2nd Slide- Introduction
* Difference between the Sunni Ottomans and the Shi'a Safavids
* Sunni is the recognition of the 1st three successors to Muhammad
(Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman)
*The Shi'a believed that only the 4th successor ( Ali ) had the right to succeed the prophet.
The Safavid Dynasty had it's origins in a family of mystics and religious preachers
One of the sufis, Sail al-Din gave the dynasty its name and began a militant campaign to reform islam.
-- this gained increasing support
* Red Heads were Safavid's followers and were called that because of their distinctive headgear.
-- when they grew, so did their enemies
3rd Slide :
*The sufi commander Isma'l led his followers through many victories
* In 1501, his armies took the city of Tabriz where he was proclaimed shah.
Shah means emperor
The Safavid successes brought them in conflict with the Ottoman rulers.
The Safavid Empire and its zones of conflict.
Shah Abbas II
English: Photograph of painting of Shah Abbas I of...* In 1514, at Chaldiran, they both fought one of the most fateful battles in Islamic History.
*The Safavids were defeated
4th Slide: Politics and War Under the Safavid Shahs
* New shah, Tahmasp I, set about restoring the power of the dynasty.
They tranformed into a warior nobility just like the Ottomans.
Just like their Ottoman counterparts, the Safavid warriors were given villages with food and labor.
* Recruited army slave boys from southern russia.
(Just like the Janissaries in the Ottoman Empire, many of the slaves rose to power.)
*Under shah Abbas I , also known as Abbas the Great, the empire reached the height of success.
Abbas turned to European adivsors who helped train his slave infantry.
By the end of his reign, he built up an army of almost 40,000 troops
5th Slide- State and Religion
Turkish was the original language used by the...