Andrew J. Newman. Safavid Iran: rebirth of a Persian Empire (2009)

Andrew J. Newman. Safavid Iran: rebirth of a Persian Empire. First published in 2006 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd. London & New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009, XII+281 p. ISBN 9781845118303

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements … ix
Map Iran in the Safavid Period … xii

Introduction … 1
The conventional wisdom … 2
The appearance of a field … 3
The legacy of growth … 4
An alternative synthesis … 7
A myriad of discourses, one ruler to unite them … 9

1. Laying the Foundations: Ismail I (1488–1524) … 13
Ismail as Turk and Tajik … 13
Turk and Tajik at the heart of the realm … 15
The culture of politics, the politics of culture … 17
Internal and external challenges: Chaldiran and after … 20
The Shi’i clerical response … 24
Summary and conclusion … 24

2. Reconfiguration and Consolidation: The Reign of Tahmasp (1524–1576) … 26
Civil war, and its aftermath . . . 26
. . . and external threats … 27
The Turkish response … 28
The continuation of Tajik support … 29
Safavid heterodoxy reasserted … 31
Tahmasp and the Tajiks … 33
Tahmasp and the faith … 36
Summary and conclusion … 38

3. The Second Civil War: Ismail II (1576–1577) and Khudabanda (1578–1587) … 41
Alliances and antagonisms … 41
The internal dynamic: Turk and Tajik in the second civil war … 43
A Sunni interlude … 45
The arts in the second civil war … 47
Summary and conclusion … 49

4. Monumental Challenges and Monumental Responses: The Reign of Abbas I (1587–1629) … 50
The challenges … 50
Political and military responses: creation, consolidation and expansion … 52
Spiritual responses: reinvigorating Abbas’ credentials … 55
Economic responses … 60
Declarations of loyalty (and wealth) … 63
History as politics … 67
The ‘popular’ dimension: spiritual disquiet on the urban scene … 68
Summary and conclusion … 71

5. Shifts at the Centre and a Peace Dividend: Shah Safi (1629–1642) … 73
A smoother accession? Turmoil at the centre … 73
The renewal of spiritual unrest … 74
Changing responses of changing centres: searching for legitimacy … 75
Summary and conclusion … 80

6. The Peace Dividend Consolidated: Shah Abbas II (1642–1666) … 81
A smoother accession and a ‘new’ vizier … 81
Silk and specie … 82
A balanced approach to spiritual turmoil … 83
The Vizierates of Muhammad Bek and Muhammad Mahdi Karaki: familiar centres and familiar policies … 85
The economics of legitimacy … 87
‘The Persian interlude’ … 90
Summary and conclusion … 91

7. Meeting the Challenges: Shah Sulayman (1666/68–1694) … 93
The smoothest accession to date … 93
Socio-economic crises and responses … 94
Spiritual challenges and complex responses: Baqir Majlisi and Safavid Shi’ism … 96
The discourse of architecture and art … 100
Summary and conclusion … 103

8. Denouement or Defeat: The Reign of Shah Sultan Husayn (1694–1722) … 104
The institutionalisation of transition … 104
The balancing of interests: Safavid pluralist discourse continued … 105
Foreign and domestic challenges and responses … 106
Maintaining the spiritual balance … 108
An economic snapshot: a plethora of taxes … 112
Creativity and consumption … 114
Denouement or defeat? … 115
Epilogue: Poetry and Politics – The Multiplicity of Safavid Discourse … 117
Aftermath … 124
Appendix I: Key Dates … 129
Appendix II: Key chronicles and travellers … 135

Notes … 145
Select Bibliography … 248
Index … 265