Isfahan is Half the World

Isfahan is Half the World

HIST 100711/20/13

Gunpowder/Muslim/Early Modern/Turko-Persian Empires

• Ottoman Empire (1299-1923)• Safavid Empire (1502-1722)• Mughal Empire (1526-1761)

Ottoman Empire - Refresher

• Turkish pastoralists serving Seljuqs• Ghazi frontier warriors• Expansion into Balkans• Conquest of Constantinople• Turkic cavalry and gunpowder janisarries• Austere sultan

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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

Esfahan nefs-e jahan est!

Isfahan is Half the World!

Ali Qapu

“Party Kings”

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

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

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

Safavid Carpets

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?

Safavid Decline

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.