Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements Map: Iran in the Safavid Period Introduction Laying the Foundations: Ismail I (1488-1524) Reconfiguration and Consolidation: The Reign of Tahmasp (1524-1576) The Second Civil War: Ismail II (1576-1577) and Khudabanda (1578-1587) Monumental Challenges and Monumental Responses: The Reign of Abbas I (1587-1629) Shifts at the Centre and a Peace Dividend: Shah Abbas II (1642-1666) The Peace Dividend Consolidated: Shah Abbas II (1642-1666) Meeting the Challenges: Shah Sulayman (1666.68-1694) Denouement or Defeat: The Reign of Shah Sultan Husayn (1694-1722) Epilogue: Poetry and Politics - The Multiplicity of Safavid Discourse Appendix I: Key Dates Appendix II: Key chronicles and travellers Notes Select Bibliography Index

Promotional Information

The Safavid period (1501-1722) is often viewed as the golden era in Iran’s history, following the demise of the Sasanian Empire a thousand years earlier.

About the Author

Andrew J. Newman is Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies and Persian in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Reviews

""There is an enormous amount of valuable material here and very wide and impressive reading.""--Charles Melville, Reader in Persian History, University of Cambridge""An original, provocative analysis and synthesis of the latest scholarship and thinking on this critical period of Iran's history--the first such authoritative overview in twenty-five years.""--Professor Gene Garthwaite, Dartmouth College