World History › Section P · The early modern Islamic world › Topic P.3
The Safavid Empire
In 1501 a teenage Sufi leader crowned himself shah of Iran and declared Twelver Shia Islam the faith of his realm. The Safavid dynasty he founded fought the Ottomans for two centuries, built the splendid capital of Isfahan, and made Iran the Shia heartland it remains today.
In this topic
- From Sufi order to warrior movement
- Ismail, the boy shah
- What Twelver Shia believe
- Making Iran Shia
- Worked example: Chaldiran, 1514
- Tahmasp and the Peace of Amasya
- Abbas the Great
- Isfahan, half the world
- Court, faith and art
- Worked example: why did Isfahan fall in 1722?
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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