Persian embassy to Europe (1609–1615)
The Persian embassy to Europe (1609–1615) was dispatched by the Persian Shah Abbas I in 1609 to obtain an alliance with Europe against the Ottoman Empire. The embassy was led by the Englishman Robert Shirley.
Fresco of the Persian embassy visiting Pope Paul V in Rome, painted in 1615–1616. Sala dei Corazzieri, Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome
Fresco detail of Robert Shirley visiting Pope Paul V, Sala dei Corazzieri, Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome. Painted in 1615–1616.
Abbas I as a new Caesar being honoured by the Trumpets of Fame, together with the Persian embassy, in Allégorie de l'Occasion, by Frans II Francken, 1628.
Robert Shirley and his Circassian wife Teresia, c. 1624–1627. Robert Shirley modernized the Persian army, and led the 1609–1615 embassy to Europe.
Abbas I, commonly known as Abbas the Great, was the fifth shah of Safavid Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of Iranian history and the Safavid dynasty.
Shah Abbas I in a 16th or 17th century portrait
Ismail II, the third Shah of Iran and Abbas' uncle.
Prince ʽAbbās proclaimed Shah in Khorasan in 1581. Page from Ahmad Monshi Ghomi's Kholāsat al-tavārikh
Accession of Shah Abbas to the throne in Qazvin. Page from Ahmad Monshi Ghomi's Kholāsat al-tavārikh
