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{{short description|Twelver Shīʿa ruling dynasty of Iran (1501–1736)}}
{{Distinguish|Saffarid dynasty}}
{{pp-protect|small=yes}}
{{Infobox royal house
|image=Safavid Flag.svg
|image_caption=Safavid flag after 1576
|surname=Safavid dynasty
|native_name=دودمان صفوی,
|coat of arms=
|country=[[Safavid Iran]]
|founding year=22 December 1501
|founder=[[Ismail I]] (1501–1524)
|dissolution={{C.|1736}}
|final ruler=[[Abbas III]] (1732–1736)
|traditions=[[Twelver Shi'ism]]
|titles=[[Shah]]anshah of [[Iran]]<br>[[Shadow of God]]
}}

The '''Safavid dynasty''' ({{IPAc-en|'|s|æ|f|ə|v|ɪ|d|,_|ˈ|s|ɑː|-}}; {{langx|fa|دودمان صفوی|Dudmân-e Safavi}},<ref>*{{cite book|last1=Afšār|first1=ta·līf-i Iskandar Baig Turkmān. Zīr-i naẓar bā tanẓīm-i fihristhā wa muqaddama-i Īraǧ|title=Tārīkh-i ʻʻālamārā-yi ʻʻAbbāsī|date=2003|publisher=Mu·assasa-i Intišārāt-i Amīr Kabīr|location=Tihrān|isbn=978-964-00-0818-8|pages=17, 18, 19, 79|edition=Čāp-i 3.|language=fa}}
* p. 17: dudmān-i safavīa
* p. 18: khāndān-i safavīa
* p. 19: sīlsīla-i safavīa
* p. 79: sīlsīla-i alīa-i safavīa</ref> {{IPA|fa|d̪uːd̪ˈmɒːne sæfæˈviː|pron}}) was the ruling dynasty of [[Safavid Iran]], and one of [[Iran]]'s most significant ruling dynasties reigning from [[Safavid Iran|1501 to 1736]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=SAFAVID DYNASTY|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids}}</ref> Their rule is often considered the beginning of [[History of Iran|modern Iranian history]],<ref name="Iranica">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Matthee |author-first=Rudi |author-link=Rudi Matthee |title=SAFAVID DYNASTY |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |date=13 June 2017 |orig-year=28 July 2008 |doi=10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_509 |doi-access=free |issn=2330-4804 |access-date=23 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525211301/https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> as well as one of the [[gunpowder empires]].<ref>Streusand, Douglas E., ''Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals'' (Boulder, Col : Westview Press, 2011) ("Streusand"), p. 135.</ref> The Safavid [[List of monarchs of Persia|Shah]] [[Ismail I]] established the [[Twelver]] denomination of [[Shia Islam|Shi'a Islam]] as the [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|official religion of the Persian Empire]], marking one of the most important turning points in the [[history of Islam]].<ref name="savoryeiref">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Savory |author-first=Roger |author-link=Roger Savory |year=2012 |orig-date=1995 |title=Ṣafawids |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor4-last=Lewis |editor4-first=B. |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |editor6-last=Schacht |editor6-first=J. |editor6-link=Joseph Schacht |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam#2nd edition, EI2|Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition]] |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=8 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0964 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4}}</ref> The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the [[Safavid order|Safavid Sufi order]], which was established in the city of [[Ardabil]] in the [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian Azerbaijan]] region.<ref name="Matthee 2021">{{cite book |author-last=Baltacıoğlu-Brammer |author-first=Ayşe |year=2021 |chapter=The emergence of the Safavids as a mystical order and their subsequent rise to power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWBCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |editor-first=Rudi |editor-last=Matthee |title=The Safavid World |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |series=Routledge Worlds |pages=15–36 |doi=10.4324/9781003170822 |isbn=978-1-003-17082-2|s2cid=236371308 }}</ref> It was an Iranian dynasty of [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]] origin,<ref>
* Matthee, Rudi. (2005). ''The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900''. Princeton University Press. p. 18; "The Safavids, as Iranians of Kurdish ancestry and of nontribal background (...)".
* Savory, Roger. (2008). "EBN BAZZĀZ". ''Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 1''. p. 8. "''This official version contains textual changes designed to obscure the Kurdish origins of the Safavid family and to vindicate their claim to descent from the Imams."''
* Amoretti, Biancamaria Scarcia; Matthee, Rudi. (2009). "Ṣafavid Dynasty". In Esposito, John L. (ed.) ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World''. Oxford University Press. "Of Kurdish ancestry, the Ṣafavids started as a Sunnī mystical order (...)"</ref> but during their rule they intermarried with [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]],<ref>
* Roemer, H. R. (1986). "The Safavid Period" in Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Laurence. ''The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 214, 229
* Blow, David (2009). ''Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend''. I.B.Tauris. p. 3
* Savory, Roger M.; Karamustafa, Ahmet T. (1998) "ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ". ''Encyclopaedia Iranica'' Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6, pp. 628–636
* Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2016). "ḤAYDAR ṢAFAVI". ''Encyclopaedia Iranica''</ref> [[Georgians|Georgian]],<ref>Aptin Khanbaghi (2006) ''The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early''. London & New York. IB Tauris. {{ISBN|1-84511-056-0}}, pp. 130–1</ref> [[Circassians|Circassian]],{{sfn|Yarshater|2001|p=493}}{{sfn|Khanbaghi|2006|p=130}} and [[Pontic Greeks|Pontic Greek]]<ref name="Anthony Bryer 1975">Anthony Bryer. "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 29'' (1975), Appendix II "Genealogy of the Muslim Marriages of the Princesses of Trebizond"</ref> dignitaries; nevertheless, for practical purposes, they were not only Persian-speaking, but also Turkish-speaking and [[Turkification|Turkified]].{{sfn|Yarshater|2012}}<ref>{{harvnb|Dale|2020|pp=73–74}} "Ismāʿīl – who evidently knew both Persian and what has been described as a Southern Turkic dialect"</ref> From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of [[Greater Iran]] and reasserted the [[culture of Iran|Iranian identity]] of the region,<ref>"Why is there such confusion about the origins of this important dynasty, which reasserted Iranian identity and established an independent Iranian state after eight and a half centuries of rule by foreign dynasties?" RM Savory, ''Iran Under the Safavids'' (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980), p. 3.</ref> thus becoming the first native dynasty since the [[Sasanian Empire]] to establish a national state officially known as Iran.<ref>Alireza Shapur Shahbazi (2005), "The History of the Idea of Iran", in Vesta Curtis ed., Birth of the Persian Empire, IB Tauris, London, p. 108: "Similarly the collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea. The name "Iran" disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr, and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or "Iranian lands", which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand, when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman empire and even Iran itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations".</ref>

The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736 and 1750 to 1773) and, at their height, controlled all of what is now [[Iran]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Bahrain]], [[Armenia]], eastern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], parts of the [[North Caucasus]] including [[Russia]], [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]], and [[Afghanistan]], as well as parts of [[Turkey]], [[Syria]], [[Pakistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], and [[Uzbekistan]].
 
Despite their demise in 1736, the legacy that they left behind was the revival of Iran as an economic stronghold between East and [[Western world|West]], the establishment of an efficient state and [[bureaucracy]] based upon "[[Separation of powers#Checks and balances|checks and balances]]", their [[Safavid art|architectural innovations]], and [[Mecenate|patronage for fine arts]].<ref name="Iranica"/> The Safavids have also left their mark down to the present era by [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|establishing Twelver Shi'ism as the state religion of Iran]], as well as spreading Shi'a Islam in major parts of the [[Middle East]], [[Central Asia]], [[Caucasus]], [[Anatolia]], the [[Persian Gulf]], and [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name="Iranica"/><ref name="savoryeiref"/>

==Genealogy==
{{See also|Safavid dynasty family tree|Safavid order|Safvat as-safa|Silsilat-al-nasab-i Safaviya|Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah|List of the mothers of the Safavid Shahs}}

{{anchor|Genealogy}}The Safavid Kings themselves claimed to be [[sayyid|''sayyids'']],<ref>In the pre-Safavid written work Safvat as-Safa (oldest manuscripts from 1485 and 1491), the origin of the Safavids is tracted to Piruz Shah Zarin Kolah who is called a Kurd from Sanjan, while in the post-Safavid manuscripts, this portion has been excised and Piruz Shah Zarin Kollah is made a descendant of the Imams. R Savory, "Ebn Bazzaz" in ''Encyclopædia Iranica''). In the Silsilat an-nasab-i Safawiya (composed during the reign of Shah Suleiman, 1667–94), by Hussayn ibn Abdal Zahedi, the ancestry of the Safavid was purported to be tracing back to Hijaz and the first Shiʻi Imam as follows: Shaykh Safi al-din Abul Fatah Eshaq ibn (son of) Shaykh Amin al-Din Jabrail ibn Qutb al-din ibn Salih ibn Muhammad al-Hafez ibn Awad ibn Firuz Shah Zarin Kulah ibn Majd ibn Sharafshah ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Seyyed Ja'afar ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Seyyed Isma'il ibn Seyyed Muhammad ibn Seyyed Ahmad 'Arabi ibn Seyyed Qasim ibn Seyyed Abul Qasim Hamzah ibn Musa al-Kazim ibn Ja'far As-Sadiq ibn Muhammad al-Baqir ibn Imam Zayn ul-'Abedin ibn [[Husayn ibn Ali|Hussein]] ibn [[Ali ibn Abi Taleb]] Alayha as-Salam. There are differences between this and the oldest manuscript of Safwat as-Safa. Seyyeds have been added from Piruz Shah Zarin Kulah up to the first Shiʻi Imam and the nisba "Al-Kurdi" has been excised. The title/name "Abu Bakr" (also the name of the first Caliph and highly regarded by Sunnis) is deleted from Qutb ad-Din's name. ُSource: Husayn ibn Abdāl Zāhedī, 17th cent. Silsilat al-nasab-i Safavīyah, nasabnāmah-'i pādishāhān bā ʻuzmat-i Safavī, ta'līf-i Shaykh Husayn pisar-i Shaykh Abdāl Pīrzādah Zāhedī dar 'ahd-i Shāh-i Sulaymnān-i Safavī. Berlīn, Chāpkhānah-'i Īrānshahr, 1343 (1924), 116 pp. Original Persian: شیخ صفی الدین ابو الفتح اسحق ابن شیخ امین الدین جبرائیل بن قطب الدین ابن صالح ابن محمد الحافظ ابن عوض ابن فیروزشاه زرین کلاه ابن محمد ابن شرفشاه ابن محمد ابن حسن ابن سید محمد ابن ابراهیم ابن سید جعفر بن سید محمد ابن سید اسمعیل بن سید محمد بن سید احمد اعرابی بن سید قاسم بن سید ابو القاسم حمزه بن موسی الکاظم ابن جعفر الصادق ابن محمد الباقر ابن امام زین العابدین بن حسین ابن علی ابن ابی طالب علیه السلام.</ref> family descendants of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]], although many scholars have cast doubt on this claim.<ref>R.M. Savory, "Safavid Persia" in: Ann Katherine Swynford Lambton, Peter Malcolm Holt, Bernard Lewis, ''The Cambridge History of Islam'', Cambridge University Press, 1977. p. 394: "They (Safavids after the establishment of the Safavid state) fabricated evidence to prove that the Safavids were Sayyids."</ref> There seems now to be a consensus among scholars that the Safavid family hailed from [[Iranian Kurdistan]],<ref name="savoryeiref"/> and later moved to [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian Azerbaijan]], finally settling in the 11th century CE at [[Ardabil]]. Traditional pre-1501 Safavid manuscripts trace the lineage of the Safavids to the [[Kurds|Kurdish]] dignitary, [[Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah]].<ref name="R.M.">[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ebn-bazzaz RM Savory. Ebn Bazzaz.] ''Encyclopædia Iranica''</ref><ref>F. Daftary, "Intellectual Traditions in Islam", I.B. Tauris, 2001. p. 147: "But the origins of the family of Shaykh Safi al-Din go back not to Hijaz but to Kurdistan, from where, seven generations before him, Firuz Shah Zarin-kulah had migrated to Adharbayjan"</ref>

According to historians,<ref>Tamara Sonn. ''A Brief History of Islam'', Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 83, {{ISBN|1-4051-0900-9}}</ref><ref name="csatoetal">É. Á. Csató, B. Isaksson, C Jahani. ''Linguistic Convergence and Areal Diffusion: Case Studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic'', Routledge, 2004, p. 228, {{ISBN|0-415-30804-6}}.</ref> including [[Vladimir Minorsky]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Minorsky|first=V|contribution=Adgharbaydjan (Azarbaydjan)|title=Encyclopedia of Islam|edition=2nd|editor1-first=P|editor1-last=Berman|editor2-first=Th|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor3-first=CE|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor4-first=E|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor5-first=WP|editor5-last=Henrichs|publisher=Brill|url=http://www.encislam.brill.nl/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728190604/http://www.encislam.brill.nl/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-28|place=NL|year=2009|quote=After 907/1502, Adharbayjan became the chief bulwark and rallying ground of the Safawids, themselves natives of Ardabil and originally speaking the local Iranian dialect}}</ref> and [[Roger Savory]], the Safavids were Turkish speakers of Iranian origin:<ref>Roger M. Savory. "Safavids" in Peter Burke, Irfan Habib, [[Halil İnalcık]]: ''History of Humanity-Scientific and Cultural Development: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century'', Taylor & Francis. 1999, p. 259.</ref>

{{quote|From the evidence available at the present time, it is certain that the Safavid family was of indigenous 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 Turkicized and Turkish-speaking,<ref>{{iranica|iran-ii2-islamic-period-page-4}}, "The origins of the Safavids are clouded in obscurity. They may have been of Kurdish origin (see R. Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 1980, p. 2; R. Matthee, "Safavid Dynasty" at iranica.com), but for all practical purposes they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified."</ref> and some of the Shahs composed poems in their then-native Turkish language. Concurrently, the Shahs themselves also supported Persian literature, poetry and art projects including the grand [[Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp|''Shahnameh'' of Shah Tahmasp]],<ref>John L. Esposito, ''The Oxford History of Islam'', Oxford University Press US, 1999. pp 364: "To support their legitimacy, the Safavid dynasty of Iran (1501–1732) devoted a cultural policy to establish their regime as the reconstruction of the historic Iranian monarchy. To the end, they commissioned elaborate copies of the ''Shahnameh'', the Iranian national epic, such as this one made for Tahmasp in the 1520s."</ref><ref>Ira Marvin Lapidus, ''A history of Islamic Societies'', Cambridge University Press, 2002, 2nd ed., p. 445: To bolster the prestige of the state, the Safavid dynasty sponsored an Iran-Islamic style of culture concentrating on court poetry, painting, and monumental architecture that symbolized not only the Islamic credentials of the state but also the glory of the ancient Persian traditions."</ref> while members of the family and some Shahs composed Persian poetry as well.<ref>Colin P. Mitchell, "Ṭahmāsp I" in ''Encyclopædia Iranica''. "Shah Ṭahmāsp's own brother, Sām Mirzā, wrote the Taḏkera-yetoḥfa-ye sāmi, in which he mentioned 700 poets during the reigns of the first two Safavid rulers. Sām Mirzā himself was an ardent poet, writing 8,000 verses and a Šāh-nāma dedicated to his brother, Ṭahmāsp (see Sām Mirzā, ed. Homāyun-Farroḵ, 1969)."</ref><ref>See: Willem Floor, Hasan Javadi (2009), ''The Heavenly Rose-Garden: A History of Shirvan & Daghestan'' by Abbas Qoli Aqa Bakikhanov, Mage Publishers, 2009. (see Sections on Safavids quoting poems of Shah Tahmasp I)</ref>

The authority of the Safavids was religiously based, and their claim to legitimacy was founded on being direct male descendants of Ali,<ref>[[Kathryn Babayan]], ''Mystics, Monarchs and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran'', Cambridge, Massachusetts; London : Harvard University Press, 2002. p. 143: "It is true that during their revolutionary phase (1447–1501), Safavi guides had played on their descent from the family of the Prophet. The hagiography of the founder of the Safavi order, Shaykh Safi al-Din Safvat al-Safa written by Ibn Bazzaz in 1350-was tampered with during this very phase. An initial stage of revisions saw the transformation of Safavi identity as Sunni Kurds into Arab blood descendants of Muhammad."</ref> the cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, and regarded by the Shiʻa as the first Imam.

Furthermore, the dynasty was from the very start thoroughly intermarried with both [[Pontic Greeks|Pontic Greek]] as well as [[Georgians|Georgian]] lines.<ref>From Maternal side: Chatrina daughter of Theodora daughter of [[John IV of Trebizond]] son of Alexios IV of Trebizond son of Manuel III of Trebizond son of Alexios III of Trebizond son of Irene Palaiologina of Trebizond. From Paternal side: [[Shaykh Haydar]] son of Khadijeh Khatoon daughter of Ali Beyg son of Qara Yuluk Osman son of Maria daughter of Irene Palaiologina of Trebizond.</ref> In addition, from the official establishment of the dynasty in 1501, the dynasty would continue to have many intermarriages with both [[Circassians|Circassian]] as well as again Georgian dignitaries, especially with the accession of [[Tahmasp I]].{{sfn|Yarshater|2001|p=493}}{{sfn|Khanbaghi|2006|p=130}}

== Self-identification and worldview ==
The identity created by the Safavid monarchs and the Persian-speaking urban elites who backed them was based on religion. The Safavids portrayed themselves as the rightful successors of the [[Twelve Imams]] in [[Shia Islam]] and reinforced this claim by inventing a genealogical link to the third Shia Imam, [[Husayn ibn Ali]], through his supposed marriage to [[Shahrbanu]], the daughter of last [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] ruler [[Yazdegerd III]].{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=85}} By constructing this lineage, the Safavids emphasized their Persian genealogical heritage.{{sfn|Ashraf|2006}}

The Safavids also drew inspiration from earlier times, both historical and mythological. The historical component was the [[Turco-Mongol tradition]], which the Safavids considered themselves the inheritor of. The 14th century warlord [[Timur]] influenced their self-image. In his autobiography, [[Shah Tahmasp I]] mentioned that he often read the ''Tarikh-e Teymur''. This romanticized past was given renewed attention once the Safavids abandoned their role as warriors.{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=85}}

The mythological component was references to pre-Islamic kings and heroes. [[Zahhak]], [[Fereydun]] and [[Jamshid]] were amongst the figures that [[Shah Ismail I]] compared himself to in his poetry. His two sons [[Sam Mirza Safavi|Sam]] and Rostam, had traditional Persian names. When [[Shah Soltan Hoseyn]] was crowned shah in 1694, Jamshid and [[Kay Kawad]] were amongst the pre-Islamic figures mentioned in the ''[[Khutbah|khotba]]'' speech by the ''[[Shaykh al-Islām|sheykh al-islam]]'' of [[Isfahan]], [[Mohammad Baqer Majlesi]]. The ''Tohfat al-alam'', a [[paean]] to Shah Soltan Hoseyn composed about ten years after his coronation, contains similar themes. Although many dynasties in Iran remembered only fractions of the past, they still aimed to claim a connection to it, a tradition the Safavids continued. The Dutch [[Iranologist]] [[Rudi Matthee]] adds "Yet that does not mean that the Safavids were engaged in a systematic and comprehensive mining of the past with the intention of "retrieving" an authentic identity".{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=85}}

The identity of the Safavids was broad in certain aspects, consistent with premodern custom. The Safavid dynasty was likely of [[Kurds|Kurdish]] origin, while Shah Ismail I had [[Pontic Greeks|Pontic Greek]] descent and spoke a variant of [[Azerbaijani Turkic]].{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=85}} Both Rudi Matthee and English–American Iranologist [[Dick Davis (translator)|Dick Davis]] agree that "pure identity was not part of Iran's early, multi-ethnic and imperial consciousness and emerged only in Sasanian times". The Safavids still set themselves apart from others, mainly judging by perceived levels of civilization. Those considered barbarians were not only outsiders but also certain neighboring Muslims, including [[Arabs]], Turks, and [[Kurds]]. Texts in Persian portrayed them all as primitive, unpredictable and unreliable. The Safavids considered the truly uncivilized groups to include the [[Turkmens]], [[Lezgins]], [[Kipchaks]], and [[Uzbeks]]. This grouping also included the Russians, whom the Iranians reportedly called the "Uzbeks of Europe". The Safavid outlook on civilization also included [[Western Europe|Western Europeans]], albeit they were rarely mentioned in Persian texts. These texts make little mention of Europe ([[Farangestan]]) as a competitor, threat, or point of comparison, even long after the Safavid dynasty. Secondary sources, typically from Europe, provide the majority of the information regarding Safavid views on Europeans.{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=86}}

Legitimacy in the Safavid chronicles revolved around support for the shah and his associates, not adherence to the Muslim divine order or ties to the land. In this system, loyalty became the key and nearly exclusive condition for inclusion.{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=86}} The clerical elite in Iran justified this perspective in religious terms, seeing the dynasty and its shah as essential to upholding and safeguarding the divine order.{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=87}}

==Culture==
[[File:"Buzurjmihr Masters the Hindu Game of Chess", Folio 639v from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp MET DP245149 (cropped).jpg|thumb|"[[Bozorgmehr|Buzurjmihr]] Masters the Hindu Game of Chess", from the [[Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp|''Shahnameh'' of Shah Tahmasp]], dated {{circa|1530–35}}]]
After the fall of the [[Sasanian Empire]] in the 7th century, the idea of Iran as a political state ceased to exist, but it continued to shape Iranian national sentiment. Under the Mongol [[Ilkhanate]] (1256–1335), this notion was revived.{{sfn|Melville|2019|p=42}} After settling firmly in Iran, the Mongols actively supported its cultural heritage, centering their patronage on the ''[[Shahnameh]]''. This development was aided by the emergence of the New Persian language as the predominant cultural language in this large region. During the Safavid period, these factors came together, and the Safavids collected and directed centuries of cultural achievements. This preserved heritage proved resilient, enduring both the turmoil after the Safavid government collapsed and the aggressive imposition of Russian culture following the early 19th century [[Russo-Iranian Wars]].{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=84}}

Especially in urban areas, Safavid literature and Persian poetry connected the past, including the pre-Islamic past, to the present and functioned as a body of shared cultural traditions for both the common people and the elite. The legendary pre-Islamic Iranian past, with kings battling eternal forces of evil in Iran's [[national epic]], the ''[[Shahnameh]]'', was connected to the Islamic Safavid present, which had its own strong symbols of righteousness and redemption.{{sfn|Matthee|2009|pp=243–244}}

The Safavids revitalized the [[Guarded Domains of Iran]].{{sfn|Amanat|2017|p=35}} The idea of the "Guarded Domains" was formed by a feeling of territorial and political uniformity in a society with shared cultural elements such as the Persian language, monarchy, and [[Shia Islam]].{{sfn|Amanat|1997|p=15}} In addition to supporting an advanced Persian material culture, the Safavids contributed to the development of an Islamic philosophical and theological heritage. The Safavids established trade and diplomatic ties with Europe, introducing Iran to Western developments for the first time.{{sfn|Amanat|2017|p=35}}

The Safavid dynasty regarded Iran, both as a territory and as a concept, as under their rule and divinely protected. The name "Iran" occurs rarely in early chronicles, suggesting that its location was considered too evident to require frequent mention.{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=95}} The attention to "Iran" as a unified entity, shielded by the Iranian army, increased somewhat under the reign of [[Shah Abbas I]], who defended the country from external opponents while reducing the autonomy of outlying areas and islands. Iran, seemingly, was recognized without formal proclamation.{{sfn|Matthee|2021|p=95}}

== Legacy and assessment ==
[[File:Shah Abbas Statue.jpg|thumb|A statue of [[Shah Abbas I]], which was on display in [[Isfahan]] before the [[Iranian Revolution]]]]
Iran's modern period is often linked to the Safavid dynasty, which also laid the groundwork for the Iranian nation-state. Under them, Iran became a unified political entity, while its largely tribal and nomadic population became settled, relying on agriculture and trade for revenue. [[Patrimonialism|Patrimonial]] kingship, which combined territorial authority with religious legitimacy, was introduced by the Safavids and, with some modifications, endured until the 20th century.{{sfn|Matthee|2008}}

Under the Safavids, a political structure with interwoven religious and political domains was established, along with a primary language, Persian, which functioned as the literary language and even started to supplant Arabic as the medium for theological discourse. The political system that emerged under them had overlapping political and religious boundaries and a core language, Persian, which served as the literary tongue, and even began to replace Arabic for theological conversation. Well into the [[Qajar Iran|Qajar]] era, some administrative institutions established during the Safavid era or modified from earlier periods continued to exist. Iran and Europe first began regular, long-term diplomatic and commercial exchanges during the Safavid era.{{sfn|Matthee|2008}}

The [[Reformation]] in northern and central Europe and the [[Counter-Reformation]] that followed it are comparable to the state-sponsored Shia Islam that resulted from the advent of the Safavids and the Sunni response to it. The split that resulted between the Sunnis and Shias is similar to the Protestant-Catholic split that accelerated the formation of nation-states in Europe.{{sfn|Amanat|2017|pp=37–38}} The emergence of the Safavid state and its adoption of Shia Islam as the official faith was a pivotal moment that significantly affected both Iran and the surrounding Sunni-majority regions.{{sfn|Amanat|2017|pp=33–34}} The conversion to a state-sponsored religion, in this case Shia Islam, provided the bond required to hold together the fundamental elements of Safavid state, similar to other early states such as Spain and England.{{sfn|Amanat|2017|p=75}} Iran was largely shaped into a geographical empire with a unique identity due to the fusion of religious and political elements by the Safavid dynasty.{{sfn|Amanat|2017|p=59}}

==Safavid Shahs of Iran==
{{see also|List of Safavid monarchs}}
[[File:Safavid dynasty timeline-en.svg|thumb|upright|Safavid dynasty timeline]]
*[[Ismail I]] 1501–1524
*[[Tahmasp I]] 1524–1576
*[[Ismail II]] 1576–1578
*[[Mohammad Khodabanda]] 1578–1587
*[[Abbas I of Persia|Abbas I]] 1587–1629
*[[Safi of Persia|Safi]] 1629–1642
*[[Abbas II of Persia|Abbas II]] 1642–1666
*[[Suleiman I of Persia|Suleiman I]] 1666–1694
*[[Soltan Hoseyn]] 1694–1722
*[[Tahmasp II]] 1722–1732
*[[Abbas III]] 1732–1736

==Mothers of Safavid Shahs==
{{Main|List of the mothers of the Safavid Shahs}}

== Cadet branches ==
Despite efforts undertaken by Safavid shahs in subduing their familial branches, namely confining princes to the harem, the Bahrami-Safavid line held considerable power from 1517 to 1593, and in the face of pressure from Shah Abbas the Great for centeralisation, [[Migration of Iranians to India during the 16th–18th centuries|migrated to India]] in the 1590s. They were the descendants of [[Bahram Mirza Safavi]], son of Ismail I, and among their principal members were [[Rustam Mirza Safavi]], an influential [[subahdar]] and courtier, and two wives of the Mughal emperors, [[Dilras Banu Begum]] and [[Kandahari Begum]]. They survived in India for two centuries.{{Sfn|Geevers|2015|pp=293-295}}

==See also==
*[[Khanates of the Caucasus]]
*[[List of Shi'a Muslim dynasties]]
*[[Persianate|Persianate states]]
*[[Safavid art]]
*[[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam]]
*[[Trade in Iran's Safavid era]]
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | last = Amanat | first = Abbas |authorlink=Abbas Amanat| title = Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896 | publisher = I.B. Tauris | year = 1997 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xdFu7X2UtpAC | isbn = 978-1845118280 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Amanat|first1=Abbas|title=Iran: A Modern History|date=2017 |publisher=Yale University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=omo3DwAAQBAJ|isbn=978-0300112542}}
* {{cite book |last1=Amanat |first1=Abbas|editor1-last=Amanat |editor1-first=Abbas |editor2-last=Ashraf |editor2-first=Assef |title=The Persianate World: Rethinking a Shared Sphere |date=2019 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-38728-7 |pages=15–62 |chapter=Remembering the Persianate}}
* {{cite book |last1=Amanat|first1=Abbas|editor1-last=Amanat |editor1-first=Abbas |editor2-last=Gledhill|editor2-first=Kevin |editor3-last=Nejad|editor3-first= Kayhan A.|title=The Caspian World: Connections and Contentions at a Modern Eurasian Crossroads |date=2025|publisher=[[Cornell University Press]]|isbn=978-1501781292 |pages=16–48|chapter=Border Crossings: Iranian Artists in Tsarist Russia and Georgia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBRZEQAAQBAJ&newbks}}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iranian-identity-iii-medieval-islamic-period/|title=Iranian Identity iii. Medieval Islamic Period|first=Ahmad|last=Ashraf|year=2006|isbn = 978-0933273955}}{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFAshraf2006}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ashraf|first1=Assef |title=Making and Remaking Empire in Early Qajar Iran|date=2024 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WBrxEAAAQBAJ|isbn=978-1009361552}}
* {{cite book|last1=Blow|first1=David|title=Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend|date=2009|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-0857716767}}
* {{cite book |last1=Dale |first1=Stephen Frederic |author1-link=Stephen Dale |editor-last1=Peacock |editor-first1=A.C.S. |editor-last2=McClary |editor-first2=Richard Piran |editor1-link=A. C. S. Peacock |title=Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections |date=2020 |publisher=Brill |chapter=Turks, Turks and türk Turks: Anatolia, Iran and India in Comparative Perspective|pages=56–87|doi=10.1163/9789004437364_004 |isbn=978-90-04-43736-4 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Geevers|first=Liesbeth|title=Safavid Cousins on the Verge of Extinction: Dynastic Centralization in Central Asia and the Bahrāmī Collateral Line (1517-1593)|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|date=2015|volume=58|issue=3|doi=10.1163/15685209-12341376|pages=293–326|jstor=43919246 |issn=1568-5209|oclc=46849781|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43919246|url-access=subscription}}
*{{cite book|url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/middle-east-history/cambridge-history-iran-volume-6?format=HB|title=The Timurid and Safavid Periods|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1986|isbn=978-0521200943|editor-last=Jackson|editor-first=Peter|series=The Cambridge History of Iran|volume=6|location=Cambridge|editor-last2=Lockhart|editor-first2=Laurence}}
*{{cite book|last=Khanbaghi|first=Aptin|title=The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early Modern Iran|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2006|isbn=978-1845110567}}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids/|title=Safavid dynasty|first=Rudi|last=Matthee|authorlink=Rudi Matthee|year=2008|isbn = 978-0933273948}}{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFMatthee2008}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Matthee|first1=Rudi|title=Was Safavid Iran an Empire?|journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient|date=2009|volume=53|issue=1–2|pages=233–265|publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/002249910X12573963244449}}
* {{cite book |chapter=The idea of Iran in the Safavid period: Dynastic pre-eminence and Urban Pride|last=Matthee|first=Rudi|title=Safavid Persia in the Age of Empires: The Idea of Iran |volume=10 |editor-first=Charles |editor-last=Melville |publisher=I.B. Tauris |pages = 81–105 |year=2021}}
* {{cite book|last=Melville|first=Charles|chapter=Concepts of government and state formation in Mongol Iran|editor-last=Babaie|editor-first=Sussan|editor-link=Sussan Babaie|year=2019|title=Iran After the Mongols|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|pages=33–54|isbn=978-1788315289}}
*{{cite book|last1=Mikaberidze|first1=Alexander|author-link1=Alexander Mikaberidze|title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1442241466|edition=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNQCgAAQBAJ&q=sakhltukhutsesi}}
*{{cite book|last=Savory|first=Roger|title=Iran under the Safavids|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0521042512}}
*{{cite book|last=Sicker|first=Martin|title=The Islamic World in Decline: From the Treaty of Karlowitz to the Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2001|isbn=978-0275968915}}
*{{cite book|last=Yarshater|first=Ehsan|title=Encyclopædia Iranica|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|year=2001|isbn=978-0933273566}}
*{{cite encyclopedia |title=IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (2) Islamic period (page 4): The Safavids |last=Yarshater |first=Ehsan |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |year=2012 |quote="The origins of the Safavids are clouded in obscurity. They may have been of Kurdish origin (see R. Savory, Iran Under the Safavids, 1980, p. 2; R. Matthee, “Safavid Dynasty” at iranica.com), but for all practical purposes they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified." }}

==Further reading==
* Christoph Marcinkowski (tr.), ''Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey'', Singapore: Pustaka Nasional, 2003, {{ISBN|9971-77-488-7}}.
* Christoph Marcinkowski (tr., ed.), ''Mirza Rafi‘a's [[Dastur al-Muluk]]: A Manual of Later Safavid Administration. Annotated English Translation, Comments on the Offices and Services, and Facsimile of the Unique Persian Manuscript'', Kuala Lumpur, ISTAC, 2002, {{ISBN|983-9379-26-7}}.
* Christoph Marcinkowski, ''From Isfahan to Ayutthaya: Contacts between Iran and Siam in the 17th Century'', Singapore, Pustaka Nasional, 2005, {{ISBN|9971-77-491-7}}.
* [http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/olearius/travels.html "The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors"], Adam Olearius, translated by John Davies (1662),

==External links==
{{Commons category|Safavid dynasty}}
*[http://www.iranchamber.com/history/safavids/safavids.php History of the Safavids on Iran Chamber]
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids "Safavid dynasty"], ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' by Rudi Matthee
* The History Files: [http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/EasternPersia.htm Rulers of Persia]
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/safavidempire_1.shtml BBC History of Religion]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050831022857/http://www.iranian.ws/7000-6.htm Iranian culture and history site]
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/georgia-vii- "Georgians in the Safavid administration"], ''Encyclopædia Iranica''
*[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/safa/hd_safa.htm Artistic and cultural history of the Safavids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art]
*[http://www.art-arena.com/safavidart.htm History of Safavid art] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927093252/http://www.art-arena.com/safavidart.htm |date=2014-09-27 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071008023151/http://www.imamreza.net/eng/imamreza.php?print=589 A Study of the Migration of Shiʻi Works from Arab Regions to Iran at the Early Safavid Era.]
*[http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/reflections_safavid_history_historiography1.php Why is Safavid history important?] (Iran Chamber Society)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100616060412/http://imamreza.net/eng/imamreza.php?id=3021 Historiography During the Safawid Era]
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ix23-shiism-in-iran-since-the-safavids "Iran ix. Religions in Iran (2) Islam in Iran (2.3) Shiʿism in Iran Since the Safavids: Safavid Period"], ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' by Hamid Algar

{{Safavids}}
{{Safavid Rulers}}
{{Iran topics}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Safavid Dynasty}}
[[Category:Safavid dynasty| ]]
[[Category:Safavid Iran]]
[[Category:Dynasties in Persia and Iran]]
[[Category:Iranian Muslim dynasties]]
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[[Category:Early modern history of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Early modern history of Armenia]]
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