1. Bellringer
In your opinion, what is the best way to decide who is going to be the next ruler of a country and why?
Ex. Should it be decided by bloodline, elected, or simply chosen by the current leader.

2. The Rule of the Safavids

3. Think, Pair, Share
Yesterday you read The World of Suleyman (pages )
Discuss/review with a partner 3 minutes.

4. Rise of the Safavid Dynasty
Took control of the area extending from Persia to Asia in the 16th Century.
Shiite Muslims (Shia Islam)
What were the Ottoman's? Sunnis

5. Shah Ismail Founder of the Safavid Dynasty. A.K.A. the Shaw
Seized much of Iran and Iraq in 1501.
A.K.A. the Shaw
The king of a new Persian state.
Started a conflict that is still being fought today.

7. Shiite’s vs. Sunni’s
Ismail massacred Sunni Muslims when he conquered Baghdad in 1508.
Tried to use Shiite faith as unifying force.
Shaw claimed himself the “spiritual leader of all Islam” as did the Ottoman Sultan.
The Ottomans fought back forcing the Shaw to sign a peace treaty.
Moved the capital east from Tabriz to Isfahan.

8. Safavid Glory The Safavids reached their high point under Shah Abbas.
Created a system much like the Ottoman Janissaries and supplied his army with the latest technology.
Moved against Ottomans to regain lost territory.

9. The mosque of Najaf in Iraq, holy site for Shi'ite Muslims
Safavid Decline
The Safavid Dynasty lost it’s vigor after Abbas Death in 1629.
His successors lacked his talent and political skills.
Shiite religious power began to increase at court and in Society.
The mosque of Najaf in Iraq, holy site for Shi'ite Muslims

10. Religious Orthodoxy
The pressure to conform to traditional religious beliefs.
Created less intellectual freedom.
Persian women forced into seclusion and forced to were a veil.

11. Political and Social Structures
Persia under the Safavids was a mixed society of Turks and Persians.
The pyramid-shaped political systems placed the :
Shaw – Top
Bureaucracy and landed classes – Middle
Common people - Low

12. The Role of the Shah
Shiite’s eagerly supported Safavid rule due to the belief that the founder was a descendent of Muhammad.
Shiism declared state religion.
Shaw’s controlled the power of the landed aristocracy bring new lands under the crowns control.
Appointment to the bureaucracy was by merit, not birth.

13. Economy and Trade Shahs were active in trade and manufacturing.
All goods in the empire traveled by horse or camel.
Safavid Empire not as prosperous as the Ottoman Empire or the Mogul.
Never successful enough to trade with Europe.

14. Safavid Culture
Knowledge of science, medicine, and mathematics under the Safavids equaled that of other societies of the region.
Persia had an extraordinary flowering of the arts under Shah Abbas.
Silk weaving based on new techniques flourished.

15. Riza-i-Abbasi The most famous artist of the period.
Painted simple subjects such as oxen plowing, hunters, and lovers.
Soft colors and flowing movement.

16. 3 Circle Venn Diagram
Make a 3 Circle Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the three Muslim Empires:
Ottoman Empire
Safavid
Mogul (Will Cover tomorrow)
Be careful to place information in the correct areas.
Overlap areas indicate items that all empires have in common