Qaraqoyunlu

As legend has it, the infant Ismail went into hiding for several years. With his followers, he finally returned to , vowing to make Shi'i Islam the official religion of Iran. Ismail found significant support among the people of Azerbaijan, as well as some parts of the , mainly in eastern . Ismail's advent to power was due to Turkoman tribes of Anatolia and Azerbaijan, who formed the most important part of the movement.[17] Centuries of rule followed by non-Muslim hegemony lent fertile ground for new teachings. In the summer of 1500, about 7000 forces, consisted of Ustaclu, Shamlu, Rumlu, Tekelu, Zhulkadir, , and Varsak tribes, responded to the invitation of Ismail in .[18] Qizilbash forces passed over the in Novermber 1500, and marched towards the 's state. They defeated the forces under the Shirvanshah near Cabanı (present-day , ), and conquered .[19] In July 1501, Ismail was enthroned as Shah of Azerbaijan,[20] choosing , Azerbaijan, as his capital. When the Safavids came to power in 1501, Shah Ismail was 14 or 15 years old; by 1510 he had conquered the whole of Iran.[21] After defeating the in 1502, he took the title of .[6]





First and original Safavid capital was Tabriz, Azerbaijan, but after battle of Chaldiran Ottomans sacked Tabriz, and lose of Chaldiran battle also meant lose of Eastern Anatolia, so Ottomans became a door away from Safavid capital and center. Thus, the capital had to be relocated to "inner" part of the Empire, first Qazvin, and lastly Isfahan, where most of Safavid greateness remains. Although from that point the Empire become more "Perisified", they still had retained Azerbaijani characteristics, however nowhere strong as in time of Shah Ismail.


But of course the most significant aspect with Safavids was the legacy of Shiism, however, if one thing they weren't, it was being "Persian", as they are for some reason called "Persian Empire", while neither were they Persians nor did they use such a term for their Empire.

Qaraqoyunlu

Safavid court, military langauge, aswell as language of religious ceremonies of Safaviya order was Azeri Turkish, while Persian was the language of the administration.

Shah Ismail himself was also a poet in Azerbaijani langauge, he wrote his Azeri poems under the pen-name of "Khatai", for that reason hes known as Shah Ismail Khatai among Azeri Turks, aswell Alavi Turks of Anatolia. Hes poems are also very popular among Anatolian Alavi Turks.

Qaraqoyunlu

Tombs of Safavi Sheikhs, including Shah Ismail, in Ardabil, Iranian Azerbaijan.

Shah Ismail's legacy words on his tomb are written in Azeri Turkish.







Mausoleum of Sheikh Junayd in Hazra village of Qusar rayon, Azerbaijan, father of Sheikh Haydar and grandfather of Shah Ismail. He fell here in skirmish against Shirvanshahs, his son Sheikh Haydar also died later in battle against Shirvanshahs and Ak-Qoyunlu in Derbent, although remains of Sheikh Haydar was brought back to Ardabil. The reason why Shah Ismail made his first military campaign against Shirvanshahs was exactly to avenge his father and grandfather's deaths.

Salah

Some good reading there, Qaraqoyunlu.

Mohammed the Persian

Still amazing at how Shah Ismail started conquering Iran since age 12.


I feel lazy

Qaraqoyunlu

He was an amazing leader, but his mistake at battle of Chaldiran was unforgivable, if he listened to his commanders about raiding Ottoman camps, Safavid army would have defeated Ottomans. Qizilbash army sadly stood not much of chance against Ottomans armed with modern fire-arms, however amazingly Qizilbash soldiers almost made it to Sultan Selim Yavuz's tent, which could have changed everything. His decision to invade Anatolia after mass Shia-Alavi revolts in Anatolia, which was the reason for this battle was also a stupid one as Safavids was not really prepared against technologically advanced Ottomans.

Shah Ismail didn't only lose the battle, but everything about himself, before that he was almost regarded as a God among Qizilbash tribes. He ceased to involve himself into politics or military matters of Safavid Empire, become alcoholic and died at relatively young age of 36.

If Safavids didn't lose Chaldiran battle, the capital would still be at Tabriz and as the result Safavid Empire would retain its Turkic characteristics, which was far more than the Persian one during Shah Ismail's reign.

GalataTurk

Sadly Safavids are not remebered in good way in Turkish history because of shiism and wars with Ottomans.Even many Turks think they were Iranian dynasty.Actually Safavids were among the most powerfull Turkic dynasties in that era along with Ottomans and Timurids.

Qaraqoyunlu

They were Shahs of Iran, but it was only a geographical term, not idenity, something not many understands probably. "Iranian" idenity is a very new one, established by Reza Shah Pahlavi after 1925.

Shah Ismail also held the "Shah of Azerbaijan" title and his general title was "Shahanshah of Azerbaijan and Iran", but this title was not used by later Shahs.

Lazyman

On the topic of Safavids, is there any info (books or otherwise articles on the net) on Shah Abbas ?

jehosafats

...

Safavids were brilliant architects