Shah Isma'il’s Establishes a Persian State

There are many reasons in which the Persian empire is considered one of the greatest civilizations ever in human history and this can mostly be attributed to the stupendous leadership of the one and only Cyrus the great. One of the best kings that the world has ever seen and was the most dominant man in his era. He was brilliant and extremely powerful as he was smart and strong enough to conquer almost every single land within his area and put them all together into one persian empire. The legacy that Cyrus left behind him was one that every king after him tried to follow. For example, emperor Darius I still continued the expansion of the persian empire and reigned control over it as well. After Cyrus died there was a time in which there was nothing but trash rulers and then Darius I came into power. As I stated earlier Darius wanted to follow in the steps of Cyrus and be even greater than him so Darius builded on what Cyrus achieved and split the persian empire into multiple provinces to control the government a little easier. Another thing that made persia so successful was the fact that they tolerated non-Persian folks to live in their empire. There were many different types of people all across persia and the government did not force anything upon these non-Persian residents and let them live their lives how they had before arriving and they only had to pay taxes. Due to this the

On the Political side, the Ottoman Turks were the best at keeping up control for a more extended time. It could get by to the point that advanced circumstances. The two different realms crumbled by the seventeenth century. The pioneer of the Ottoman Turks was known as the Sultan which was like a ruler. Islamic Law was connected to all Muslims. With respect to Safavid realm politically, the Shahs strolled around the boulevards in mask keeping in mind the end goal to discover the genuineness of the nationals. The high positions were given by justifying and regularly were nonnatives. In the Mughal Empire politically, Even,

Safavid empire reached peak under this ruler, ruled from 1588 to 1629. He increased the size of the millitary and brought the empire out of their fall.

The world began to drastically change before the year fifteen hundred. These changes not only reshaped the world, but continued to change and develop from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. Among these changes came the formation of many outstanding empires that included the Ottoman and Safavid Empires. The Ottoman and Safavid Empires account for two of the three Islamic Empires that underwent change and development during these centuries. Both empires had a ruler at the head of the empire; a sultan ruled the Ottoman Empire while a shah ruled the Safavid Empire. Two great rulers emerged from these empires; a sultan named Suleiman the Magnificent ruler of the Ottoman Empire and a shah named Abbas the Great ruler of the Safavid Empire.

The Safavid Empire’s founder was the Persian mystic Sheikh Safi al-Din (1254–1334), after whom the order was named.

However, with the Ottomans use of gun-powdered weapons and Janissaries, the Safavids were ultimately defeated with the temporary loss of their capital. This was mainly due to the lack of technology and resources, which destroy it. In the late sixteenth century Shah Abbas the Great, restored the Safavid empire, moved the capital to Isfahan, encouraged trade with other lands and reformed the administrative and military institutions of the empire. He brought most of northwestern Iran, the Caucasus, and Mesopotamia under Safavid rule. (Bentley, Streets, & Ziegler, 2008, pg. 461).

Similarity, the Ottoman and Safavid empires had one highly recognized and strong leader each, where they both ruled a Monarch. For the Ottomans, the strongest leader was Suleiman, who came to power around 1520 and ended his reign in 1566. On the other side, for the Safavids, the greatest leader was Abbas I, who came to the throne in the year 1588 at the young but determining age of sixteen. During Suleiman’s power in the Ottoman Empire, he created a Uniform System of Law and welcomed variety forms of art and literature (History.com). Suleiman, also nicknamed Suleiman the Magnificent, also advocated for

The Safavid Empire began in Azerbaijan. The empire continued to expand during Shah Abbas's reign but after his death, the dynasty gradually lost its vigor. At first, Shah Ismail, the founder of the Safavid dynasty, tried to convert members of the Ottoman Empire into Shiites. This resulted in massacre of the Sunni Muslims in 1508. Alarmed, the Ottomans fought back and won a major battle. However, after a few years, Ismail regained the land. Many years later, the Ottomans attacked back and forced the new shah, Abbas, to sign a treaty. It was Abbas who led the Safavids to their highest point. The political and social structure was strong. Senior positions in the bureaucracy were by merit rather than by birth. Religious tolerance was practiced. Abbas hired foreigners from neighboring countries for positions in his government to avoid religious competition. The shahs also took a direct interest in the economy, playing an active part in trade and manufacturing. The artistic excellence was

The First Persian War took place at the Battle of the Marathon near Athens and it was known as one of the infamous battle between the Athenians and the Persians. In 501 B.C.E., a Greek tyrant named Aristogorus provoked the Persian rulers by instigating an uprising in Miletus and Ionia to revolt against the Persian Empire. In order to ward off the Persian Empire’s wrath, Aristogorus reached out to his compatriots on the mainland in Greece of Athens and Sparta. “Sparta refused, but Athens sent twenty ships-enough just to anger the Persians, but not to save Miletus.” Nevertheless, the Athenians conquered the Persian’s capital of Lydian in Sardis in order to steal the golds, but they accidentally ended up burning down the richest capital of Sardis.

From this initial split other divisions and changes occurred within the religious practices and laws of Islam. While both share a belief in the Qur’an and the sunna (sayings or actions) of the Prophet Muhammad there are religious and legal differences. Imams are by the Shia definition the divinely guided ones but the Sunni defines Imaans as saints (Diffen n.d.). The Shia declared Ali and his descendants Imams with a special connection to the will of God with religious and legal authorities. The number of Imams and who were truly the divinely guided Imams would split Shias. There arose many branches but it came down to three main ones the Twelvers, the Seveners, and Zayids (Goldschmidt Jr. 2013). The Imams were mystical beings and the Twelvers believe that the 12th Imam disappeared and will one day return to set thing right for Muslims. Within the Sunni sect there are four branches of Islamic Law:

We had many revolutionary wars that shaped our world into becoming what it is today. The Persian Wars were one of those unforgettable events that inspired not only our military structure but government as well. The Persian Wars lasted for almost half a decade from 498 BCE to 448 BCE between the Persian Empire, of course, and Greek poleis. The war was centered around expanding the Empire of Persia as it claimed and took over land within battle and then ruling it as one while making a profit from it. Most of what we know about the Persian wars was written by Herodotus, who was born 484 BCE and gives us our primary source of what really took place during that time.

Meanwhile, in Persia, there was a bout after the Mongol Holocaust when Sunni Turks took over in the fifteenth century and the belief of the Safavids was tested. But, Ismail, an heir to the

As a political tactic, rulers often portray themselves in a certain way in order to stabilize their reign and rule more effectively. Some take the approach of uniqueness by setting themselves apart from their subject population while others take the approach of sameness by emphasizing the similarities in which they share with the people. Not exclusively limited to apartness or sameness, some rulers have shown to employ a mix of both ruling styles. It is these versatile rulers who have experienced more successes in their reign because they are not compelled to only one ruling style, allowing them to better adapt to the needs of their ruling population. The apartness ruling style is best seen in the Safavid Empire under the rule of Shah Ismail. Shah Ismail uses religion as a political tool to control his state and does so by declaring Shi’ism, a smaller branch of Islam, as the state religion (#). After separating himself & his people from those who are not willing to abide to his ideologies, Shah Ismail can now demand the absolute loyalties from his subjects and persecute those who are deviant. This radical act further creates a deep chasm between Shi’ite Muslims and nearby Sunni Muslims neighbors. As a result, cultural flow and the exchange of beliefs between Sunni & Shi’ite states are essentially hindered. Ismail’s apartness ruling approach is taken to the extreme with social, religious, and legal systems being strictly confined to Shi’ite doctrines (@). It is noted that

The Safavid Empire was one of the most significant ruling dynasties to have existed in the Middle East. This empire was established by Shaykh Safi al-Din but it was not till Shah Abbas’s reign that this empire became stronger. He monopolized revenues collected along the major trade routes and with established a more centralized administrative structure in the new capital, Isfahan. The Safavid dynasty relied their principles heavily on religious charisma and tribal military skills. Later leader of the Safavid empire Iran, Shah Isma’il, gave guidance to the Safavid people. His leadership and character gave him a great sense of appeal that attracted many other tribes from his home region. He had many military tactics that aided him to defeat neighboring towns and because he was a very respected leader, he gained more support from other tribes.

Iranians deeply value their social and cultural traditions. The Persian revolution formed the basis through which the country evolved and foundation upon which its empires were established. The Islamic regime practiced by the country formed the basis through which the country’s sophisticated institutions were built. Shah seemed to champion for secularization and westernization (Axworthy,