Editing History of Islam (section)

===Safavid Empire===
{{Main|Safavid Empire}}
{{Further|Persianization|Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam}}
[[File:Safavid Empire 1501 1722 AD.png|thumb|left|300px|The [[Safavid Empire]] at its greatest extent under [[Shah]] [[Ismail I]] (1501–1524)]]

The Shīʿīte [[Safavid dynasty]] rose to power in [[Tabriz]] in 1501 and later conquered the rest of Iran.<ref name="Matthee 2021">{{cite book|author-last=Baltacıoğlu-Brammer|author-first=Ayşe|year=2021|chapter=The emergence of the Safavids as a mystical order and their subsequent rise to power in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWBCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA15|editor-first=Rudi|editor-last=Matthee|title=The Safavid World|location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]]|publisher=[[Routledge]]|edition=1st|series=Routledge Worlds|pages=15–36|doi=10.4324/9781003170822|isbn=978-1-003-17082-2|s2cid=236371308}}</ref> They were of mixed ancestry, originally [[Kurdish people|Kurdish]],<ref name="R.M.">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ebn-bazzaz|title=RM Savory. Ebn Bazzaz.}} ''Encyclopædia Iranica''</ref> but during their rule intermarried with [[Turkmens|Turcomans]],<ref>
*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) ''ESMĀʿĪL I ṢAFAWĪ''. ''Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol. VIII, Fasc. 6'', pp. 628-636
*Ghereghlou, Kioumars (2016). ''ḤAYDAR ṢAFAVI''. ''Encyclopaedia Iranica''</ref> [[Georgians]],<ref>{{cite book|first=Aptin|last=Khanbaghi|date=2006|title=The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early|location=London & New York|publisher=IB Tauris|isbn=1-84511-056-0}}, pp. 130–1</ref> [[Circassians]],{{sfn|Yarshater|2001|p=493}}{{sfn|Khanbaghi|2006|p=130}} and [[Pontic Greeks]].<ref name="Anthony Bryer 1975">Anthony Bryer. "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 29'' (1975), Appendix II "Genealogy of the Muslim Marriages of the Princesses of Trebizond"</ref> The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the [[Safavid order]] of [[Sufism]],<ref name="Matthee 2021"/> while the Iranian population was largely composed by [[Sunni Islam|Sunni Muslims]].<ref>Peter B. Golden (2002) "An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples"; In: Osman Karatay, Ankara, p. 321</ref> After their defeat at the hands of the Sunni Ottomans at the [[Battle of Chaldiran]], to unite the Persians behind him, [[Shah]] [[Ismail I]] made conversion mandatory for the largely Sunni population of Iran to the [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver sect of Shīʿa Islam]] so that he could get them to fight against the Sunni Ottomans.<ref>"Ismail Safavi" Encyclopædia Iranica</ref>

This resulted in the [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|Safavid conversion of Iran to Shīʿa Islam]]. Iranian [[Zaydism|Zaydis]], the largest group amongst the Shīʿa Muslims before the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid rule]], were also forced to convert to the [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver]] denomination of Shīʿa Islam. The Zaydis at that time subscribed to the [[Hanafi]] [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]], as did most Sunnis, and there were good relations between them. [[Abu Hanifah]] and [[Zayd ibn Ali]] were also very good friends.<ref name="books.google.com"/><ref name="Arab-Israeli Conflict Page 917"/><ref name="The Iraq Effect Page 91"/> The Safavid dynasty from [[Azarbaijan]] ruled from 1501 to 1736; they [[Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism|established Twelver Shīʿīsm as the official religion of Safavid Iran]] and united its provinces under a single sovereignty, thereby reigniting the [[History of Iran|Persian identity]].<ref>''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.</ref><ref>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".</ref>
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[[File:Shah soleiman safavi.jpg|thumb|right|[[Suleiman I of Persia|Shah Suleiman I]] and his courtiers, [[Isfahan]], 1670. Painter is [[Aliquli Jabbadar|Ali Qoli Jabbador]], and is kept at The [[St. Petersburg]] Institute of Oriental Studies in Russia, ever since it was acquired by [[Tsar Nicholas II]]. Note the two [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] figures with their names at the top left.]]

In 1524, [[Tahmasp I]] acceded to the throne, initiating a revival of the arts. [[Persian carpet|Carpetmaking]] became a major industry. The tradition of [[Persian miniature]] painting in manuscripts reached its peak, until Tahmasp turned to strict religious observance in middle age, prohibiting the consumption of [[Alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] and [[hashish]] and removing [[casino]]s, [[tavern]]s, and [[brothel]]s. Tahmasp's nephew [[Ibrahim Mirza]] continued to patronize a last flowering of the arts until he was murdered, after which many artists were recruited by the [[Mughal dynasty]].

Tahmasp's grandson, [[Shah Abbas I]], restored the shrine of the eighth Twelver Shīʿīte Imam, [[Ali al-Ridha]] at [[Mashhad]], and restored the dynastic shrine at [[Ardabil]]. Both shrines received jewelry, fine manuscripts, and Chinese porcelains. Abbas moved the capital to [[Isfahan (city)|Isfahan]], revived old ports, and established thriving trade with Europeans. Amongst Abbas' most visible cultural achievements was the construction of ''[[Naqsh-e Jahan Square]]'' ("Design of the World"). The plaza, located near a Friday mosque, covered {{convert|20|acre|m2}}.<ref>{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2000|pp=199–204}}</ref> The [[Safavid dynasty]] was toppled in 1722 by the [[Hotaki dynasty]], which ended their forceful conversion of Sunni areas to Twelver Shīʿīsm.