ABBAS I, SHAH

ABBAS I, SHAH (1571–1629)
Shah
Abbas I, the fifth ruler of the Safavid dynasty, ruled Iran
from 1587 until 1629, the year of his death. Shah
Abbas came
to power at a time when tribal unrest and foreign invasion had
greatly reduced Iran’s territory. Once on the throne he set
out to regain the lands and authority that had been lost by his
immediate successors. His defeat of the Uzbeks in the northeast
and the peace he made with the Ottoman Empire, Iran’s
archenemy, enabled Shah
Abbas to reform Iran’s military
and financial system. He diminished the military power of the
tribes by creating a standing army composed of slave soldiers
who were loyal only to him. These so-called ghulams (military
slaves) were mostly Armenians and Georgians captured during
raids in the Caucasus. In order to increase the revenue
needed for these reforms the shah centralized state control,
which included the appointment of ghulams to high administrative
positions.
With the same intent he fostered trade by reestablishing
road security and by building many caravan series throughout
the country. Under Shah
Abbas, Isfahan became Iran’s
capital and most important city, endowed with a new commercial
and administrative center grouped around a splendid
square that survives today. His genius further manifested
itself in his military skills and his astute foreign policy. He
halted the eastward expansion of the Ottomans, defeating
them and taking Baghdad in 1623. To encourage trade and
thus gain treasure, he welcomed European merchants to the
Persian Gulf. He also allowed Christian missionaries to settle
in his country, hopeful that this might win him allies among
European powers in his anti-Ottoman struggle. Famously
down to earth, Shah
Abbas was a pragmatic ruler who could
be cruel as well as generous. Rare among Iranian kings, he is
today remembered as a ruler who was concerned about his
own people.
A detail from a miniature painting of
Abbas I (1571–1629)
appears in the volume one color plates.

See also Empires: Safavid and Qajar.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Matthee, Rudolph P. The Politics of Trade in Safavid Iran: Silk
for Silver, 1600–1730. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University
Press, 1999.
Savory, Roger. Iran under the Safavids. Cambridge, U.K.:
Cambridge University Press, 1980.
Rudi Matthee