Safavid Isfahan: 'half the world'

The Safavids made Twelver Shi'ism Iran's state religion and under Abbas I rebuilt Isfahan around the Naqsh-e Jahan plaza — bazaars, mosques and gardens on a monumental scale.

Why it matters

Safavid Persia defined the artistic and religious identity of modern Iran and anchored the Silk Road's western trade. Its silk, ceramics and architecture set standards from Anatolia to India.

People

Shah Abbas I

Related events

• 550 BCE – 330 BCE

  Cyrus founds the Achaemenid Persian empire

  Cyrus the Great conquered Media, Lydia and Babylon; his successors ruled the largest empire yet seen through satrapies, tribute and relative tolerance of local customs and religions.

  Empires · persia

• 1526 – 1653

  The Mughal empire and the Taj Mahal

  The Mughals ruled a quarter of humanity at their peak; Shah Jahan's Taj Mahal (1632–1653) fused Persian, Islamic and Indian design into white marble.

  Art · south asia

• c. 130 BCE – 1453

  The Silk Road opens

  After Zhang Qian's missions to Central Asia, caravan routes linked Chang'an to the Mediterranean, moving silk, horses, faiths, technologies and plagues.

  Economics

Sources

• Encyclopædia Britannica — Ṣafavid dynasty