Safavids

The Safavids were an Iranian dynasty that ruled from 1501 to 1736, and which established Shi'a Islam as Iran's official religion and united its provinces under a single Iranian sovereignty, thereby reigniting a pre-Islamic Persian identity and acting as a bridge to modern Iran.

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The Safavid dynasty had its origins in a long established Sufi order, called the Safaviyeh, which had flourished in Azerbaijan since the early 14th century. Its founder was Sheikh Safi Al-Din (1252-1334), after whom it was named.

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Sheikh Safi, or Safi-Al-Din Abul Fath Is'haq Ardabili, came from Ardebil, a city in Iranian Azerbaijan where his shrine still exists. He was a disciple of the famed Sufi Grand Master Sheikh Zahed Gilani (1216 - 1301) of Lahijan. Spiritual heir to Sheikh Zahed, Safi Al-Din transformed the inherited Zahediyeh Sufi Order into the Safaviyeh Order. Originally Safaviyeh was a spiritual response to the upheavals and unrest in northwest Iran/eastern Anatolia in the decades following the Mongol invasion. In the fifteenth century, the Safaviyeh gradually gained political and military clout in the power vacuum precipitated by the decline of the Timurid dynasty. After becoming the Safaviyeh leader in 1447, Junayd transformed it into a revolutionary Shi'ite movement with the goal of seizing power in Iran.

Iranian: The term Iranian may refer to:...

Shi'a: REDIRECT Shia Islam...

Persian: Persian can refer to:...