safavid order of Sufism, established in the northern Azerbaijan region (Iran). An early Safavid military hero named Ismail conquered most of Persia and pushed into Iraq. Although only 14 or 15 years old, he soon conquered all of Iran and was proclaimed shah (equivalent to king or emperor) in 1501.

The Safavid Empire had two problems. First, despite being on the Arabian Sea (part of the Indian Ocean), the empire did not have a real navy. Second, the Safavids lacked natural defenses. Nevertheless, the Safavids rose to power in the 1500s due to their land-based military might and strong leadership.

Called Abbas the Great, Shah Abbas I (ruled 1588–1629) presided over the Safavid Empire at its height. His troops included soldiers—often Christian boys pressed into service—from as far northwest as Georgia in Russia. Abbas imported weaponry from Europe and also relied on Europeans to advise his troops about this newly acquired military technology. Slowly, the shahs came to control religion as well as politics. Using Shi’a Islam as a unifying force, Shah Ismail built a power base that supported his rule and denied legitimacy to any Sunni. This strict adherence to Shi’a Islam caused frequent hostilities with the Ottoman Empire, a stronghold of Sunni Islam. In 1541, Safavid forces were stopped by the Ottomans at Tabriz, a city in Persia that became part of the border between Sunni and Shi’a societies. The hostility between the two groups lives on in present-day Iraq and Iran.

Conflicts between Ottomans and Safavids were not entirely religious, however. Another conflict arose over control of overland trade routes. The Ottomans used trade embargoes, official bans on trade, consistently against the Safavid silk traders as a way to assert dominance over their eastern rival.

Women in the Safavid Empire Women are rarely mentioned in local Safavid histories; however, Safavid women were permitted to participate in their societies. While Safavid women were still veiled and restricted in their movements, as was traditional in the region, they had access to rights provided by Islamic law for inheritance and, in extreme cases, divorce.