Founding of the Safavid Dynasty
Also called: Safavid Iran
Ismail I proclaimed himself shah at Tabriz and founded the Safavid dynasty. Making Shia Islam the state religion, it confronted the Sunni Ottoman Empire.
ca. 1647 artist · Public domain · Source
The Safavids led a Sufi order based at Ardabil in northwestern Iran; in the 15th century they espoused Shia belief and commanded Turkmen tribal warriors in red caps, the Qizilbash. In 1501 Ismail, then about fourteen, defeated the Aq Qoyunlu, entered Tabriz, proclaimed himself shah and made Twelver Shi’ism the state religion. He went on to take the whole Iranian plateau.
The Safavids long fought the Ottoman Empire, champion of Sunni Islam, over faith and territory. At Chaldiran in 1514 Selim I’s Ottomans routed the Qizilbash cavalry with cannon and muskets. In the late 16th century Abbas I reformed the army and moved the capital to Isfahan, which grew so splendid it was called “half the world”. The Shia identity of most Iranians today took firm shape in this period.