Safavid Iran
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The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled by the Safavid dynasty from 15
Portrait of Shah Ismail I, painted from life by Kamal al-din Behzad, his director of the royal atelier. Topkapı Palace Museum, H.2169.
Shāh Ismaʿīl in the Safavid conquest of Shirvan (1501), according to the Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl (Tabriz, 1541)
Battle of Merv between Shah Ismail (right) and Uzbek warlord Muhammad Shaybani Khan (left) in 1510. After the battle Ismail purportedly gilded the skull of Shaybani Khan for use as a wine goblet. Chehel Sotoun Palace, Isfahan, painted c. 1647.
Artwork of the Battle of Chaldiran. Chehel Sotoun, painted in 1801–1802.
Abbas the Great
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Abbas I, commonly known as Abbas the Great, was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers
Portrait by Bishandas c. 1618.
Portrait of Shah Abbas as a young man. Painted c. 1590.
Portrait of Ali-Qoli Khan Shamlu, protector of the young Abbas. Painted in 1584.
The strangulation of Safavid queen Khayr al-Nisa Begum, mother of Abbas, by the Qizilbash on 26 July 1579. Nusretname (1584).