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Ismail I
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Shah Ismail I
??? ???????
Shah Ismail I.jpg
Portrait of Ismail I
Shahanshah of Iran
Reign July 1501 � 23 May 1524
Coronation 7 November 1502
Successor Tahmasp I
Viziers
See list[show]
Born 17 July 1487
Ardabil, Ak Koyunlu
Died 23 May 1524 (aged 36)
Ardabil, Safavid Empire
Burial Sheikh Safi Shrine Ensemble, Ardabil, Iran
Spouse Behruza Khanum
Tajlu Khanum
Issue See below
Full name
Abu'l-Mo?affar Isma'il ibn Shaykh ?aydar ibn Shaykh Junayd
Regnal name
Shah Ismail I
House House of Safavi
Father Shaykh Haydar
Mother Halima Begum
Religion Twelver Shia Islam
Ismail I (Persian: ????????, romanized: Esma?il, pronounced [esm???i?l]; July 17,
1487 � May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail I (??? ???????), was the founder of
the Safavid dynasty, ruling from 1501 to 23 May 1524 as Shah of Iran (Persia).

The rule of Ismail is one of the most vital in the history of Iran. Before his
accession in 1501, Iran, since its occupation by the Arabs eight-and-a-half
centuries ago, had not existed as a unified country under native Iranian rule, but
had been controlled by a series of Arab caliphs, Turkic sultans, and Mongol khans.
Although many Iranian dynasties rose to power amidst this whole period, it was only
under the Buyids that a vast part of Iran proper came under Iranian rule (945-
1055).[1]

The dynasty founded by Ismail I would rule for over two centuries, being one of the
greatest Iranian empires and at its height being amongst the most powerful empires
of its time, ruling all of present-day Iran, Azerbaijan Republic, Armenia, most of
Georgia, the North Caucasus, Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, as well as parts of
modern-day Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.[2][3][4][5] It
also reasserted the Iranian identity in large parts of Greater Iran.[6] The legacy
of the Safavid Empire was also the revival of Iran as an economic stronghold
between East and West, the establishment of an efficient state and bureaucracy, its
architectural innovations and its patronage for fine arts.

One of his first actions, was the proclamation of the Twelver sect of Shia Islam to
be the official religion of his newly-formed state, which had major consequences
for the ensuing history of Iran. Furthermore, this drastic act also gave him a
political benefit of separating the growing Safavid state from its strong Sunni
neighbors�the Ottoman Empire to the west and the Uzbek confederation to the east.
However, it brought into the Iranian body politic the implied inevitability of
consequent conflict between the shah, the design of a "secular" state, and the
religious leaders, who saw all secular states as unlawful and whose absolute
ambition was a theocratic state.

Ismail was also a prolific poet who, under the pen name Kha?a?i (which means "he
who made a mistake" or "he who was wrong" in Persian), contributed greatly to the
literary development of the Azerbaijani language.[7] He also contributed to Persian
literature, though few of his Persian writings survive.[8]

Contents
1 Origins
2 Life
3 Reign
3.1 Conquest of Iran and its surroundings
3.2 War against the Ottomans
4 Late reign and death
5 Ismail's poetry
5.1 Poetry example 1
5.2 Poetry example 2
5.3 Poetry example 3
5.4 Poetry from other composers about Ismail, I.
6 Emergence of a clerical aristocracy
7 Appearance and skills
8 Legacy
9 In popular culture
9.1 Literature
9.2 Places and structures
9.3 Statues
9.4 Music
10 Issue
11 Ancestry
12 See also
13 References
14 Bibliography
Origins
See also: Safavid dynasty and Safavid dynasty family tree

The battle between the young Ismail and Shah Farrukh Yassar of Shirvan
Ismail was born to Martha and Shaykh Haydar on July 17, 1487 in Ardabil. His
father, Haydar, was the sheikh of the Safaviyya Sufi order and a direct descendant
of its Kurdish[9][10][11] founder, Safi-ad-din Ardabili (1252�1334). Ismail was the
last in this line of hereditary Grand Masters of the order, prior to his ascent to
a ruling dynasty. Ismail was a great-great grandson of Emperor Alexios IV of
Trebizond and King Alexander I of Georgia. His mother Martha, better known as
Halima Begum, was the daughter of Uzun Hasan by his Pontic Greek wife Theodora
Megale Komnene, better known as Despina Khatun.[12] Despina Khatun was the daughter
of Emperor John IV of Trebizond. (She had married Uzun Hassan in a deal to protect
the Greek Empire of Trebizond from the Ottomans.[13]) Ismail grew up bilingual,
speaking Persian and Azerbaijani.[14][15] His ancestry is mixed, having ancestors
from various ethnic groups such as Georgian, Greek, Kurdish and Turkoman;[16][17]
[18][19] the majority of scholars agree that his empire was an Iranian one.[2][3]
[4][5][20]

In 700/1301, Safi al-Din assumed the leadership of the Zahediyeh, a significant

Sufi order in Gilan, from his spiritual master and father-in-law Zahed Gilani. The
order was later known as the Safaviyya. One genealogy claimed that Sheikh Safi (the
founder of the order and Ismael's ancestor) was a lineal descendant of Ali. Ismail
also proclaimed himself the Mahdi and a reincarnation of Ali.[21]

Life

Ismail declares himself shah by entering Tabriz, painter Chingiz Mehbaliyev, in

private collection.
In 1488, the father of Ismail was killed in a battle at Tabasaran against the
forces of the Shirvanshah Farrukh Yassar and his overlord, the Aq Qoyunlu, a Turkic
tribal federation which controlled most of Iran. In 1494 the Aq Qoyunlu captured
Ardabil, killing Ali Mirza Safavi (the eldest son of Haydar), and forcing the 7-
year old Ismail to go into hiding in Gilan, where under Sultan 'Ali Mirza Karkiya
he received education under the guidance of scholars.

When Ismail reached the age of 12, he came out of hiding and returned to Azerbaijan
(historic Azerbaijan, also known as Iranian Azerbaijan) along with his followers.
Ismail's rise to power was made possible by the Turkoman tribes of Anatolia and
Azerbaijan, who formed the most important part of the Qizilbash movement.[22]

Reign

The battle between Ismail I and Muhammad Shaybani

Conquest of Iran and its surroundings
In the summer of 1500, about 7,000 Qizilbash troops, including members of the
Ustaclu, Shamlu, Rumlu, Tekelu, Zhulkadir, Afshar, Qajar and Varsak tribes,
responded to the invitation of Ismail in Erzincan.[23] Qizilbash forces passed over
the Kura River in December 1500, and marched towards the Shirvanshah's state. They
defeated the forces of the Shirvanshah Farrukh Yassar near Cabani (present-day
Shamakhi Rayon, Azerbaijan Republic)[24] or at Gulistan (present-day G�l�stan,
Goranboy, Nagorno-Karabakh),[25][26] and subsequently went on to conquer Baku.[26]
[27] Thus, Shirvan and its dependencies (up to southern Dagestan in the north) were
now Ismail's. The Shirvanshah line nevertheless continued to rule Shirvan under
Safavid suzerainty for some more years, until 1538, when, during the reign of
Ismail's son, Tahmasp I (r. 1524-1576), from then on it came to be ruled by a
Safavid governor.[28] After the conquest, Ismail had Alexander I of Kakheti send
his son Demetre to Shirvan to negotiate a peace agreement.[29]

The successful conquest had alarmed the ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu, Alvand, who
subsequently proceeded north from Tabriz, and crossed the Aras River in order to
challenge the Safavid forces, and a pitched battle was fought at Sarur in which
Ismail's army came out victorious despite being outnumbered by four to one.[26]
Shortly before his attack on Shirvan, Ismail had made the Georgian kings
Constantine II and Alexander I of respectively the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti,
attack the Ottoman possessions near Tabriz, on the promise that he would cancel the
tribute that Constantine was forced to pay to the Ak Koyunlu once Tabriz was
captured.[29] After eventually conquering Tabriz and Nakhchivan, Ismail broke the
promise he had made to Constantine II, and made both the kingdoms of Kartli as well
as Kakheti his vassals.[29]

In July 1501, Ismail was enthroned as Shah of Iran[30] choosing Tabriz as his
capital. He appointed his former guardian and mentor Husayn Beg Shamlu as the vakil
(vicegerent) of the empire and the commander-in-chief (amir al-umara) of the
Qizilbash army.[31][32] His army was composed of tribal units, the majority of
which were Turkmen from Anatolia and Syria with the remainder Kurds and Ca?atay.
[33] He also appointed a former Iranian vizier of the Aq Qoyunlu, named Mohammad
Zakariya Kujuji, as his vizier.[34] After proclaiming himself Shah, Ismail also
proclaimed Twelver Shi'ism to be the official and compulsory religion of Iran. He
enforced this new standard by the sword, dissolving Sunni Brotherhoods and
executing anyone who refused to comply to the newly implemented Shi'ism [35]
After defeating an Aq Qoyunlu army in 1502, Ismail took the title of "Shah of
Iran".[36] In the same year he gained possession of Erzincan and Erzurum,[37] while
a year later, in 1503, he conquered Eraq-e Ajam and Fars; one year later he
conquered Mazandaran, Gorgan, and Yazd. In 1507, he conquered Diyabakir. During the
same year, Ismail appointed the Iranian Amir Najm al-Din Mas'ud Gilani as the new
vakil. This was because Ismail had begun favoring the Iranians more than the
Qizilbash, who, although they had played a crucial role in Ismail's campaigns,
possessed too much power and were no longer considered trustworthy.[38][39]

One year later, he Ismail forced the rulers of Khuzestan, Lorestan, and Kurdistan
to become his vassals. The same year, Ismail and Husayn Beg Shamlu seized Baghdad,
putting an end to the Aq Qoyunlu.[1][40] Ismail then began destroying Sunni sites
in Baghdad, including tombs of Abbasid Caliphs and tombs of Imam Abu ?anifah and
Abdul Qadir Gilani.[41]

By 1510, he had conquered the whole of Iran (including Shirvan), southern Dagestan
(with its important city of Derbent), Mesopotamia, Armenia, Khorasan, and Eastern
Anatolia, and had made the Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti his vassals.[42]
[43] In the same year, Husayn Beg Shamlu lost his office as commander-in-chief in
favor of a man of humble origins, Mohammad Beg Ustajlu.[38] Ismail also appointed
Najm-e Sani as the new vakil of the empire due to the death of Mas'ud Gilani.[39]

Ismail I moved against the Uzbeks. In the battle near the city of Merv, some 17,000
Qizilbash warriors ambushed and defeated an Uzbek force numbering 28,000. The Uzbek
ruler, Muhammad Shaybani, was caught and killed trying to escape the battle, and
the shah had his skull made into a jewelled drinking goblet.[44] In 1512, Najm-e
Sani was killed during a clash with the Uzbeks, which made Ismail appoint Abd al-
Baqi Yazdi as the new vakil of the empire.[45]

War against the Ottomans

Artwork of the Battle of Chaldiran

The active recruitment of support for the Safavid cause among the Turcoman tribes
of Eastern Anatolia, among tribesmen who were Ottoman subjects, had inevitably
placed the neighbouring Ottoman empire and the Safavid state on a collision course.
[46] As the Encyclopaedia Iranica states, "As orthodox or Sunni Muslims, the
Ottomans had reason to view with alarm the progress of Shi?i ideas in the
territories under their control, but there was also a grave political danger that
the ?afawiya, if allowed to extend its influence still further, might bring about
the transfer of large areas in Asia Minor from Ottoman to Persian allegiance".[46]
By the early 1510s, Ismail's rapidly expansionist policies had made the Safavid
border in Asia Minor shift even further west. In 1511, there was a widespread pro-
Safavid rebellion in southern Anatolia by the Takkalu Qizilbash tribe, known as the
Sahkulu Rebellion,[46] and an Ottoman army that was sent in order to put down the
rebellion down was defeated.[46] A large-scale incursion into Eastern Anatolia by
Safavid ghazis under Nur-?Ali ?alifa coincided with the accession of Sultan Selim I
in 1512 to the Ottoman throne, and became the casus belli which led to Selim's
decision to invade Safavid Iran two years later.[46] Selim and Ismail had been
exchanging a series of belligerent letters prior to the attack. While the Safavid
forces were at Chaldiran and planning on how to confront the Ottomans, Mohammad
Khan Ustajlu, who served as the governor of Diyabakir, and Nur-Ali Khalifa, a
commander who knew how the Ottomans fought, proposed that they should attack as
quickly as possible.[47] This proposal was rejected by the powerful Qizilbash
officer Durmish Khan Shamlu, who rudely said that Mohammad Khan Ustajlu was only
interested in the province which he governed. The proposal was rejected by Ismail
himself, who said; "I am not a caravan-thief; whatever is decreed by God, will
occur."[47]
Personal items of Shah Ismail I captured by Selim I during battle of Chaldiran.
Topkapi Museum. Istanbul
Selim I eventually defeated Ismail at the battle of Chaldiran in 1514.[48] Ismail's
army was more mobile and his soldiers were better prepared, but the Ottomans
prevailed due in large part to their efficient modern army, and possession of
artillery, black powder and muskets. Ismail was wounded and almost captured in
battle. Selim entered the Iranian capital of Tabriz in triumph on September 5,[49]
but did not linger. A mutiny among his troops, fearing a counterattack and
entrapment by fresh Safavid forces called in from the interior, forced the
triumphant Ottomans to withdraw prematurely. This allowed Ismail to recover. Among
the booty from Tabriz was Ismail's favorite wife, for whose release the Sultan
demanded huge concessions, which were refused. Despite his defeat at the Battle of
Chaldiran, Ismail quickly recovered most of his kingdom, from east of the Lake Van
to the Persian Gulf. However, the Ottomans managed to annex for the first time
Eastern Anatolia and parts of Mesopotamia, as well as briefly northwestern Iran.
[50]

The Venetian ambassador Caterino Zeno describes the events as follows:

The monarch [Selim], seeing the slaughter, began to retreat, and to turn about, and
was about to fly, when Sinan, coming to the rescue at the time of need, caused the
artillery to be brought up and fired on both the janissaries [sic] and the
Persians. The Persian horses hearing the thunder of those infernal machines,
scattered and divided themselves over the plain, not obeying their riders bit or
spur anymore, from the terror they were in ... It is certainly said, that if it had
not been for the artillery, which terrified in the manner related the Persian
horses which had never before heard such a din, all his forces would have been
routed and put to edge of the sword.[51]

He also adds that:

If the Turks had been beaten in the battle of Chaldiran, the power of Ismail would
have become greater than that of Tamerlane, as by the fame alone of such a victory
he would have made himself absolute lord of the East.[52]

Late reign and death

Shah Ismail I's grave at Sheikh Safi al-Din Khanegah and Shrine Ensemble
After the Battle of Chaldiran, Ismail lost his supernatural air and the aura of
invincibility, gradually falling into heavy drinking of alcohol.[53] He retired to
his palace, never again participated in a military campaign,[54] and withdrew from
active participation in the affairs of the state. He left these to his vizier,
Mirza Shah Husayn,[55] who became his close friend and drinking companion. This
allowed Mirza Shah Husayn to gain influence over Ismail and expand his authority.
[56] Mirza Shah Husayn was assassinated in 1523 by a group of Qizilbash officers,
after which Ismail appointed Zakariya's son Jalal al-Din Mohammad Tabrizi as his
new vizier. Ismail died on 23 May 1524 at the relatively early age of thirty-six.
He was buried in Ardabil, and was succeeded by his son Tahmasp I.

The consequences of the defeat at Chaldiran were also psychological for Ismail: His
relationships with his Qizilbash followers were fundamentally altered. The tribal
rivalries between the Qizilbash, which temporarily ceased before the defeat at
Chaldiran, resurfaced in intense form immediately after the death of Ismail, and
led to ten years of civil war (930-40/1524-33) until Shah Tahmasp regained control
of the affairs of the state. The Safavids later briefly lost Balkh and Kandahar to
the Mughals, and nearly lost Herat to the Uzbeks.[57]

During Ismail's reign, mainly in the late 1510's, the first steps for the
Habsburg�Persian alliance were set as well, with Charles V and Ludwig II of Hungary
being in contact with a view to combining against the common Ottoman Turkish enemy.
[58]

Ismail's poetry

Bust of Ismail I in Ganja, Republic of Azerbaijan

Ismail is also known for his poetry using the pen-name Kha?a'i (Arabic: ??????
"Sinner").[59] He wrote in the Azerbaijani language, a Turkic language mutually
intelligible with Turkish,[60] and in the Persian language. He is considered an
important figure in the literary history of Azerbaijani language and has left
approximately 1400 verses in this language, which he chose to use for political
reasons.[60] Approximately 50 verses of his Persian poetry have also survived.
According to Encyclop�dia Iranica, "Ismail was a skillful poet who used prevalent
themes and images in lyric and didactic-religious poetry with ease and some degree
of originality". He was also deeply influenced by the Persian literary tradition of
Iran, particularly by the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, which probably explains the fact
that he named all of his sons after Shahnameh-characters. Dickson and Welch suggest
that Ismail's "Shahnamaye Shahi" was intended as a present to his young son
Tahmasp.[61] After defeating Muhammad Shaybani's Uzbeks, Ismail asked Hatefi, a
famous poet from Jam (Khorasan), to write a Shahnameh-like epic about his victories
and his newly established dynasty. Although the epic was left unfinished, it was an
example of mathnawis in the heroic style of the Shahnameh written later on for the
Safavid kings.[62]

Most of the poems are concerned with love�particularly of the mystical Sufi
kind�though there are also poems propagating Shi'i doctrine and Safavi politics.
His other serious works include the Nasihatname in Azerbaijani language,[8][63] a
book of advice, and the unfinished Dahname in Azerbaijani language,[8][63] a book
which extols the virtues of love.

Along with the poet Imadaddin Nasimi, Khata'i is considered to be among the first
proponents of using a simpler Azerbaijani language in verse that would appeal to a
broader audience. His work is most popular in Azerbaijan, as well as among the
Bektashis of Turkey. There is a large body of Alevi and Bektashi poetry that has
been attributed to him. The major impact of his religious writings, in the long
run, was the conversion of Persia from Sunni to Shia Islam.[64]

The following anecdote demonstrates the status of vernacular Turkish and Persian in
the Ottoman Empire and in the incipient Safavid state. Khata'i sent a poem in
Turkish to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I before going to war in 1514. In a reply the
Ottoman Sultan answered in Persian to indicate his contempt.

Examples of his poems are:[65][66]

Poetry example 1
Today I have come to the world as a Master. Know truly that I am Haydar's son.
I am Fereydun, Khosrow, Jamshid, and Zahak. I am Zal's son (Rostam) and Alexander.
The mystery of I am the truth is hidden in this my heart. I am the Absolute Truth
and what I say is Truth.
I belong to the religion of the "Adherent of the Ali" and on the Shah's path I am a
guide to every one who says: "I am a Muslim." My sign is the "Crown of Happiness".
I am the signet-ring on Sulayman's finger. Muhammad is made of light, Ali of
Mystery.
I am a pearl in the sea of Absolute Reality.
I am Khatai, the Shah's slave full of shortcomings.
At thy gate I am the smallest and the last [servant].

Poetry example 2
My name is Shah Isma'il. I am God's mystery. I am the leader of all these ghazis.
My mother is Fatima, my father is 'Ali; and eke I am the Pir of the Twelve Imams.
I have recovered my father's blood from Yazid. Be sure that I am of Haydarian
essence.
I am the living Khidr and Jesus, son of Mary. I am the Alexander of (my)
contemporaries.
Look you, Yazid, polytheist and the adept of the Accursed one, I am free from the
Ka'ba of hypocrites.
In me is Prophethood (and) the mystery of Holiness. I follow the path of Muhammad
Mustafa.
I have conquered the world at the point of (my) sword. I am the Qanbar of Murtaza
'Ali.
My sire is Safi, my father Haydar. Truly I am the Ja'far of the audacious.
I am a Husaynid and have curses for Yazid. I am Khata'i, a servant of the Shah's.

Poetry example 3
"The light of all is Muhammed."
due to your desire my heart burned, will i see you ever?
i hope in the holy divan of truth, you will remember me

they call you generous, valiant oh' impeccable leader

the light of all is Muhammed, valiant thou' Ali valiant

i could not find anyone in this lone world who is like you
let me see your moon-faced effigy, so i will not stay in desire

all your servants who call your name will not be devoided in the hereafter
the light of all is Muhammed, valiant thou' Ali valiant

forgive this sinner, i lead my face to your holy dergah

my soul stayed in blasphemy, thou' will not insist on my sin

i soughed shelter and came to this revealed refuge

the light of all is Muhammed, valiant thou' Ali valiant

Hata-i says: "thou' Ali, my body is filled up with sins"

the light of all is Muhammed, valiant thou' Ali valiant[67]

Poetry from other composers about Ismail, I.

From Pir Sultan Abdal:

He makes a march against Urum

The Imam of Ali's descent is coming
I bow down and kissed his Hand
The Imam of Ali's descent is coming

He fills the cups step by step

In his stable only noble Arab horses
His ancestry, he is the son of the Shah
The Imam of Ali's descent is coming

The fields are marked step by step

His rival makes his heart aching
Red-green is the young warrior dressed
The Imam of Ali's descent is coming

He lets him seen often on the field

No one knows the secret of the saviour
Shah of the world goodman Haydar's grandson
The Imam of Ali's descent is coming

Pir Sultan Abdal, I am, if i could see this

Submit my self, if I could wipe my face at him
From ere he is the leader of the 12 Imams
The Imam of Ali's descent is coming

Emergence of a clerical aristocracy

An important feature of the Safavid society was the alliance that emerged between
the ulama (the religious class) and the merchant community. The latter included
merchants trading in the bazaars, the trade and artisan guilds (asnaf) and members
of the quasi-religious organizations run by dervishes (futuvva). Because of the
relative insecurity of property ownership in Persia, many private landowners
secured their lands by donating them to the clergy as so-called vaqf. They would
thus retain the official ownership and secure their land from being confiscated by
royal commissioners or local governors, as long as a percentage of the revenues
from the land went to the ulama. Increasingly, members of the religious class,
particularly the mujtahids and the seyyeds, gained full ownership of these lands,
and, according to contemporary historian Iskandar Munshi, Persia started to witness
the emergence of a new and significant group of landowners.[68]

Appearance and skills

Shah Ismail I as depicted in a 1590s engraving by Theodor de Bry

Ismail was described by contemporaries as having a regal appearance, gentlemanly in
quality and youthfulness. He also had a fair complexion and red hair.[69] His
appearance compared to other olive-skinned Persians, his descent from the Safavid
Shaykhs, and his religious ideals, contributed to people's expectation based on
various legends circulating during this period of heightened religious awareness in
Western Asia.[69]

An Italian traveller describes Ismail as follows:

This Sophi is fair, handsome, and very pleasing; not very tall, but of a light and
well-framed figure; rather stout than slight, with broad shoulders. His hair is
reddish; he only wears moustachios, and uses his left hand instead of his right. He
is as brave as a game cock, and stronger than any of his lords; in the archery
contests, out of the ten apples that are knocked down, he knocks down seven.[57]

Legacy
Ismail's greatest legacy was establishing an empire which lasted over 200 years. As
Alexander Mikaberidze states, "The Safavid dynasty would rule for two more
centuries [after Ismail's death] and establish the basis for the modern-nation
state of Iran."[70] Even after the fall of the Safavids in 1736, their cultural and
political influence endured through the era of Afsharid, Zand, Qajar, and Pahlavi
dynasties into the modern Islamic Republic of Iran as well as the neighboring
Azerbaijan Republic, where Shi'a Islam is still the dominant religion as it was
during the Safavid era.

In popular culture
Literature
In the Safavid period, the famous Azeri folk romance Shah Ismail emerged.[71]
According to Azerbaijani literary critic Hamid Arasly, this story is related to
Ismail I. But it is also possible that it is dedicated to Ismail II.

Places and structures

A district (X?tai raion), facility,[72] monument (erected in 1993, ru:[2]), and
metro station in Baku, Azerbaijan
A street in Ganja, Azerbaijan
Statues
A statue in Ardabil, Iran (in the Azerbaijan region of Iran)
A sculpture in Khachmaz, Azerbaijan
Music
Shah Ismayil is the name of an Azerbaijani mugham opera in 6 acts and 7 scenes
composed by Muslim Magomayev,[73] in 1915-1919.[74]

Issue

Statue of Ismail I in Ardabil, Iran

Sons:
Tahmasp I
Prince 'Abul Ghazi Sultan Alqas Mirza (15 March 1515 � 9 April 1550) Governor of
Astrabad 1532/33�1538, Shirvan 1538�1547 and Derbent 1546�1547. He rebelled against
his brother Tahmasp with Ottoman help. Captured and imprisoned at the Fortress of
Qahqahan. m. Khadija Sultan Khanum, having had issue, two sons,
Sultan Ahmad Mirza (died 1568)
Sultan Farrukh Mirza (died 1568)
Prince Sultan Rustam Mirza (born 13 September 1517)
Prince 'Abul Naser Sultan Sam Mirza (28 August 1518 � December 1567) Governor-
General of Khorasan 1521�1529 and 1532�1534, and of Ardabil 1549�1571. He rebelled
against his brother Tahmasp, captured and imprisoned at the Fortress of Qahqahan.
He had issue, two sons and one daughter. His daughter, married Prince Jesse of
Kakheti (died 1583) Governor of Shaki, the third son of Georgian king Levan of
Kakheti.
Prince 'Abu'l Fat'h Sultan Moez od-din Bahram Mirza (7 September 1518 � 16
September 1550) Governor of Khorasan 1529�1532, Gilan 1536�1537 and Hamadan
1546�1549. m. Zainab Sultan Khanum. She had issue, four sons and one daughter:
Sultan Hassan Mirza died in his youth,
Sultan Husain Mirza (died 1567)
'Abu'l Fat'h Sultan
Ibrahim Mirza (1541�1577),
Sultan Badi uz-Zaman Mirza (k.1577)
Prince Soltan Hossein Mirza (born 11 December 1520)
Daughters:
Princess Shahnavaz Begum, m. 14 May 1513, Prince Sehzade Murad Effendi, elder son
of Sehzade Ahmet, Crown Prince of Ottoman Empire, son of Bayezid II.
Princess Gunish Khanum (26 February 1507 � 2 March 1533) m. (first) at Hamadan, 24
August 1518, Sultan Mozaffar Amir-i-Dibaj (k. at Tabriz, 23 September 1536),
Governor of Rasht and Fooman 1516�1535, son of Amir Hisam od-din Amir-i-Dibaj.
Princess Pari Khan Khanum (not to be mistaken with Tahmasp's daughter Pari Khan
Khanum) m. on 4 October 1521, Shirvanshah Khalil II Governor of Shirvan 1523�1536,
son of Shirvanshah Ibrahim II.
Princess Khair un-nisa Khanish Khanum (died 12 March 1564) m. 1537, Seyyed Nur od-
din Nimatu'llah Baqi Yazdi (d. 21 July 1564), son of Mir Nezam od-din 'Abdu'l Baqi
Yazdi.
Princess Shah Zainab Khanum (born 1519)
Princess Farangis Khanum (born 1519)
Princess Mahin Banu Khanum (1519 � 20 January 1562)[75]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Ismail I
See also
icon Poetry portal
Safavid dynasty family tree
List of Turkic-languages poets
Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism
References
Savory 1998, pp. 628-636.
Helen Chapin Metz. Iran, a Country study. 1989. University of Michigan, p. 313.
 Emory C. Bogle. Islam: Origin and Belief. University of Texas Press. 1989, p. 145.
Stanford Jay Shaw. History of the Ottoman Empire. Cambridge University Press.
1977, p. 77.
Andrew J. Newman, Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire, IB Tauris (March 30,
2006).
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? RM Savory, Iran under the
Safavids (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980), p. 3.
G. Doerfer, "Azeri Turkish", Encyclopaedia Iranica, viii, Online Edition, p. 246.
"ESMA?IL I ?AFAWI � Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2014-10-
15.
Tapper, Richard (1997). Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of
the Shahsevan. Cambridge University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0521583367. The Safavid
Shahs who ruled Iran between 1501 and 1722 descended from Sheikh Safi ad-Din of
Ardabil (1252�1334). Sheikh Safi and his immediate successors were renowned as holy
ascetics Sufis. Their own origins were obscure; probably of Kurdish or Iranian
extraction ...
Savory 1997, p. 8.
Kamal, Muhammad (2006). Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy. Ashgate Publishing,
Ltd. p. 24. ISBN 978-0754652717. The Safawid was originally a Sufi order whose
founder, Shaykh Safi al-Din, a Sunni Sufi master descended from a Kurdish
family ...
Peter Charanis. "Review of Emile Janssens' Tr�bizonde en Colchide", Speculum, Vol.
45, No. 3,, (Jul., 1970), p. 476
Anthony Bryer, open citation, p. 136
Roger M. Savory. "Safavids" in Peter Burke, Irfan Habib, Halil Inalci:�History of
Humanity-Scientific and Cultural Development: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth
Century", Taylor & Francis. 1999. Excerpt from pg
259:"??????????????, ????????? ? ????????? ?????, ???????? ? ???????????, ??? ?????
????????? ????? ??????? ???????? ?????????????, ? ?? ????????, ??? ??? ?????? ?????
?????. ?????? ?????, ????? ???????? ? ?????????? ??????????, ? ????? ??????????? ?
???????????, ??? ???????????????? ? ?????????? ??-??????? ??????????, ? ? ????????
????? ?????????? ? ????????? ?????? ???????? ???-?? ? ???????????? ???? [Evidence
available at the present time leads to the conviction that the Safavid family came
from indigenous Iranian stock, and not from Turkish ancestry as it is sometimes
claimed. It is probable that the family originated in Persian Kurdistan, and later
moved to Azerbaijan, where it became assimilated to Turkic-speaking Azeris and
eventually settled in the small town of Ardabil sometime during the eleventh
century.]".
?????? ? ?????, ?? ??????? ??????? ??? ??????, ?? ????????? ??????? ? ??? �????
� ??? �??????????????
�. ??? ????????????? ???? ?????????: ???? ?? ??? ??????? ???? ????????? ????????? ?
??????. ???? ???????? ? ??????, ??? ????? ? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ???????, ?? ????
????. ??? ??? ??? ??? ??????? ????? ??????????? ?? ????? ??????????? ????????????.
[The question of the language used by Shah Ismail is not identical with that of his
race or of his "nationality". His ancestry was mixed: one of his grandmothers was a
Greek Comnena princess. Hinz, Aufstieg, 74, comes to the conclusion that the blood
in his veins was chiefly non-Turkish. Already, his son Shah Tahmasp began to get
rid of his Turcoman praetorians.] � V. Minorsky, "The Poetry of Shah Ismail I,"
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 10/4
(1942): 1006�53.
Roemer, H.R. (1986). "The Safavid Period" in Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Laurence.
The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge
University Press. pp. 214, 229
Blow, David (2009). Shah Abbas: The Ruthless King Who Became an Iranian Legend.
I.B.Tauris. p. 3
Savory, Roger M.; Karamustafa, Ahmet T. (1998) ESMA?IL I ?AFAWI. Encyclopaedia
Iranica Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6, pp. 628-636
Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2016). ?AYDAR ?AFAVI. Encyclopaedia Iranica
RM Savory. Ebn Bazzaz. Encyclop�dia Iranica
Roger M. Savory. "Safavids" in Peter Burke, Irfan Habib, Halil Inalcik: History of
Humanity-Scientific and Cultural Development: From the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth
Century, Taylor & Francis. 1999, p. 259.
Peter B. Golden: An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples; In: Osman
Karatay, Ankara 2002, p.321
Alireza Shapur Shahbazi (2005), "The History of the Idea of Iran", in Vesta Curtis
ed., Birth of the Persian Empire, IB Tauris, London, p. 108: "Similarly the
collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea. The
name "Iran" disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids,
Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr,
and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or "Iranian lands",
which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand,
when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state
officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman Empire and even Iran
itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations".
Time in Early Modern Islam: Calendar, Ceremony, and Chronology Page 23 By Stephen
P. Blake [1]
Roemer, H.R. (1986). "The Safavid Period" in Jackson, Peter; Lockhart, Laurence.
The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods. Cambridge
University Press. pp. 189-350
Savory, Roger M.; Karamustafa, Ahmet T. (1998) ESMA?IL I ?AFAWI. Encyclopaedia
Iranica Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6, pp. 628-636
Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2016). ?AYDAR ?AFAVI. Encyclopaedia Iranica
Matthee, Rudi (2008). SAFAVID DYNASTY. Encyclopaedia Iranica
Faruk S�mer, Safevi Devletinin Kurulusu ve Gelismesinde Anadolu T�rklerinin Rol�,
T�rk Tarih Kurumu Yayinlari, Ankara, 1992, p. 15. (in Turkish)
Fisher et al. 1986, p. 211.
Roy 2014, p. 44.
Sicker 2000, p. 187.
Nesib Nesibli, "Osmanli-Safev� Savaslari, Mezhep Meselesi ve Azerbaucan", T�rkler,
Cilt 6, Yeni T�rkiye Yayinlari, Ankara, 2002, ISBN 975-6782-39-0, p. 895. (in
Turkish)
Fisher et al. 1986, pp. 212, 245.
Rayfield 2013, p. 164.
The New Encyclop�dia Britannica: Microp�dia, Encyclop�dia Britannica, 1991, ISBN
978-0-85229-529-8, p. 295.
Bosworth & Savory 1989, pp. 969-971.
Savory 2007, p. 36.
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/army-iii
Newman 2008, p. 16.
Cleveland, William L. "A History of the Modern Middle East" (Westview Press, 2013)
pg 131
Woodbridge Bingham, Hilary Conroy, Frank William Ikl�, A History of Asia:
Formations of Civilizations, From Antiquity to 1600, and Bacon, 1974, p. 116.
Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey, Volume II p 289
Savory 2007, p. 50.
Mazzaoui 2002.
Savory 2007, p. 37.
History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey
"History of Iran:Safavid Empire 1502 - 1736". Retrieved 16 December 2014.
"Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia". Retrieved 15 December 2014.
Eraly, Abraham (17 September 2007). Emperors Of The Peacock Throne: The Saga of
the Great Moghuls. Penguin Books Limited. p. 25. ISBN 978-93-5118-093-7.
Soucek 1982, pp. 105-106.
Shah Ismail I Retrieved July 2015
Savory 2007, p. 41.
Michael Axworthy, Iran: Empire of the Mind (Penguin, 2008) p.133
 The later Crusades, 1274�1580: from Lyons to Alcazar Door Norman Housley, page
120, 1992
Ira M. Lapidus. "A History of Islamic Societies" Cambridge University Press. ISBN
1139991507 p 336
Savory, R. (2007). Iran Under the Safavids. Cambridge University Press. p. 43.
ISBN 9780521042512. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
A Narrative of Italian Travels in Persia, in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries
(1873), s. 61
The Cambridge History of Islam, Part 1, By Peter Malcolm Holt, Ann K. S. Lambton,
Bernard Lewis, p. 401.
Mikaberidze 2015, p. 242.
Momen (1985), p. 107.
Savory 2007, p. 47.
"ESMA?IL I ?AFAWI � Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2014-10-
15.
The Cambridge history of Iran by William Bayne Fisher p.384ff
Encyclop�dia Iranica. ?Ismail Safavi Archived October 21, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine
V. Minorsky, "The Poetry of Shah Ismail I," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, University of London 10/4 (1942): 1006�53.
M.B. Dickson and S.C. Welch, The Houghton Shahnameh, 2 vols. (Cambridge, Mass.,
and London, 1981. See p. 34 of vol. I).
R.M. Savory, "Safavids", Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd edition
H. Javadi and K. Burrill. Azerbaijan. Azeri Literature in Iran. � Encyclop�dia
Iranica, 1998. � Vol. III. � P. 251-255.
"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2013-10-20.
Newman 2008, p. 13.
Vladimir Minorsky: The Poetry of Shah Isma'il I, Bulletin of the School of
Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 10, No. 4. (1942), s.
1042a-1043a
Alevi Literature, no specified origin
RM Savory, Safavids, Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed page 185�6
Roemer 1986, p. 211.
Mikaberidze, Alexander. Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical
Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO, 31 jul. 2011 ISBN 978-1598843361 p 432
Sakina Berengian. Azeri and Persian literary works in twentieth century Iranian
Azerbaijan. � Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1988. � ?. 20. � 238 ?. � ISBN
9783922968696. It was also during the Safavid period that the famous Azeri folk
romances � Shah Esmail, Asli-Karam, Ashiq Gharib, Koroghli, which are all
considered bridges between local dialects and the classical language � were created
and in time penetrated into Ottoman, Uzbek, and Persian literatures. The fact that
some of these lyrical and epic romances are in prose may be regarded as another
distinctive feature of Azeri compared to Ottoman and Chaghatay literatures.
??????? ???? ???????? ???? ??????? ????? Archived 2004-12-10 at the Wayback
Machine
"????? "??? ??????"". citylife.az.
?. ?. ???????. ???????? ?. ?. ??????????? ????????????.
� ?.: ????????? ????????????, ????????? ??????????. ??? ???. ?. ?. ???????.
1973�1982.
The Royal Ark
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Ismail I
Safavid Dynasty
New creation Shah of Persia
1502�1524 Succeeded by
Tahmasp I
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Rulers of the Safavid dynasty (1501�1736)
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Persian literature
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Azerbaijani literature
Authority control Edit this at Wikidata
BNF: cb13330036q (data) GND: 118932497 ISNI: 0000 0000 8351 8681 LCCN: n80149855
MusicBrainz: 46328ba4-2bdf-49c0-8d2e-d771ab65fb91 NTA: 204038618 SUDOC: 088635406
VIAF: 3785262 WorldCat Identities (via VIAF): 3785262
Categories: Iranian Shia Muslims1487 births1524 deaths15th-century Iranian
people16th-century Persian poets16th-century monarchs in the Middle EastSafavid
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