Safavid Empire - Turkish Rivals To The Ottoman Empire
The
Safavid dynasty (
Persian: سلسلهٔ صفويان;
Azerbaijani: Səfəvilər, صفویلر) was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of
Persia (modern
Iran), and is often considered the beginning of modern
Persian history. They ruled one of the greatest
Persian empires after the
Muslim conquest of Persia and established the Twelver school of
Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in
Muslim history. The
Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736) and at their height, they controlled all of modern Iran,
Azerbaijan and
Armenia, most of
Iraq,
Georgia,
Afghanistan, and the
Caucasus, as well as parts of
Syria,
Pakistan,
Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and
Turkey.
Safavid Iran was one of the Islamic "gunpowder empires", along with its neighbours, the Ottoman and
Mughal empires.
The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safaviyya
Sufi order, which was established in the city of
Ardabil in the
Azerbaijan region. It was of mixed ancestry (Azerbaijani,
Kurdish Persian and Turkmen, which included intermarriages with
Georgian and
Pontic Greek dignitaries). From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over all of
Greater Iran and reasserted the
Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the
Sassanid Empire to establish a unified Iranian state.
Despite their demise in 1736, the legacy that they left behind was the revival of Persia as an economic stronghold between
East and West, the establishment of an efficient state and bureaucracy based upon "checks and balances", their architectural innovations and their patronage for fine arts. The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by spreading
Shi'a Islam in Iran, as well as major parts of the
Caucasus,
South Asia,
Central Asia, and
Anatolia.
The
Safavid Kings themselves claimed to be Seyyeds, family descendants of the prophet
Muhammad, although many scholars have cast doubt on this claim. There seems now to be a consensus among scholars that the Safavid family hailed from Persian
Kurdistan, and later moved to Azerbaijan, finally settling in the
11th century CE at Ardabil.
Traditional pre-1501 Safavid manuscripts trace the lineage of the Safavids to Kurdish dignitary,
Firuz Shah Zarin-Kulah.
According to some historians, including
Richard Frye, the Safavids were of
Azeri (Turkish) origin:
The
Turkish speakers of Azerbaijan are mainly descended from the earlier Iranian speakers, several pockets of whom still exist in the region. A massive migration of
Oghuz Turks in the 11th and
12th centuries not only Turkified Azerbaijan but also Anatolia.
Azeri Turks were the founders of Safavid dynasty.
Other historians, such as
Vladimir Minorsky and
Roger Savory, refute this idea:
From the evidence available at the present time, it is certain that the Safavid family was of indigineous Iranian stock, and not of Turkish ancestry as it is sometimes claimed. It is probable that the family originated in Persian Kurdistan, and later moved to Azerbaijan, where they adopted the Azari form of Turkish spoken there, and eventually settled in the small town of Ardabil sometimes during the eleventh century.
By the time of the establishment of the
Safavid empire, the members of the family were native Turkish-speaking and Turkicized, and some of the Shahs composed poems in their native
Turkish language. Concurrently, the Shahs themselves also supported
Persian literature, poetry and art projects including the grand
Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp, while members of the family and some Shahs composed
Persian poetry as well. In terms of identity, it should be noted that the authority of the Safavids were religiously based and they based their legitimacy on being direct male descendants of the Ali, the cousin of the
Prophet Muhammad, and the first
Shi'ite Imam.
Background—The Safavid
Sufi Order
Main articles: Safaviyya,
Safi al-Din Ardabili, and
Ideology of Safavids
Safavid history begins with the establishment of the Safaviyya by its eponymous founder
Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252--1334). In 700/1301,
Safi al-Din assumed the leadership of the Zahediyeh, a significant Sufi order in
Gilan, from his spiritual master and father-in-law
Zahed Gilani. Due to the great spiritual charisma of Safi al-Din, the order was later known as the Safaviyya. The Safavid order soon gained great influence in the city of Ardabil and Hamdullah Mustaufi noted that most of the people of Ardabil were followers of Safi al-Din.
Extant religious poetry from him, written in the
Old Azari language—a now-extinct
Northwestern Iranian language—and accompanied by a paraphrase in Persian which helps their understanding, has survived to this day and has linguistic importance.