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Index
Cover
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication and Copyright Page
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements
Map Iran in the Safavid Period
Introduction
The conventional wisdom
The appearance of a field
The legacy of growth
An alternative synthesis
A myriad of discourses, one ruler to unite them
1 Laying the Foundations: Ismail I (1488–1524)
Ismail as Turk and Tajik
Turk and Tajik at the heart of the realm
The culture of politics, the politics of culture
Internal and external challenges: Chaldiran and after
The Shi‘i clerical response
Summary and conclusion
2 Reconfiguration and Consolidation: The Reign of Tahmasp (1524–1576)
Civil war, and its aftermath . . .
. . .; and external threats
The Turkish response
The continuation of Tajik support
Safavid heterodoxy reasserted
Tahmasp and the Tajiks
Tahmasp and the faith
Summary and conclusion
3 The Second Civil War: Ismail II (1576–1577) and Khudabanda (1578–1587)
Alliances and antagonisms
The internal dynamic: Turk and Tajik in the second civil war
A Sunni interlude
The arts in the second civil war
Summary and conclusion
4 Monumental Challenges and Monumental Responses: The Reign of Abbas I (1587–1629)
The challenges
Political and military responses: creation, consolidation and expansion
Spiritual responses: reinvigorating Abbas’ credentials
Economic responses
Declarations of loyalty (and wealth)
History as politics
The ‘popular’ dimension: spiritual disquiet on the urban scene
Summary and conclusion
5 Shifts at the Centre and a Peace Dividend: Shah Safi (1629–1642)
A smoother accession? Turmoil at the centre
The renewal of spiritual unrest
Changing responses of changing centres: searching for legitimacy
Summary and conclusion
6 The Peace Dividend Consolidated: Shah Abbas II (1642–1666)
A smoother accession and a ‘new’ vizier
Silk and specie
A balanced approach to spiritual turmoil
The Vizierates of Muhammad Bek and Muhammad Mahdi Karaki: familiar centres and familiar policies
The economics of legitimacy
‘The Persian interlude’
Summary and conclusion
7 Meeting the Challenges: Shah Sulayman (1666/68–1694)
The smoothest accession to date
Socio-economic crises and responses
Spiritual challenges and complex responses: Baqir Majlisi and Safavid Shi‘sm
The discourse of architecture and art
Summary and conclusion 103
8 Denouement or Defeat: The Reign of Shah Sultan Husayn (1694–1722)
The institutionalisation of transition
The balancing of interests: Safavid pluralist discourse continued
Foreign and domestic challenges and responses
Maintaining the spiritual balance
An economic snapshot: a plethora of taxes
Creativity and consumption
Denouement or defeat?
Epilogue: Poetry and Politics – The Multiplicity of Safavid Discourse
Aftermath
Appendix I: Key Dates
Appendix II: Key chronicles and travellers
Notes
Select Bibliography
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