In 1613, Abbas had appointed these trusted Georgian gholams of his on the puppet thrones of Kartli and Kakheti, the Iranian Safavid ruled areas of Georgia. [67] In the absence of a charismatic, messianic rallying figure like the young Ismail, the tribal leaders reclaimed their traditional prerogative and threatened to return to the time of local warlords. The Sunni scholars, called Ulama (from alim, knowledge), were either killed or exiled. They were costly because of the widespread trade in them, including to Turkey and India. [46] The most important local rulers about 1500 were: Ismil was able to unite all these lands under the Iranian Empire he created. Mir Damad is considered the founder of this school. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. As well as wrestling, what gathered the masses was fencing, tightrope dancers, puppet-players and acrobats, performing in large squares, such as the Royal square. The implementation of this branch would be completed and significantly widened under Abbas the Great (Abbas I). At its height, it encompassed the areas of modern-day Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In private they usually wore a veil that only covered the hair and the back, but upon leaving the home, they put on manteaus, large cloaks that concealed their whole bodies except their faces. In describing the lady's clothing, he noted that Persian dress revealed more of the figure than did the European, but that women appeared differently depending on whether they were at home in the presence of friends and family, or if they were in the public. Chardin also noted that bringing cases into court in Iran was easier than in the West. Tabriz was taken but the Ottoman army refused to follow the Safavids into the Persian highlands and by winter, retreated from Tabriz. "the Order of the Lion and the Sun, a device which, since the 17 century at least, appeared on the national flag of the Safavids the lion representing 'Ali and the sun the glory of the Shii faith", Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovski, J. M. Rogers, Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House, Courtauld Institute of Art. 34, 597634. Every office had a deputy or superintendent, whose job was to keep records of all actions of the state officials and report directly to the Shah. Later, Shah Abbas I moved the capital even deeper into central Iran, to the city of Isfahan, building a new city next to the ancient Persian one. The Sultanates of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, and Golconda all sought Persian suzerainty not just because of religious or cultural ties, but also because of the need for a counterweight to Mughal expansion. In 1588 Abbs I was brought to the throne. The Safavid Period, 1501-1732", "18 Iran, Armenia and Georgia Rise of a Shii State in Iran and New Orientation in Islamic Thought and Culture", "The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors", "Georgians in the Safavid administration", Artistic and cultural history of the Safavids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. RELIGIONS IN IRAN (2) Islam in Iran (2.3) Shiism in Iran Since the Safavids: Safavid Period", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Safavid_Iran&oldid=1128652747, Shahsevans: these were 12,000 strong and built up from the small group of, Ghulams: Tahmasp I had started introducing huge amounts of, Musketeers: realizing the advantages that the Ottomans had because of their firearms, Shah Abbas was at pains to equip both the qurchi and the ghulam soldiers with up-to-date weaponry. A major problem faced by Ismail I after the establishment of the Safavid state was how to bridge the gap between the two major ethnic groups in that state: The Qezelbash Turkmens, the "men of the sword" of classical Islamic society whose military prowess had brought him to power, and the Persian elements, the "men of the pen," who filled the ranks of the bureaucracy and the religious establishment in the Safavid state as they had done for centuries under previous rulers of Persia, be they Arabs, Turkic, Mongols, or Turkmens. In September of that year, Tahmasp and Bayezid were enjoying a banquet at Tabriz when Tahmasp suddenly pretended he had received news that the Ottoman prince was engaged in a plot against his life. He suggests that this longevity might be most usefully . [126][127] Kakheti lost two-thirds of its population in these years by Abbas' punitive campaign. This would not change with the Arab conquest of Iran, and it was primarily the Persians that took upon them the works of philosophy, logic, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, astrology, music and alchemy. In the following centuries, this religious schism would both cement Iran's internal cohesion and national feelings and provoke attacks by its Sunni neighbors. And, just as the higher levels of the social hierarchy was divided between the Turkish "men of the sword" and the Persian "men of the pen"; so were the lower level divided between the Turcoman tribes, who were cattle breeders and lived apart from the surrounding population, and the Persians, who were settled agriculturalists. Men wore many rings on their fingers, almost as many as their wives. Establishment of Shi'ism as the state religion, Conflict between Turcomans and Persians during the Safavid period, E. Yarshater, "Language of Azerbaijan, vii., Persian language of Azerbaijan,". We will write a custom Essay on The Ottoman and Safavid Empires: Comparison specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page 808 certified writers online Learn More Introduction All empires, no matter how great they are, inevitably have to experience the same cycle of gradual development, the possible rise, and the inevitable downfall. Tahmsp resolved to end hostilities and sent his ambassador to Soleymn's winter quarters in Erzurum in September 1554 to sue for peace. They would adorn their clothes, wearing stones and decorate the harness of their horses. [113] It was clear that Abbas' style of leadership would be entirely different from Mohammad Khodabanda's leadership. As non-Turcoman converts to Islam, these Circassian and Georgian olmns (also written as ghulams) were completely unrestrained by clan loyalties and kinship obligations, which was an attractive feature for a ruler like Tahmsp whose childhood and upbringing had been deeply affected by Qezelb tribal politics. As non-Turcoman converts to Islam, these Circassian and Georgian olmns (also written as ghulams) were completely unrestrained by clan loyalties and kinship obligations, which was an attractive feature for a ruler like Tahmsp whose childhood and upbringing had been deeply affected by Qizilbash tribal politics. [212], Horses were the most important of all the beasts of burden, and the best were brought in from Arabia and Central-Asia. the safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736 and 1750 to 1773) and, at their height, they controlled all of what is now iran, republic of azerbaijan, bahrain, armenia, eastern georgia, parts of the north caucasus including russia, iraq, kuwait, and afghanistan, as well as parts of turkey, syria, The highest level in the legal system was the Minister of Justice, and the law officers were divided into senior appointments, such as the magistrate (darughah), inspector (visir), and recorder (vakanevis). Safavid dynasty, (1501-1736), ruling dynasty of Iran whose establishment of Twelver Shiism as the state religion of Iran was a major factor in the emergence of a unified national consciousness among the various ethnic and linguistic elements of the country.. Was Shah Abbas religiously tolerant? [162], Since pre-Islamic times, the sport of wrestling had been an integral part of the Iranian identity, and the professional wrestlers, who performed in Zurkhanehs, were considered important members of the society. In 1559 Bayezid arrived in Iran where Tahmasp gave him a warm welcome. The empire included colonies in coastal Africa, India, Indonesia, China, the Middle East, and South America. [95] Mohammad would rule for 10 years, and his sister at first dominated the court, but she fell in the first of many intrigues which continued even though the Uzbeks and Ottomans again used the opportunity to threaten Safavid territory. First, in the west, the Ottomans, seeing the disarray of the warriors, pressed deep into Safavid territory and occupied the old capital of Tabriz. On these occasions the royal edicts were drawn up and sealed. The Persians schools of thought were the true heirs of the great Islamic thinkers of the golden age of Islam, whereas in the Ottoman empire there was an intellectual stagnation, as far as the traditions of Islamic philosophy were concerned. Shah Abbas wanted to undermine this political structure, and the recreation of Isfahan, as a Grand . [199], In Safavid Iran there was little distinction between theology and jurisprudence, or between divine justice and human justice, and it all went under Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). The terms of trade were not imposed on the Safavid shahs, but rather negotiated. [166], The power structure of the Safavid state was mainly divided into two groups: the Turkic-speaking military/ruling elitewhose job was to maintain the territorial integrity and continuity of the Iranian empire through their leadershipand the Persian-speaking administrative/governing elitewhose job was to oversee the operation and development of the nation and its identity through their high positions. [242] As such, the status of medicine in the Safavid period did not change much, and relied as much on these works as ever before. [97] Pari Khn Khnum could master strong support among the Qizilbash, and her uncle, Shamkhal Sultan, was a prominent Circassian who held a high official position. Then, having made the point that he would not encourage rivalries even purporting to favor his interests, he felt secure enough to have Murshid Quli Khan assassinated on his own orders in July 1589. Savory, Roger: Iran under the Safavids, pp. Quickly making a name as a military genius both feared and respected amongst the empire's friends and enemies (including Iran's archrival the Ottoman Empire, and Russia; both empires Nader would deal with soon afterwards), Nader Shah easily defeated the Afghan Hotaki forces in the 1729 Battle of Damghan. After subsequent campaigns, the Safavids recaptured Baghdad in 1623 during the OttomanSafavid War (162339) yet lost it again to Murad IV in 1638 after Abbas had died. The term dowlat, which in modern Persian means "government", was then an abstract term meaning "bliss" or "felicity", and it began to be used as concrete sense of the Safavid state, reflecting the view that the people had of their ruler, as someone elevated above humanity. In 1598, when Shah Abbas decided to move the capital of his Iranian empire from the north-western city of Qazvin to the central city of Isfahan, he initiated what would become one of the greatest programmes in Iranian history; the complete remaking of the city. The Common people were the lowest class on the pyramid in which they mainly consisted of farmers and herders. Shah Ismail I himself wrote many poems in Azerbaijani, as well as in Persian and Arabic, while Shah Tahmasp was a painter. [77] It was a heavy price in terms of territory and prestige lost, but it allowed the empire to last, something that seemed improbable during the first years of Tahmsp's reign. Abbas I built a new city next to the ancient Persian one. [167][failed verification].mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}html.client-js body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .mbox-text-span{margin-left:23px!important}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}, Shah Tahmasp introduced a change to this, when he, and the other Safavid rulers who succeeded him, sought to blur the formerly defined lines between the two linguistic groups, by taking the sons of Turkic-speaking officers into the royal household for their education in the Persian language. The arguably most renowned historian from this time was Iskandar Beg Munshi. [48], Shah Abbas realized that in order to retain absolute control over his empire without antagonizing the Qizilbash, he needed to create reforms that reduced the dependency that the shah had on their military support. Whether Abbas had fully formed his strategy at the onset, at least in retrospect his method of restoring the shah's authority involved three phases: (1) restoration of internal security and law and order; (2) recovery of the eastern territories from the Uzbeks; and (3) recovery of the western territories from the Ottomans. So absolute was his power, that the French merchant, and later ambassador to Iran, Jean Chardin thought the Safavid Shahs ruled their land with an iron fist and often in a despotic manner. In the 16th century, carpet weaving evolved from a nomadic and peasant craft to a well-executed industry with specialization of design and manufacturing. Following his conquest of Iran and Azerbaijan, Ismail I made conversion mandatory for the largely Sunni population. Journal of The Economic and Social History of The Orient. The moment was grave for the empire, with the Ottomans deep in Iranian territory in the west and north and the Uzbeks in possession of half of Khorasan in the east.[107]. First, he bargained for peace with the Ottomans in 1590, giving away territory in the north-west. As a result, Iran was cut off from overseas links to East Africa, the Arabian peninsula, and South Asia. Early Safavid power in Iran was based on the military power of the Qizilbash. It seems likely that most, if not all, of the Turkoman grandees at the court also spoke Persian, which was the language of the administration and culture, as well as of the majority of the population. He blamed this on misgovernment, the sparse population of the country, and lack of appreciation of agriculture amongst the Persians. Blow, David. When Shaykh Junayd, the son of Ibrhim, assumed the leadership of the Safaviyya in 1447, the history of the Safavid movement was radically changed. Then he turned against Iran's archrival, the Ottomans, recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq and the Caucasian provinces by 1616, all through the 16031618, marking the first grand Safavid pitched victory over the Ottomans. Moreover, Shah Abbas's conversion to a ghulam-based military, though expedient in the short term, had, over the course of a century, weakened the country's strength by requiring heavy taxation and control over the provinces. Despite this, he was disappointed when travelling the country and witnessing the abundance of land that was not irrigated, or the fertile plains that were not cultivated, something he thought was in stark contrast to Europe. Most sources agree that the Ottoman army was at least double the size of that of Ismil;[48] furthermore, the Ottomans had the advantage of artillery, which the Safavid army lacked. The Safavid rulers were a Sufi religious order that dated back to the mid 1200s when Sheikh Safi od-Din Ardabili was alive. His tactics in dealing with the Ottoman threat eventually allowed for a treaty which preserved peace for twenty years. Then two Englishmen, Robert Sherley and his brother Anthony, helped Abbas I to reorganize the Shah's soldiers into a partially paid and well-trained standing army similar to the European model (which the Ottomans had already adopted). [49] According to Arnold J. Toynbee,[245], In the heyday of the Mughal, Safawi, and Ottoman regimes New Persian was being patronized as the language of litterae humaniores by the ruling element over the whole of this huge realm, while it was also being employed as the official language of administration in those two-thirds of its realm that lay within the Safawi and the Mughal frontiers. VI, Cambridge University Press 1986, p. 339: "Further evidence of a desire to follow in the line of Turkmen rulers is Ismail's assumption of the title "Padishah-i-Iran", "Iranian identity iii. The state religion was Shi'a Islam. From 1609-1610, war broke out between Kurdish tribes and Safavid Empire. Rml and Kopek Sultn Ustajlu (who had been Ismail's last wakl) established themselves as co-regents of the young shah. In the 16th century, the Turcophone Safavid family of Ardabil in Azerbaijan, probably of Turkicized Iranian, origin, conquered Iran and established Turkic, the language of the court and the military, as a high-status vernacular and a widespread contact language, influencing spoken Persian, while written Persian, the language of high literature and civil administration, remained virtually unaffected in status and content. -Reorganized the empire's military . For more than two centuries the Safavid kingdom prolonged the older political and cultural tradition of Persia and endowed the country and its peoples with a unique character of historic significance . [110] Before he could begin to embark on the first stage, he needed relief from the most serious threat to the empire: the military pressure from the Ottomans. [157] There even are numerous recorded accounts of laymen that rose to high official posts, as a result of their merits. Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (/sfvd, s-/), also referred to as the Safavid Empire,[c] was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. Ismil's decisive victory over the Uzbeks, who had occupied most of Khorasan, ensured Iran's eastern borders, and the Uzbeks never since expanded beyond the Hindukush. This layer would become the "third force" in Iranian society, alongside the other two forces, the Turkomans and Persians. Iran's neighbors seized the opportunity to attack. [182] However, shortly thereafter Muhammad Baqir Behbahani (died 1792), along with other Usuli mujtahids, crushed the Akhbari movement. But it was Shah Safi, under influence by his Prime Minister, Saru Taqi, that initiated the program of trying to increase the royal revenues by buying land from the governors and putting in place local commissioners. Shah Abbas, who significantly enlargened and completed this program and under whom the creation of this new layer in society may be mentioned as fully "finalized", completed the ghulam system as well. In 1514, Sultan Selim I marched through Anatolia and reached the plain of Chaldiran near the city of Khoy, where a decisive battle was fought. The political structure of the Safavid Empire was structured like a pyramid with the Shah at the very top of the pyramid, similar to a pope. The Chief architect of this colossal task of urban planning was Shaykh Bahai (Baha' ad-Din al-`Amili), who focused the programme on two key features of Shah Abbas's master plan: the Chahar Bagh avenue, flanked at either side by all the prominent institutions of the city, such as the residences of all foreign dignitaries. Other exports were horses, goat hair, pearls and an inedible bitter almond hadam-talka used as a spice in India. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. [105] The Ustajlu chief, Murshid Quli Khan, immediately acquiesced and received a royal pardon. The 16-year-old Abbas I was installed as nominal shah in 1588, but the real power was intended to remain in the hands of his "mentor," Murshid Quli Khan, who reorganized court offices and principal governorships among the Qizilbash[108] and took the title of wakl for himself. The Afghans rode roughshod over their conquered territory for a dozen years, but were prevented from making further gains by Nadir Shah Afshar, a former slave who had risen to military leadership within the Afshar tribe in Khorasan, a vassal state of the Safavids. o Early Safavid women had considerable power and respect and could be patrons of art, architecture, and religious institutions o Early Safavid differed with other Islamic socities o Divorce could be caused by either the wife or husband o After death of Abbas the Great, women lost some rights Political Capitals: Tabriz- Qazvin- Isfahan Ferrier, R. W.; A Journey to Persia: Jean Chardin's Portrait of a Seventeenth-century Empire; pp 7171. [58] The Ottoman sultans addressed him as the king of Iranian lands and the heir to Jamshid and Kai Khosrow.[59]. This freed him of his dependence on Qizilbash warriors loyal to local tribal chiefs. Haydar married Martha 'Alamshah Begom,[38] Uzun Hassan's daughter, who gave birth to Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty. Abbas I also supported direct trade with Europe, particularly England and The Netherlands, which sought Iranian carpets, silk, and textiles. Despite the Safavid Shii zeal, Christians were tolerated and several missions and churches were built. Increased contact with distant cultures in the 17th century, especially Europe, provided a boost of inspiration to Iranian artists who adopted modeling, foreshortening, spatial recession, and the medium of oil painting (Shah Abbas II sent Muhammad Zaman to study in Rome). [147] In the late seventeenth century, Iranian merchants established a permanent presence as far north as Narva on the Baltic sea, in what now is Estonia. [3] The paternal line of the dynasty's heritage was mainly thought to be Persian,[4] starting with the Persian mystic Sheikh Safi al-Din Is'hq Ardabeli, who himself claimed descent from Firz Shh Zarrnkoll, a local ruler in Persian Kurdistan. He enjoyed tremendous power and control over national affairs as he was the immediate deputy of the Shah. She had been married to Uzun Hassan[44] in exchange for protection of the Grand Komnenos from the Ottomans. As Vladimir Minorsky put it, friction between these two groups was inevitable, because the Qezelbash "were no party to the national Persian tradition." It became more identifiably Shi'a in its orientation around the year 1400. The epic Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), a stellar example of manuscript illumination and calligraphy, was made during Shah Tahmasp's reign. [190], As for the royal household, the highest post was that of the Nazir, Court Minister. [96], The amirs demanded that she be removed, and Mahd-i Ulya was strangled in the harem in July 1579 on the ground of an alleged affair with the brother of the Crimean khan, Adil Giray,[96] who was captured during the 15781590 Ottoman war and held captive in the capital, Qazvin. He also expelled (1602, 1622) the Portuguese traders who had seized the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf early in the 16th century. The fourth vakil was murdered by the Qezelbash, and the fifth was put to death by them. In 161416 during the OttomanSafavid War (16031618), Abbas suppressed a rebellion led by his formerly most loyal Georgian subjects Luarsab II and Teimuraz I (also known as Tahmuras Khan) in the Kingdom of Kakheti. Since the earliest days of the Safavid dynasty, the Qizilbash generals had been appointed to most of these posts. [146] Overland trade grew notably however, as Iran was able to further develop its overland trade with North and Central Europe during the second half of the seventeenth century. "The Safavid Period". The founder of the dynasty, Shah Isma'il, adopted the title of "King of Iran" (Pdiah- rn), with its implicit notion of an Iranian state stretching from Khorasan as far as Euphrates, and from the Oxus to the southern Territories of the Persian Gulf. Abbas I recognized the commercial benefit of promoting the artsartisan products provided much of Iran's foreign trade. The main imports were specie, textiles (woolens from Europe, cottons from Gujarat), spices, metals, coffee, and sugar. Iranian rule had been fully restored over eastern Georgia, but the Georgian territories would continue to produce resistance to Safavid enroachments from 1624 until Abbas' death. Another famous manuscript is the Khamsa by Nezami executed in 1539-43, by Aqa Mirak and his school in Isfahan. Savory, II, p. 1116. Nadir Shah defeated the Afghans in the Battle of Damghan, in 1729. Outside of Iran, Safavid art was the portal to the wider world of Persian art and architecture when art historians first began studying Islamic art in the early nineteenth century. Founded by Shah Ismail in the early 1500s, the Safavid dynasty broke with the Sunni Muslims, declared independence and enforced Shiite Islam as their state religion. Persianization went hand in hand with the popularization of 'mainstream' Shii belief. The language chiefly used by the Safavid court and military establishment was Azerbaijani. He then went on to completely reduce the number of Qizilbash provincial governorships and systematically moved qizilbash governors to other districts, thus disrupting their ties with the local community, and reducing their power. After the Peace of Amasya, Tasmsp underwent what he called a "sincere repentance." Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. They appear to have abandoned their identity as Sunni Muslims and embrace Shia ideals under their leader, one Khwaja Ali. It forever influenced Persian nationalism. [68], At the downfall of Husain Khan, Tahmsp asserted his rule. Moreover, he began to strengthen Shii practice by such things as forbidding in the new capital of Qazvin poetry and music which did not esteem Ali and the Twelve Imams. "afavid Dynasty". 900901, tr. [117][118], Abbas also greatly increased the number of cannons at his disposal, permitting him to field 500 in a single battle. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here: The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia: Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. The standing army created by Abbas consisted of: (1) 10,00015,000 cavalry ghulm regiments solely composed of ethnic Caucasians, armed with muskets in addition to the usual weapons (then the largest cavalry in the world[115]); (2) a corps of musketeers, tufangchiyn, mainly Iranians, originally foot soldiers but eventually mounted, and (3) a corps of artillerymen, tpchiyn. It continued until the end of the Qajar reign.[236]. Henceforth a treaty, signed in Qasr-e Shirin known as the Treaty of Zuhab was established delineating a border between Iran and Turkey in 1639, a border which still stands in northwest Iran/southeast Turkey. Tabriz was the center of this industry. Majlisi's works emphasized his desire to purge Twelver Shiism of the influences of mysticism and philosophy, and to propagate an ideal of strict adherence to the Islamic law (sharia). Abbas I first fought the Uzbeks, recapturing Herat and Mashhad in 1598. From this time the state began to take on a more Persian character. They finally arrived at the court of Philip III of Spain in 1602. Among these were a number of Sufi brotherhoods, the Hurufis, Nuqtavis and Musha'sha'iyyah. Prayer Carpet (Ottoman), 1575-90, likely Istanbul, silk (warp and weft), wool (pile), cotton (pile), 68 x 50 (Metropolitan Museum of Art) The Ottoman Empire originated in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), and was one of the largest and longest lived in the Islamic world. [104] The following year the loyal Qizilbash forces (the Turkmen and Takkalu who controlled Qazvin), with vizier Mirza Salman and crown prince Sultan Hamza Mirza at their head, confronted the rebelling Ustajlu-Shamlu coalition which had assumed control of Khorasan under the nominal rule of young Abbas. The Shah had stables in all the principal towns, and Shah Abbas was said to have about 30,000 horses in studs around the country. 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