Safavid dynasty

The Safavid dynasty (Azerbaijani: Səfəvilər Sülaləsi) (Persian: دودمان صفوی), was a native Persian dynasty, of full or partial Persian origin. The Safavids established Shia Islam as the official religion of the empire.

The Expansive Realm of Safavids ملک وسیع‌الفضای ایران The State of Safavids مملکت ایران
1501–1722/1736
Flag (1576–1732) Imperial Coat of Arms (1501–1722)
Greatest borders during Abbas the Great
Capital	Tabriz (1501–1555) Qazvin (1555–1598) Isfahan (1598–1736)
Official languages	Azerbaijani Persian
Government	Monarchy
Shah
• 1501–1524	Ismail I (first)
• 1732–1736	Abbas III (last)
History
• Established	1501
• Disestablished	1722/1736
Succeeded by Afsharid dynasty

The Safavids reasserted the Iranian identity of the region.

Safavid Shahs of Iran

Name		Portrait	Title	Reign years
1	Ismail I		Shahanshah	1501–1524
2	Tahmasp I		Shah	1524–1576
3	Ismail II		Shah	1576–1577
4	Mohammad Khodabanda	—	Shah, Sultan	1578–1587
5	Abbas I		Shah, Zell'ollah, Ṣāḥebqerān-e-ʿAlāʾ	1588–1629
6	Safi		Shah	1629–1642
7	Abbas II		Shah	1642– 1666
8	Suleiman I	—	Shah, Sultan	1666–1694
9	Soltan Hoseyn		Shah, Sultan	1694–1722
10	Tahmasp II	—	Shah	1729–1732
11	Abbas III	—	Shah, Sahib-e-Qorân, Sultan bar Salatin	1732–1736

Sources

• Matthee, Rudi (2005). The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900. Princeton Universty Press. pp. 18. The Safavids, as Iranians of Kurdish ancestry and of nontribal background (...)
• 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 (...)
• Matthee, Rudi (2008). "SAFAVID DYNASTY". Encyclopædia Iranica. As Persians of Kurdish ancestry and of a non-tribal background, the Safavids (...)
• Savory, R. M (1970). "Safavid Persia". In P. M. Holt, Ann K. S. Lambton, Bernard Lewis (ed.). The Cambridge History of Islam. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-521-29135-4. What does seem certain is that the Safavids were of native Iranian stock, and spoke Āzarī, the form of Turkish used in Āzarbāyjān.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
• Savory, Roger (2008). "EBN BAZZĀZ". Encyclopædia 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.
• Roemer, H. R (1986). "The Safavid Period". The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge University Press. p. 331. ISBN 0-521-20094-6. Depressing though the condition in the country may have been at the time of the fall of Safavids, they cannot be allowed to overshadow the achievements of the dynasty, which was in many respects to prove essential factors in the development of Persia in modern times. These include the maintenance of Persian as the official language (...)
• Savory, Roger (1980). Iran under the Safavids. Cambridge University Press. p. 3. 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?