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Isfahan is Half the World
HIST 100711/20/13
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Gunpowder/Muslim/Early Modern/Turko-Persian Empires
• Ottoman Empire (1299-1923)• Safavid Empire (1502-1722)• Mughal Empire (1526-1761)
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Ottoman Empire - Refresher
• Turkish pastoralists serving Seljuqs• Ghazi frontier warriors• Expansion into Balkans• Conquest of Constantinople• Turkic cavalry and gunpowder janisarries• Austere sultan
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Iran after the Timurids• Uymaq – Turkic chieftaincy
– Chieftain and military retainers– Allied clans - clients
• Political and economic upheaval– ¼ of population Turkish– Pastoral nomadism vs. sedentary agriculture– Disruption of irrigation and agricultural infrastructure
• Uymaq rivalry and perpetual violence• White Sheep vs. Black Sheep Turkmen
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Iranian Sufism
• Organize rural populations against political oppression• Populist and pan-sectarian• Veneration of the `Alid lineage• Fadlallah Astarabadi (d. 1394): founder of Hurufiyya Sufi Order
– Claims to be hidden imam– Mystical interpretation of letters and numerology
• Millenarianism and jihad
Chart exploring esoteric values of letters by al-Buni (d. 1225)
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Safavid Sufi Order• Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardabili (1252-1334)
– Kurdish Sunni/Sufi shaykh– Ardabil – near Azerbaijan– Preaching a purified Islam
• Sadr al-Din (d. 1391)– Son and successor to Safi al-Din– Claims descent from Prophet– Missionary movement
Tomb of Shaykh Safi al-Din, Ardabil, Iran
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Safavid Sufi Order• Shaykh Junayd (d. 1460)
– Missionize uymaqs of Anatolia– Militarize Sufi order
• Qizilbash – the red heads– Uymaqs allied to Safavids– Intermarriage between chieftains and Sufi shaykhs– Named for distinctive headgear
• Combination of imperial, religious, and tribal identities and motivations
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The Safavid Empire (1502-1722)
• Shah Isma`il (r. 1502-1524)– Shi’ite identification– Hidden imam, reincarnation of `Ali, and manifestation of the divine– Shadow of God on Earth– Messiah and shah– Divine fire and royal farr– Murshid-i kamil – perfect Sufi master
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Building the Safavid Empire• 1501 – 1511 – Shah Isma`il conquers Iran, defines borders of Iran to this day• Qizilbash uymaqs rule rural Iran, receive government subsidies and military levies• Urban bourgeoisie• Rival Sufi movements• Incorporation of non-Qizilbash into military• Establish administration of Persian scholar-bureaucrats (adab)
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Problems of Messianism• 1514 – Battle of Chaldiran: Ottoman Empire defeats Shah Isma`il• Stops Safavid expansion into Anatolia• Gives Ottomans eastern Anatolia and Iraq• If Shah Isma`il is the messiah, how can he lose in battle?• Tone down messianism – emphasize Shi’ism
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Safavids and Imami Shi’ism• Imami Shi’ism declared official religion of Iran• Importation of Shi’ite scholars• Impose a legalistic form of Shi’ism• Sadr – chief of religious bureaucracy• Soyurghal – land grants for religious officials• Empire-wide suppression of non-Shi’ites (including Safavid Sufis!)
Qom, Iran – center of Shi’ite scholarship
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Shah Abbas I (r. 1587-1629)
• Transforms Isfahan as new capital.• “Anyone who has seen Isfahan has seen half the world.”– “Anyone who says that has only seen half of Isfahan.”
• Often a point of comparison with Istanbul as sites of royal performance.• Image of Safavid “party kings”• Shi’ite piety meetsPersian kingship
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Esfahan nefs-e jahan est!
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Isfahan is Half the World!
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Ali Qapu
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“Party Kings”
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Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
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Topkapi Palace, Istanbul
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Shah Abbas I (r. 1587-1629) • Unification of empire• Shah-seven – Lovers of the Shah• Establishment of crown lands• Balance slave soldiers vs. Qizilbash and uymaq• Isfahan as recruitment Center• Maintain centralized authority over`ulama• 162 mosques, 48 colleges, 182 caravansaries, and 273 public baths
French portrait of Shah Abbas
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Shah Abbas and State Monopolies• Isfahan bazaar• Relocation of Armenian craftsmen and merchants• Silk monopoly• Royal factories for international markets – arrival of British, French, and Dutch merchants• Royal workshops and guilds• Carpets, metalworking, ceramics, etc.• Artist studios
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Safavid Carpets
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Jean Chardin (1643-1713)• Protestant French jeweler and traveler• 1664-1670 – travels with merchants to Safavid Empire• 1671-1680 – travels through Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires• 1681 – moves to London to escape persecution• Publishes his travel memoirs• How does Chardin view the Safavid court?
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Safavid Decline
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Ottomans, Safavids, and Inflation
• Flood of New World silver causes wide spread inflation• Can’t hire soldiers or purchase improved gunpowder
weapons.• Ottomans a land-based empire, never tried to keep up
with maritime trade.• Safavids location prevented them from engaging in
new trade.• Focused primarily on silk and carpets.• 1722: Safavids overthrown by Pashtun marauders.