View source for Ismail I

{{Short description|Shah of Safavid Iran from 1501 to 1524}}
{{for|the Sultan of Granada|Ismail I of Granada}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} 
{{protection padlock|reason=Persistent [[WP:Disruptive editing|disruptive editing]]; requested at [[WP:RfPP]]|small=yes}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Ismail I
| image        = Shah Ismail I Safavid, Behzad.jpg
| caption      = Portrait of Shah Ismail I, painted from life by [[Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād|Kamal al-din Behzad]], his director of the royal atelier (posthumous copy). [[:Commons:Category:Topkapı Palace Museum, H. 2169|Topkapı Palace Museum, H.2169]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mahir |first1=Banu |title=Thirteenth International Congress of Turkish Art: Proceedings |chapter=Album H.2169 in the Topkapi Palace Museum Library (p.465-) |date=2009 |publisher=Hungarian National Museum |isbn=978-963-7061-65-3 |pages=471, 476 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LWtEAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA471 |language=en |editor-last1=Géza |editor-first1=Dávid |editor-last2=Ibolya |editor-first2=Gerelyes |quote=The image is of Shah Ismail I, and the note at the bottom edge ('Kalem-i şikeste-i fakir Behzad') identifies the drawing as the copy of an original by [[Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād|Bihzad]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Afyoncu |first1=Erhan |author-link=Erhan Afyoncu |title=Yavuz'un küpesi |date=2010 |publisher=Yeditepe |location=İstanbul |isbn=978-605-4052-35-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-pQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA471 |quote=Şah Ismail (TSMK, nr. Hazine 2169, vr. 64b)}}</ref>
| succession   = [[List of monarchs of Persia|Shah of Iran]]
| reign        = 22 December 1501 – 23 May 1524
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = 
| regent       = {{Collapsible list|title=''See list''|1=[[Amir Zakariya]]<br>[[Mahmud Jan Daylami]]<br>[[Najm-e Sani]]<br>[[Abd al-Baqi Yazdi]]<br>[[Mirza Shah Hossein]]<br>[[Jalal al-Din Mohammad Tabrizi]]}}
| reg-type     = {{nowrap|[[List of Safavid Viziers|Viziers]]}}
| successor    = [[Tahmasp I]]
| birth_date   = 17 July 1487
| birth_place  = [[Ardabil]], [[Aq Qoyunlu]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1524|5|23|1487|7|17|df=y}}
| death_place  = Near [[Tabriz]], [[Safavid Iran]]
| spouse       = [[Tajlu Khanum]]<br>[[Behruzeh Khanum]]
| issue        = [[Tahmasp I]]<br>[[Sam Mirza Safavi|Sam Mirza]]<br>[[Alqas Mirza]]<br>[[Bahram Mirza Safavi|Bahram Mirza]]<br>[[Parikhan Khanum (1506–1540)|Parikhan Khanum]]<br>[[Mahinbanu Khanum]]
| issue-link   = #Issue
| issue-pipe   = Among others
| full name    = Abu'l-Moẓaffar Ismā'īl ibn Shaykh Ḥaydar ibn Shaykh Junayd
| regnal name  = Shah Ismail I
| dynasty      = [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]]
| father       = [[Shaykh Haydar]]
| mother       = [[Alemshah Halime Begum|Halima Begum]]
| religion     = [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver]] [[Shia Islam]]
| succession2  = 8th [[Sheikh]] of the [[Safavid order]]
{{Infobox officeholder/office
| termstart    = 1494
| termend      = 23 May 1524
| predecessor   = [[Ali Mirza Safavi]]
| successor     = [[Tahmasp I]]
}}
| relations    = 
| burial_place = [[Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble|Sheikh Safi Shrine Ensemble]], [[Ardabil]], Iran
| module       = {{Infobox military person
  | embed      = yes
  | battles    = {{Hidden
|Treelike list
|{{tree list}}
*[[Safavid conquest of Shirvan]]
**[[Battle of Gulistan]]
**[[Siege of Baku]]
*[[Safavid - Aq Qoyunlu Wars]]
**[[Battle of Sharur]]
**[[Battle of Hamadan (1503)]]
**[[Siege of Tabriz (1501)]]
**[[Capture of Erzincan]]
**[[Capture of Erzurum]]
**[[Conquest of Armenia]]
**[[Conquest of Fars]]
**[[Conquest of Persian Iraq]]
**[[Capture of Kerman]]
**[[Capture of Nakhchivan]]
**[[Conquest of Yazd]]
**[[Conquest of Diyarbakir]]
**[[Safavid conquest of Arab Iraq]]
***[[Battle of Baghdad (1508)]]
*[[Persian–Uzbek wars]]
**[[Battle of Marv]]
**[[Battle of Ghazdewan]]
*[[Timeline of Kurdish uprisings|Yazidi uprising]]
*[[Turkoman invasions of Georgia]]
*[[Ottoman–Persian Wars]]
**[[Ottoman–Persian War (1505–1517)]]
***[[Şahkulu rebellion]]
***[[Battle of Chaldiran]]
***[[Campaign of Trabzon (1505)]]
***[[Nur-Ali Khalifa|Nur Ali Khalifa rebellion]]
***[[Battle of Erzincan (1507)]]
***[[Campaign of Trabzon (1510)]]
***[[Siege of Bayburt (1514)|Capture of Bayburt (1514)]]
***[[Campaign of Mesopotamia‍]]
***[[Battle of Tabriz (1514)]]
***[[Siege of Diyarbakir (1514)]]
***[[Ottoman–Persian War (1505–1517)|Battle of Harput‍]]
***[[Ottoman–Persian War (1505–1517)|Battle of Sinjar‍]]
***[[Ottoman–Persian War (1505–1517)|Battle of Kerh]]
***[[Ottoman–Persian War (1505–1517)|Battle of Koçhisar‍]]
***[[Ottoman–Persian War (1505–1517)|Battle of Mardin‍]]
***[[Ottoman–Persian War (1505–1517)|Battle of Mosul‍]]
***[[Siege of Kemah]]
**[[:ka:თელეთის ბრძოლა|Battle of Teleti]]
{{tree list/end}}
|-
|style=text-align:center;
}}
}}
| burial_date  = 
| signature    = 
}}
'''Ismail I''' ({{langx|fa|اسماعیل|translit=Ismāʿīl}}; 17 July 1487 – 23 May 1524) was the founder and first [[shah]] of [[Safavid Iran]], ruling from 1501 until his death in 1524. His reign is one of the most vital in the [[history of Iran]],{{sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998|pp=628–636}} and the Safavid era is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history.<ref name="Iranica2">{{harvnb|Matthee|2008}}.</ref> Under Ismail, Iran was unified under native rule for the first time since the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Islamic conquest]] of the country eight-and-a-half centuries earlier.{{sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998|pp=628–636}}

Ismail inherited leadership of the [[Safavid order|Safavid]] [[Sufi]] order from his brother as a child. His predecessors had transformed the religious order into a military movement supported by the [[Qizilbash]] (mainly [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]] [[Shia Islam|Shiite]] groups). The Safavids took control of [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]], and in 1501, Ismail was crowned as [[shah]] (king). In the following years, Ismail conquered the rest of Iran and other neighbouring territories. His expansion into [[Eastern Anatolia region|Eastern Anatolia]] brought him into conflict with the [[Ottoman Empire]]. In 1514, the Ottomans decisively defeated the Safavids at the [[Battle of Chaldiran]], which brought an end to Ismail's conquests. Ismail fell into depression and heavy drinking after this defeat and died in 1524. He was succeeded by his eldest son [[Tahmasp I]].

One of Ismail's first actions was the proclamation of the [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver]] denomination of Shia Islam as the [[Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam|official religion]] of the Safavid state,<ref name="Masters 2009">{{harvnb|Masters|2009|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&pg=PA71 71]}}.</ref> marking one of the most important turning points in the [[history of Islam]],<ref name="savoryeiref">{{harvnb|Savory|2012}}.</ref> which had major consequences for the ensuing history of Iran.<ref name="Iranica2">{{harvnb|Matthee|2008}}.</ref> He caused sectarian tensions in the [[Middle East]] when he destroyed the tombs of the [[List of Abbasid caliphs|Abbasid caliphs]], the Sunni Imam [[Abu Hanifa]], and the [[Sufism|Sufi Muslim]] ascetic [[Abdul Qadir Gilani]] in 1508.<ref name="Masters 2009" />

The dynasty founded by Ismail I would rule for over two centuries, being one of the greatest Iranian empires and at its height being amongst the most powerful empires of its time, ruling all of present-day Iran, the [[Azerbaijan|Republic of Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], most of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], the [[North Caucasus]], and [[Iraq]], as well as parts of modern-day [[Turkey]], [[Syria]], [[Pakistan]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Uzbekistan]], and [[Turkmenistan]].<ref name="Helen Chapin Metz 1989. p. 313">{{harvnb|Metz|1989|p=313}}.</ref><ref name="Emory C. Bogle 1989, p. 145">{{harvnb|Bogle|1998|p=145}}.</ref><ref name="Stanford Jay Shaw 1976, p. 77">{{harvnb|Shaw|1976|p=77}}.</ref><ref name="Andrew J. Newman 2006">{{harvnb|Newman|2008}}.</ref> It also reasserted [[Culture of Iran|Iranian identity]] in large parts of [[Greater Iran]].<ref name="Iranica2"/><ref>{{harvnb|Savory|2007|p=3: "Why is there such confusion about the origins of this important dynasty, which reasserted Iranian identity and established an independent Iranian state after eight and a half centuries of rule by foreign dynasties?"}}</ref> The legacy of the Safavid Empire was also the revival of Iran as an economic stronghold between the [[Eastern world|East]] and the [[Western world|West]], the establishment of a [[bureaucracy|bureaucratic]] state, its [[Safavid art|architectural innovations]], and [[Mecenate|patronage for fine arts]].<ref name="Iranica2"/>

Ismail I was also a prolific poet who under the [[pen name]] '''Khaṭāʾī''' ({{Langx|ar|خطائي|lit=the wrongful}}) contributed greatly to the literary development of the [[Azerbaijani language]].{{sfn|Doerfer|1988|pp=245–248}} He also contributed to [[Persian literature]], though few of his Persian writings survive.{{sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}

== Origins ==
{{see also|Safavid dynasty|Safavid family tree}}
{{multiple image|perrow=1/2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1=Ascendency of Shah Ismael (BW).png
| caption1=Family tree of Shah Ismail.{{sfn|Soudavar|1992|p=[https://archive.org/details/artofpersiancour0000soud/page/148/mode/1up?view=theater 148]}}
| image2   = Shah Isma‘il I (detail), King of Persia, sword in hand, pursues the Prince of Shirwan. The Prince and his troops are in flight. (History of Shah Isma‘il, by Kasimi. Tabriz or Kazwin, 1541.jpg
| image3   = 1541-Battle in the war between Shah Isma'il and the King of Shirvan-Shahnama-i-Isma'il.jpg
| footer=Shāh Ismaʿīl in the [[Safavid conquest of Shirvan]] (1501), according to the [[Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl (Tabriz, 1541)|''Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl'' (Tabriz, 1541)]],<ref name="NMT86">{{cite book |last1=Titley |first1=Norah M. |title=Persian miniature painting and its influence on the art of Turkey and India : the British Library collections |date=1984 |publisher=Austin : University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-76484-2 |page=86, plate 12 |url=https://archive.org/details/persianminiature0000titl/page/88/mode/1up?view=theater}}</ref> a panegyric history he himself commissioned.<ref name="AH"/>}}
Ismail I was born to [[Shaykh Haydar]] and his wife [[Alemshah Halime Begum|Halima Begum]] on 17 July 1487, in [[Ardabil]]. His father was the [[sheikh]] of the [[Safavid order|Safavid]] ''[[tariqa]]'' (Sufi order) and a direct descendant of its [[Kurds|Kurdish]] founder,<ref name="Tapper">{{harvnb|Tapper|1997|p=39: "The Safavid Shahs who ruled Iran between 1501 and 1722 descended from Sheikh Safi ad-Din of Ardabil (1252–1334). Sheikh Safi and his immediate successors were renowned as holy ascetics Sufis. Their own origins were obscure; probably of Kurdish or Iranian extraction&nbsp;..."}}</ref>{{sfn|Savory|1997|page=8}}<ref>{{harvnb|Kamal|2006|p=24: "The Safawid was originally a Sufi order whose founder, Shaykh Safi al-Din, a Sunni Sufi master descended from a Kurdish family&nbsp;..."}}</ref> [[Safi-ad-Din Ardabili]] (1252–1334). In 1301, Safi-ad-Din had assumed the leadership of the [[Zahediyeh]], a significant Sufi order in [[Gilan]], from his spiritual master and father-in-law [[Zahed Gilani]]. The order was later known as the Safavid. Ismail also proclaimed himself the ''[[Mahdi]]'' and a reincarnation of Ali.{{Sfn|Blake|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZUB-FEpPHsoC&pg=PA27 27]}} Ismail was the last in this line of hereditary Grand Masters of the order, prior to his founding of a ruling dynasty.

His mother [[Alemshah Halime Begum|Halima Begum]] was the daughter of [[Uzun Hasan]], the ruler of the [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]] [[Aq Qoyunlu]] dynasty, by his [[Pontic Greeks|Pontic Greek]] wife Theodora Megale Komnene, better known as [[Despina Khatun]].{{Sfn|Charanis|1970|p=476}} Despina Khatun was the daughter of Emperor [[John IV of Trebizond]]. She had married Uzun Hassan in a deal to protect the [[Empire of Trebizond]] from the [[Ottoman Turks]].{{Sfn|Bryer|1975|p=136}} Ismail was a great-great-grandson of Emperor [[Alexios IV of Trebizond]] and King [[Alexander I of Georgia]].

[[Roger Savory]] suggests that Ismail's family was of Iranian origin, likely from [[Iranian Kurdistan]], and later moved to [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]] where they assimilated into the Turkic-speaking population.<ref name="Savory1999">{{harvnb|Savory|1999|p=259: "From the evidence available at the present time, it is certain that the Safavid family was of indigenous Iranian stock, and not of Turkish ancestry as is sometimes claimed. It is probable that the family originated in Persian Kurdistan, and later moved to Azerbaijan, where they adopted the Azari form of Turkish spoken there, and eventually settled in the small town of Ardabīl sometime during the eleventh century."}}</ref> Ismail spoke both Persian and a Southern Turkic dialect, a precursor of modern [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri Turkic]], in which he wrote his poetry, as it was aimed at his Turkic [[qizilbash]] followers.<ref>{{harvnb|Savory|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/history-of-humanity-5/page/258/mode/2up?view=theater 258]}} "The heartlands of Iran was reunited under the rule of one Persian king (albeit one who spoke the Azari dialect of Turkish) for the first time since the Arab conquest of Iran more than eight and a half centuries earlier."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Dale|2020|pp=73–74}} "Ismāʿīl – who evidently knew both Persian and what has been described as a Southern Turkic dialect"</ref><ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Kia|2014|pp=110–111 (note 81): "Shah Esmaʿil wrote poetry in Turkish, because this devotional poetry was aimed at his Qizilbash followers, who were mostly Turkish speakers."}}</ref> His ancestry was mixed, consisting in Iranian (likely [[Kurd]]) ancestors often intermarrying with [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Türkmen]] princesses to form alliances (such as his [[Aq Qoyunlu]] mother [[Alamshah Halime Begum|Halima Begum]] and paternal grandmother [[Khadija Begum]]),<ref>{{harvnb|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}; {{harvnb|Roemer|1986|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fY01Tc2SZVEC&pg=PA214 214] "The Safavid Shah combined in himself the blood of both Turkmen and Iranian ancestors", [https://books.google.com/books?id=fY01Tc2SZVEC&pg=PA229 229]}}; {{harvnb|Blow|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Bg-MDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 1]}} "The Safavids are thought to have been Kurdish in origin"</ref><ref name="R.M.">{{harvnb|Savory|1997}} "This official version contains textual changes designed to obscure the Kurdish origins of the Safavid family and to vindicate their claim to descent from the Imams."</ref><ref name="Roger M. Savory 1999, p. 259">{{harvnb|Savory|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/history-of-humanity-5/page/259/mode/2up?view=theater 259]}}</ref> supplemented by a mixed [[Greeks|Byzantine Greek]] and [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgian]] component (from his maternal grandmother [[Despina Khatun|Theodora Megale Komnene]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Ghereghlou|2016}}.</ref>

The Safavids have been described as "Turkamans of remote Kurdish descent",<ref name="Kat112">{{cite book |last1=Katouzian |first1=Homa |author-link=Homa Katouzian |title=The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval And Modern Iran |date=1 January 2009 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven and London |isbn=978-0-300-16932-4 |page=112 |url=https://archive.org/details/the-persians-ancient-mediaeval-and-modern-iran/page/112/mode/1up |quote=The Safavids were themselves Turkamans of remote Kurdish descent who claimed (and convinced all) that they were direct descendants of the Seventh Twelver Shia Imam and therefore of Imam Ali and the Prophet Mohammad.}}</ref> and the Safavid conquest as "the third Türkmen wave" to hit Iran, after the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuks]] and the [[Qara Qoyunlu]]/ [[Aq Qoyunlu]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Potts |first1=D. T. |author-link= Daniel T. Potts |title=Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era |date=3 March 2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-933080-5 |page=224 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ssLADwAAQBAJ&pg=PA224 |language=en |quote=The Third Türkmen Wave Hits Iran. Vladimir Minorsky famously described the original Oghuz/Saljuq conquest of Iran as the first period of Türkmen dominion in Iran; the era of the Qara-qoyunlu and Aq-qoyunlu as the second; and the Safavid conquest as the third.}}</ref> At the same time, the majority of scholars agree that the resulting empire was an Iranian one,<ref>{{harvnb|Bogle|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=IpFhLDUw20gC&pg=PA145 145]}} "Safavid: Iranian dynasty which began early in 1500 and endured into the 18th century"</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Shaw|1976|p=77}} "...the rise of a new Iranian dynasty, the Safavids."</ref><ref name="Andrew J. Newman 2006"/> and the state was again officially designated as "Iran" after a lapse of several centuries.<ref name="AlirezaShahbazi">{{harvnb|Shahbazi|2005|p=108: "Similarly the collapse of Sassanian Eranshahr in AD 650 did not end Iranians' national idea. The name 'Iran' disappeared from official records of the Saffarids, Samanids, Buyids, Saljuqs and their successor. But one unofficially used the name Iran, Eranshahr, and similar national designations, particularly Mamalek-e Iran or 'Iranian lands', which exactly translated the old Avestan term Ariyanam Daihunam. On the other hand, when the Safavids (not Reza Shah, as is popularly assumed) revived a national state officially known as Iran, bureaucratic usage in the Ottoman Empire and even Iran itself could still refer to it by other descriptive and traditional appellations"}}.</ref>

A fabricated genealogy developed by the Safavids claimed that [[Safi-ad-din Ardabili|Sheikh Safi]] (the founder of the order and Ismael's ancestor) was a lineal descendant of the Seventh Twelver Shia Imam and therefore of Imam [[Ali]] and the Prophet Mohammad.<ref name="Kat112"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Matthee |first1=Rudi |title=SAFAVID DYNASTY |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids/ |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |quote=At the time of Shah Esmāʿil I, a genealogy was fabricated according to which Ṣafi-al-Din descended from the seventh Imam, Musā al-Kāẓem (d. ca. 800).}}</ref>

==Early years==
In 1488, Ismail's father was killed in a battle at [[Tabasaransky District|Tabasaran]] against the forces of the [[Shirvanshah]] [[Farrukh Yassar]] and his overlord, the [[Aq Qoyunlu]], a Turkic tribal federation which controlled most of [[Iran]]. In 1494, the Aq Qoyunlu captured [[Ardabil]], killing [[Ali Mirza Safavi]], the eldest son of Haydar, and forcing the seven-year-old Ismail to go into hiding in [[Gilan province|Gilan]], where under the [[Kar-Kiya dynasty|Kar-Kiya]] ruler [[Soltan-Ali Mirza]], he received education under the guidance of scholars.

When Ismail reached the age of twelve, he came out of hiding and returned to what is now [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian Azerbaijan]] along with his followers. Ismail's rise to power was made possible by the Turkoman tribes of [[Anatolia]] and Azerbaijan, who formed the most important part of the [[Qizilbash]] movement.<ref>{{harvnb|Roemer|1986}}; {{harvnb|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}; {{harvnb|Ghereghlou|2016}}; {{harvnb|Matthee|2008}}.</ref>

== Reign ==
===Conquest of Iran and its surroundings===
{{Main|Campaigns of Ismail I}}
[[File:Muhammad Qāsim Gunābādī (Qāsimī), Shāhnāma-i Ismāʾīl. The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Elliot 328, fol. 91a.jpg|thumb|The capture of [[Firuzkuh]] by the Safavids in 1504. Shah Ismail seated, looking at his enemy [[Kiya Husayn II]] suspended in a cage, while the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] general Murad Beg Jahanshahlu roasts on a spit. [[:Commons:Category:Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl, circa 1540 (Bodleian Library, MS. Elliot 328)|''Shahnama-yi i Ismaʻil'' (Tabriz, 1540)]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bashir |first1=Shahzad |title=Shah Ismaʿil and the Qizilbash: Cannibalism in the Religious History of Early Safavid Iran |journal=History of Religions |date=2006 |volume=45 |issue=3 |page=242 |doi=10.1086/503715 |jstor=10.1086/503715 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/503715}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Casale|2023|pp=39–40}} "The imprisonment of [[Kiya Husayn II|Husain Kia]] is depicted in a copy of Qāsimī’s Shāhnāma-i Ismāʾīl (Book of kings of Ismaʾil), a versified epic-history of the reign of Ismaʾil (fig. 1.4). The painting, dated to about 1540, presents a scene of the aftermath of Ismaʾil’s victory in Firuzkuh, just outside of Ustā, the largest fort in lands previously commanded over by Husain Kia: After surrendering to Ismaʾil’s forces, Kia has been placed in a large iron cage, one that he had designed as a tool of punishment for his own enemies. (...) The man on the spit is none other than a supporter of Kia named Murad Beg, whose gruesome death is narrated in Safavid sources."</ref>]]
In the summer of 1500, Ismail rallied about 7,000 Qizilbash troops at [[Erzincan]], including members of the [[Ustajlu]], [[Rumlu]], [[Takkalu]], [[Dhu'l-Qadar]], [[Afshar (tribe)|Afshar]], [[Qajars (tribe)|Qajar]], and [[Varsak (tribe)|Varsaq]] tribes.{{sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998|pp=628–636}} Qizilbash forces passed over the [[Kura (Caspian Sea)|Kura River]] in December 1500 and [[Safavid conquest of Shirvan|marched towards]] the [[Shirvanshah]]'s state. They defeated the forces of the Shirvanshah Farrukh Yassar near [[Cabanı]] (present-day [[Shamakhi Rayon]], [[Azerbaijan Republic]]){{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1986|p=211}} or at Gulistan (present-day [[Gülüstan, Goranboy]], Azerbaijan),{{sfn|Roy|2014|page=44}}{{sfn|Sicker|2000|page=187}} and subsequently went on to conquer [[Baku]].{{sfn|Sicker|2000|page=187}}{{Sfn|Nesibli|2002|p=895}} Thus, Shirvan and its dependencies (up to southern [[Dagestan]] in the north) were now Ismail's. The Shirvanshah line nevertheless continued to rule Shirvan under Safavid suzerainty until 1538, when, during the reign of Ismail's son, [[Tahmasp I]] (r. 1524–1576), it was placed under the rule of a Safavid governor.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1986|pp=212, 245}} After the conquest, Ismail had [[Alexander I of Kakheti]] send his son Demetre to Shirvan to negotiate a peace agreement.{{sfn|Rayfield|2013|page=164}}

The successful conquest alarmed the ruler of the [[Aq Qoyunlu]], Alvand, who subsequently proceeded north from [[Tabriz]] and crossed the [[Aras River]] in order to challenge the Safavid forces. Both sides met at the [[Battle of Sharur]], which Ismail's army won despite being outnumbered by four to one.{{sfn|Sicker|2000|page=187}} Shortly before his attack on Shirvan, Ismail had made the Georgian kings [[Constantine II of Georgia|Constantine II]] and Alexander I of the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Kartli|Kartli]] and [[Kingdom of Kakheti|Kakheti]], respectively, attack the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottoman]] possessions near Tabriz, on the promise that he would cancel the tribute that Constantine was forced to pay to the Aq Qoyunlu once Tabriz was captured.{{sfn|Rayfield|2013|page=164}} After eventually conquering Tabriz and [[Nakhchivan (city)|Nakhchivan]], Ismail broke the promise he had made to Constantine II and made the kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti both his [[vassal]]s.{{sfn|Rayfield|2013|page=164}}

[[File:Shāh Ismaʿīl in battle. Folio 107v. Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl, 1541, Tabriz (British Library, Add. 7784).jpg|thumb|left|''Shāh Ismaʿīl in battle'' circa 1510. [[Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl (Tabriz, 1541)|''Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl'' (Tabriz, 1541)]]]]
In July 1501, following his occupation of Tabriz, Ismail took the title ''Pādshāh-i Irān'' (King of Iran).<ref>{{harvnb|Dale|2020|p=74: "It was, first of all, an Iranian state. Ismāʽīl took the Iranian term ''Pādshāh-i Irān'', following his occupation of Tabriz in 1501, using a title that recognized Iran, a name revived by the Ilkhanid Mongols and used by the Aqqoyunlu."}}</ref> He appointed his former guardian and mentor [[Husayn Beg Shamlu]] as the ''vakil'' ([[vicegerent]]) of the empire and the commander-in-chief (''[[amir al-umara]]'') of the Qizilbash army.{{sfn|Bosworth|Savory|1989|pp=969–971}}{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=36}} His army was composed of tribal units, the majority of which were Turkmen from [[Anatolia]] and [[Syria]] with the remainder Kurds and [[Chagatai people|Chagatai]].{{Sfn|Haneda|1986}} He also appointed a former [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] [[vizier]] of the Aq Qoyunlu named Amir Zakariya as his vizier.{{sfn|Newman|2008|p=16}} After proclaiming himself Shah, Ismail also proclaimed Twelver Shi'ism to be the official and compulsory religion of Iran. He enforced this new standard by the sword, dissolving Sunni Brotherhoods and executing anyone who refused to comply to the newly implemented Shi'ism.{{Sfn|Cleveland|Bunton|2013|p=131}}

[[Qasem Beg Hayati Tabrizi]] ({{fl.|1554}}), a poet and bureaucrat of early Safavid era, states that he had heard from several witnesses that Shah Ismail's enthronement took place in Tabriz immediately after the [[Battle of Sharur]] on 1 Jumada al-Thani 907 / 22 December 1501, making Hayati's book entitled ''Tarikh'' (1554) the only known narrative source to give the exact date of Shah Ismail's ascent to the throne.{{sfn|Ghereghlou|2017|p=827}}

After defeating an Aq Qoyunlu army in 1502, Ismail took the title of "Shah of Iran".<ref name="Bingham116">{{harvnb|Bingham|Conroy|Iklé|1974|p=116}}.</ref> In the same year he gained possession of [[Erzincan]] and [[Erzurum]],{{Sfn|Sinclair|1989|p=298}} while a year later, in 1503, he conquered [[Persian Iraq|Eraq-e Ajam]] and [[Fars province|Fars]] in the [[Battle of Hamadan (1503)]]. One year later he conquered [[Mazandaran]], [[Gorgan]], and [[Yazd]].

[[File:Map Safavid persia.png|thumb|250px|Shah Ismail's empire]]
In 1507, he conquered [[Diyarbakır]]. During the same year, Ismail appointed the Iranian [[Amir Najm al-Din Mas'ud Gilani]] as the new ''vakil''. This was because Ismail had begun favoring the Iranians more than the Qizilbash, who, although they had played a crucial role in [[Campaigns of Ismail I|Ismail's campaigns]], possessed too much power and were no longer considered trustworthy.{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=50}}{{sfn|Mazzaoui|2002}} One year later, Ismail forced the rulers of [[Khuzestan]], [[Lorestan]], and [[Kurdistan province|Kurdistan]] to become his vassals. The same year, Ismail and Husayn Beg Shamlu seized [[Baghdad]], putting an end to the Aq Qoyunlu.{{sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998|pp=628–636}}{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=37}} Ismail then began destroying [[Sunni]] sites in Baghdad, including the tombs of [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid Caliphs]] and tombs of [[Abū Ḥanīfa|Imam Abu Hanifah]] and [[Abdul Qadir Gilani]].{{Sfn|Shaw|1976|p=95}}

By 1510, he had conquered the whole of Iran (including [[Shirvan]]), southern [[Dagestan]] (with its important city of [[Derbent]]), [[Mesopotamia]], [[Armenia]], [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], and [[Eastern Anatolia]], and had made the [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Kartli (1484–1762)|Kartli]] and [[Kingdom of Kakheti|Kakheti]] his vassals.{{Sfn|Ghasemi|2014}}{{sfn|Rayfield|2013|pp=165–166}} In the same year, Husayn Beg Shamlu lost his office as commander-in-chief in favor of a man of humble origins, Mohammad Beg Ustajlu.{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=50}} Ismail also appointed [[Najm-e Sani]] as the new ''vakil'' of the empire due to the death of Mas'ud Gilani.{{sfn|Mazzaoui|2002}}

Ismail I [[Persian–Uzbek wars|moved against the Uzbeks]]. In the [[Battle of Marv|Battle of Merv (1510)]], some 17,000 Qizilbash warriors trapped an Uzbek force. The Uzbek ruler, [[Muhammad Shaybani]], was caught and killed trying to escape the battle, and the shah had his skull made into a jewelled drinking goblet.<ref name="Eraly2007">{{harvnb|Eraly|2007|p=25}}.</ref> In 1512, Najm-e Sani was killed during a clash with the Uzbeks, which made Ismail appoint [[Abd al-Baqi Yazdi]] as the new ''vakil'' of the empire.{{sfn|Soucek|1982|pp=105–106}}

===War against the Ottomans===
[[File:The Battle of Chaldiran, Qajar Iran, 19th century.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Shah Ismail (center) leading a charge during the Safavid defeat against the Ottomans at the [[Battle of Chaldiran]] (1514). Painting of the [[Qajar Iran|Qajar period]], 19th century]]
The active recruitment of support for the Safavid cause among the Turcoman tribes of [[Eastern Anatolia]], among tribesmen who were [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] subjects, had inevitably placed the neighbouring Ottoman empire and the Safavid state on a collision course.<ref name="iranicaonline.org">{{harvnb|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}.</ref> As the ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' states, "As orthodox or Sunni Muslims, the Ottomans had reason to view with alarm the progress of Shīʿī ideas in the territories under their control, but there was also a grave political danger that the Ṣafawīya, if allowed to extend its influence still further, might bring about the transfer of large areas in [[Asia Minor]] from Ottoman to Persian allegiance".<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/> By the early 1510s, Ismail's rapidly expansionist policies had made the Safavid border in Asia Minor shift even further west. In 1511, there was a widespread pro-Safavid rebellion in southern Anatolia by the Takkalu Qizilbash tribe, known as the [[Şahkulu Rebellion]],<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/> and an Ottoman army that was sent in order to put down the rebellion down was defeated.<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/> A large-scale incursion into Eastern Anatolia by Safavid [[ghazis]] under [[Nur-Ali Khalifa]] coincided with the accession of Sultan [[Selim I]] in 1512 to the Ottoman throne. Such incursions were one of the reasons for Selim's decision to invade Safavid Iran two years later.<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/> Selim and Ismail had been exchanging a series of belligerent letters prior to the attack. While the Safavid forces were at [[Chaldoran County|Chaldiran]] and planning on how to confront the Ottomans, [[Mohammad Khan Ustajlu]], who served as the governor of [[Diyarbakır]], and Nur-Ali Khalifa, a commander who knew how the Ottomans fought, proposed that they should attack as quickly as possible.{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=41}} This proposal was rejected by the powerful Qizilbash officer [[Durmish Khan Shamlu]], who rudely said that Mohammad Khan Ustajlu was only interested in the province which he governed. The proposal was rejected by Ismail himself, who said; "I am not a caravan-thief; whatever is decreed by God, will occur."{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=41}}

[[File:Personal items of Shah Ismail I captured bu Selim I during Chaldiran Battle.jpg|thumbnail|Personal items of Shah Ismail I captured by Selim I during the [[Battle of Chaldiran]]. [[Topkapi Museum]], [[Istanbul]].]]
Selim I eventually defeated Ismail at the [[Battle of Chaldiran]] in 1514.{{Sfn|Axworthy|2008|p=133}} Ismail's army was more mobile, and his soldiers were better prepared, but the Ottomans prevailed in large part due to their efficient modern army and possession of artillery, black powder and muskets. Ismail was wounded and almost captured in battle. Selim entered the Iranian capital of [[Tabriz]] in triumph on September 5{{Sfn|Housley|1992|p=120}} but did not linger. A mutiny among his troops, fearing a counterattack and entrapment by fresh Safavid forces called in from the interior, forced the triumphant Ottomans to withdraw prematurely. This allowed Ismail to recover. Among the booty from Tabriz was Ismail's favorite wife, for whose release the Sultan demanded huge concessions, which were refused. Despite his defeat at the Battle of Chaldiran, Ismail quickly recovered most of his kingdom, from east of [[Lake Van]] to the [[Persian Gulf]]. However, the Ottomans managed to annex for the first time [[Eastern Anatolia]] and parts of [[Mesopotamia]], as well as briefly northwestern Iran.{{Sfn|Lapidus|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkJpBAAAQBAJ&dq=battle+of+chaldiran+eastern+anatolia&pg=PA336 336]}}

The Venetian ambassador [[Caterino Zeno]] describes the events as follows:

{{blockquote|The monarch [Selim], seeing the slaughter, began to retreat, and to turn about, and was about to fly, when Sinan, coming to the rescue at the time of need, caused the artillery to be brought up and fired on both the janissaries [sic] and the Persians. The Persian horses hearing the thunder of those infernal machines, scattered and divided themselves over the plain, not obeying their riders bit or spur anymore, from the terror they were in&nbsp;... It is certainly said, that if it had not been for the artillery, which terrified in the manner related the Persian horses which had never before heard such a din, all his forces would have been routed and put to edge of the sword.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|p=43}}}}

He also adds:

{{blockquote|[...] if the Turk had been beaten, the power of Ismail would have become greater than that of Tamerlane, as by the fame alone of such a victory he would have made himself absolute lord of the East.{{Sfn|Grey|1873|p=61}}}}

==Late reign and death==
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Tomb of Shah Ismail I, 1524, Ardabil (cleaned up).jpg
| image2   = Shah Ismail I Mausoleum.jpg
| footer=The ''[[:Commons:Category:Tomb of Shah Ismail|Tomb of Shah Ismail]]'' was built by his wife [[Tajlu Khanum]] in 1524, in the ''[[Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble]]'' in [[Ardabil]].<ref name="KR">{{cite book |last1=Rivzi |first1=Kishmar |title=SAINTS AND SACRED MATTER The Cult of Relics in Byzantium and Beyond |chapter= CHAPTER 14 THE INCARNATE SHRINE Shi'ism and the Cult of Kingship in Early Safavid Iran |date=2015 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-88402-406-4 |pages=209–303 |url=https://arthistory.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Rizvi%20-%20Saints%20and%20Sacred%20Matter%20BW.pdf}}</ref>
}}
After the [[Battle of Chaldiran]], Ismail lost his supernatural air and the aura of invincibility, gradually falling into [[Alcoholism|heavy drinking]].{{Sfn|Savory|1977|p=401}} He retired to his palace and never again participated in a military campaign,{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2015|page=242}} and left the affairs of the state to his vizier [[Mirza Shah Husayn]],{{Sfn|Momen|1985|p=107}} who became his close friend and [[Nadeem]] (i.e. drinking companion). This allowed Mirza Shah Husayn to gain influence and expand his authority.{{sfn|Savory|2007|p=47}} Mirza Shah Husayn was assassinated in 1523 by a group of Qizilbash officers, after which Ismail appointed Zakariya's son [[Jalal al-Din Mohammad Tabrizi]] as his new vizier. Ismail died on 23 May 1524 aged 36 and was buried in [[Ardabil]]. He was succeeded by his son [[Tahmasp I]].

The consequences of the defeat at Chaldiran were also psychological for Ismail; his relationships with the Qizilbash followers were fundamentally altered. The tribal rivalries between the Qizilbash which had ceased temporarily before the defeat at Chaldiran resurfaced intensely immediately after his death and led to ten years of civil war (930–40/1524–33) until Shah Tahmasp regained control of the affairs of the state. The [[Safavids]] later briefly lost [[Balkh]] and [[Kandahar]] to the [[Mughals]], and nearly lost [[Herat]] to the [[Uzbeks]].<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/>

During Ismail's reign, mainly in the late 1510s, the first steps for the [[Habsburg–Persian alliance]] were taken with [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] and [[Louis II of Hungary|Ludwig II of Hungary]] being in contact with a view of combining against the common Ottoman Turkish enemy.<ref name="Fisher">{{harvnb|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1986|p=384 ''ff''}}.</ref>

Shah Ismail's death ensued after a few years of a very saddening and depressing period of his life. He was buried in Ardabil, next to the tomb of his illustrious ancestor [[Safi-ad-Din Ardabili|Shayk Safi]]. The ''[[:Commons:Category:Tomb of Shah Ismail|Tomb of Shah Ismail]]'' was built by his wife [[Tajlu Khanum]] in 1524, in the ''[[Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble]]''.<ref name="KR"/>

== Policies ==
One of the main problems of Ismail I's reign was the integration of the Safavid order into the administrative structure inherited from previous Muslim polities. Ismail sought to stabilize the newly established Safavid state and restore economic prosperity to the realm, but some of his supporters wanted to continue the revolutionary struggle. The Qizilbash raids in Anatolia, which were one of the causes of the first Ottoman–Safavid war, have been interpreted by Roger Savory as Ismail's attempt to "siphon off this excess revolutionary fervour".

Another major issue was the competition between the Qizilbash, who expected important positions in the Safavid state in return for their services, and the Iranians, who had traditionally dominated the sphere of administration and made up most of the ''[[ulama]]'' (religious leadership).{{Sfn|Savory|2007|pp=31–33}} The amirs (chiefs) of the Qizilbash tribes held the governorships of provinces in early Safavid Iran and occupied the most important state offices.{{Sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1986|p=352}}

Ismail instituted the office of ''vakil-e nafs-e nafis-e homayun'';{{Efn|Literally, 'representative of the exquisite royal person'}} its holder was to serve as the shah's representative in both religious and secular matters. The Qizilbash amir [[Husayn Beg Shamlu]] was the first ''vakil''.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|pp=31–33}} The top military offices of ''amir al-umara'' (commander-in-chief) and ''qurchibashi'' were also granted to Qizilbash leaders.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|p=34}} Ismail also made the office of ''[[Sadr (title)|sadr]]'' (head of the ''ulama'') an appointee of the shah; this office was held by an Iranian.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|pp=32–33}}

Iranians also occupied the office of vizier, the traditional chief of the bureaucracy, but this office was less powerful than that of ''vakil''.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|p=34}}{{Efn|The office of ''vakil'' decreased in importance after the Battle of Chaldiran, becoming a purely bureaucratic position and eventually falling into obsolescence.{{Sfn|Savory|2007|p=47}}}} Eventually, Ismail appointed a succession of Iranians to the office of ''vakil'' in an apparent attempt to counterbalance the power of the Qizilbash. This provoked the resistance of the Qizilbash, who assassinated the Iranian ''vakil'' [[Mirza Shah Hossein]] in 1523{{Sfn|Savory|2007|pp=36–38}} and took control of the state after Ismail's death.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}

== Royal ideology ==
[[File:Shah Ismail I portrait, Chehel Sotoun, painted circa 1647.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Dynastic portrait of Shah Ismail at the [[Battle of Merv]] (1510). [[Chehel Sotoun]], [[Isfahan]]. Painted circa 1647]]
From an early age, Ismail was acquainted with the Iranian cultural legacy. When he reached Lahijan in 1494, he gifted Mirza Ali Karkiya a copy of the medieval Persian epic ''[[Shahnameh]]'' (Book of Kings) with over 300 illustrations.{{sfn|Newman|2008|p=18}} Owing to his fondness of Iranian national legends, Ismail named three of his four sons after mythological shahs and heroes of the ''Shahnameh''; his oldest son was named Tahmasp, after the last shah of the [[Pishdadian dynasty]]; his third son [[Sam Mirza Safavi|Sam]] after the [[Sām|champion]] of the Pishdadian shah [[Manuchehr]] and ancestor of the celebrated warrior-hero [[Rostam]]; his youngest son [[Bahram Mirza Safavi|Bahram]] after the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] shah [[Bahram V]] ({{reign|420|438}}), famous for his romantic life and hunting feats. Ismail's expertise in Persian poetic tales such as the ''Shahnameh'', helped him to represent himself as the heir to the Iranian model of kingship.{{sfn|Amanat|2017|p=61}} According to the modern historian Abbas Amanat, Ismail was motivated to visualize himself as a shah of the ''Shahnameh'', possibly [[Kay Khosrow|Kaykhosrow]], the archetype of a great Iranian king, and the person who overcame the Turanian king [[Afrasiab|Afrasiyab]], the nemesis of Iran. From an Iranian perspective, Afrasiyab's kingdom of [[Turan]] was commonly identified with the land of the Turks, in particular with the [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] [[Khanate of Bukhara]] in [[Central Asia]]. After Ismail defeated the Uzbeks, his victory was portrayed in Safavid records as a victory over the mythological Turanians.{{sfn|Amanat|2017|p=61}} However, this fondness of Iranian legends was not only restricted to that of Ismail and Safavid Iran; Both [[Muhammad Shaybani]], [[Selim I]], and later [[Babur]] and his [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] progeny, all associated themselves with these legends. Regardless of its increasing differences, Western, Central, and South Asia all followed a common [[Persianate]] model of culture and kingship.{{sfn|Amanat|2017|p=62}}

[[File:Coin of Shah Ismail I, minted in Tabriz.jpg|thumb|left|[[Ashrafi]] of Shah Ismail, struck in Tabriz. Dated AH 926 (AD 1519/20)]]
In the second part of the fifteenth century, Safavid propaganda adopted many beliefs held of ''[[ghulat]]'' groups. Ismail's father and grandfather were reportedly considered divine by their disciples, and Ismail taught his followers that he was a divine incarnation, as is demonstrated by his poetry.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}} For example, in some of his poems he wrote "I am the absolute Truth" and "I am God’s eye (or God himself)".{{Sfn|Savory|2012}} This made his followers intensely loyal to him.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}} Through their supposed descent from [[Musa al-Kazim|Imam Musa al-Kazim]], Ismail and his successors claimed the role of deputy (''na'ib'') of the [[Hidden Imam]] (the ''[[Mahdi]]'') and also the infallibility or sinlessness (''isma'') ascribed to the ''Mahdi''; this brought them into conflict with the ''[[mujtahid]]s'' (high-ranking Shi'ite jurisprudents) who traditionally claimed the authority of deputyship.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}} At least until his defeat at Chaldiran in 1514, Ismail identified himself as the reincarnation of [[Alids|Alid]] figures such as Ali, [[Husayn ibn Ali|Husayn]], and the ''Mahdi''.{{sfn|Mitchell|2009|p=32}} Historian [[Cornell Fleischer]] argues that Ismail took part in a broader trend of [[Messianism|messianic]] and [[Millenarianism|millenarian]] claims, which were also being expressed in the Ottoman Empire. He writes, "Shah Ismāʿīl was the most spectacular and successful— but by no means singular—instance of the convergence between mysticism, messianism, and politics at the beginning of the sixteenth century."{{Sfn|Fleischer|2018|p=51–55}}

Besides his self-identification with Muslim figures, Ismail also presented himself as the personification of the divine light of investiture (''[[Khvarenah|farr]]'') that had radiated in the ancient Iranian shahs [[Dara II|Darius]], [[Khosrow I|Khosrow I Anushirvan]] ({{reign|531|579}}), [[Shapur I]] ({{reign|240|270}}), since the era of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]] and Sasanians. This was a typical Safavid combination of Islamic and pre-Islamic Iranian motifs.{{sfn|Mitchell|2009|p=32}} The Safavids also included and promoted Turkic and Mongol aspects from the Central Asian steppe, such as giving high-ranking positions to Turkic leaders, and utilizing Turkic tribal clans for their aspirations in war. They likewise included Turco-Mongolian titles such as [[Khan (title)|khan]] and [[Baghatur|bahadur]] to their growing collection of titles. The cultural aspects of the Safavids soon became even more numerous, as Ismail and his successors included and promoted [[Kurds]], [[Arabs]], [[Georgians]], [[Circassians]], and [[Armenians]] into their imperial program.{{sfn|Mitchell|2009|p=4}} Moreover, the conquests of [[Genghis Khan]] and [[Timur]] had merged Mongolian and Chagatai aspects into the Persian bureaucratic culture, terminology, seals, and symbols.{{sfn|Mitchell|2009|p=199}}

==Art of the book==
Shah Ismail, by conquering both the Aq Qoyunlu and the Timurids, took over the two dominant Persian artistic schools of the time in the domain of calligraphy and miniatures: the western [[Turkman style|Turkoman school]] based in [[Tabriz]], characterized by vibrant and colorful compositions, which had developed under his uncle [[Yaqub Aq Qoyunlu|Sultan Yaqub Aq Qoyunlu]], and the eastern [[Timurid art|Timurid school]] based in [[Herat]] and brought to new summits by [[Sultan Husayn Bayqara]], which was more balanced and restrained and used subtle colors.{{Sfn|Soudavar|1992|p=159}} Artists from both realms were made to work together, such as [[Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād|Behzad]] from Herat and [[Sultan Mohammed]] from Tabriz, to collaborate on major manuscripts such as the [[Tahmasp Shahnameh|Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp]].{{Sfn|Soudavar|1992|p=159}} This synthesis created the new Safavid imperial style.{{Sfn|Soudavar|1992|p=159}} This new aesthetic also affected traditional crafts, including textiles, carpets, and metalwork, and influenced the styles of [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turkey]] and [[Mughal Empire|Mughal India]].{{Sfn|Soudavar|1992|p=159}}

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Bahram Gur in the White Pavilion (196r). Tabriz, 1501-1510 addition by Shah Ismail (Istanbul, Topkapi H. 762).jpg
| caption1 = ''Bahram Gur in the White Pavilion''. [[:Commons:Category:Khamsa of Nizami (TSM H762), 1501-1510 additions by Shah Isma'il|''Khamsa of Nizami'', Tabriz (1505)]]
| image2   = The Mir'aj of Prophet Muhammad. Khamsa of Nizami (commissioned by Yaqub Beg), 1505 addition by Shah Ismail, Tabriz (Keir Collection, III. 207).jpg
| caption2 = ''The Mir'aj of Prophet Muhammad''. [[Khamsa of Nizami (Tabriz, 1481)|''Khamsa of Nizami'', Tabriz (1505)]]
| footer=Miniatures commissioned by Shah Ismail and painted by [[Sultan Mohammed]] in [[Tabriz]], circa 1505. Protagonists wear his signature headdress, the ''[[Taj-i Haydari]]''
}}
Soon after he conquered the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] capital of [[Tabriz]] in 1501-1502, Shah Ismail started to commission illustrated manuscripts such as the [[:Commons:Category:Dastan-i Jamal u Jalal. 1502-1505, Tabriz (Uppsala University Library, O Nova 2)|''Dastan-i Jamal u Jalal'', Tabriz (1502-1505)]].<ref name="NMT"/> Such early works followed the [[Turkman style]] of miniatures, with highly decorative elements, and exuberant representations of nature.<ref name="NMT">{{cite book |last1=Titley |first1=Norah M. |title=Persian miniature painting and its influence on the art of Turkey and India : the British Library collections |date=1984 |publisher=Austin : University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-76484-2 |page=80 |url=https://archive.org/details/persianminiature0000titl/page/80/mode/1up}}</ref>

Another early commission was the contribution of additional miniatures in 1505 to an Aq Qoyunlu manuscript, the [[Khamsa of Nizami (Tabriz, 1481)|''Khamsa of Nizami'' (Tabriz, 1481)]].{{sfn|Blair|Bloom|1996|p=68}} Shah Isma'il entrusted the creation of eleven miniatures to the young painter [[Sultan Mohammed]], who later became a key artist of the [[Safavid school]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Curatola |first1=Giovanni |title=Iran: arte islamica |date=2018 |publisher=Jaca book |location=Milano |isbn=978-88-16-60569-5 |page=209, note 90 |url=https://issuu.com/jacabook3/docs/iran._islamic_art_layout |language=en}}</ref> Some of the paintings created by Sultan Mohammed for this manuscript are considered as highly original, such as [[:File:The Mir'aj of Prophet Muhammad. Khamsa of Nizami (commissioned by Yaqub Beg), 1505 addition by Shah Ismail, Tabriz (Keir Collection, III. 207).jpg|''The Mir'aj of Prophet Muhammad'']] (now in the Keir Collection in London), in which the Prophet can be seen rising over the Great Mosque in Mecca, the Ka'ba and his tomb, riding into a billowing mass of heavenly clouds with a multitude of angels. The sky is pieced with an ''[[Oculus (architecture)|oculus]]'', an artistic device of probable European origin. A small inscription in gold letters on the portal of a small building on a terrace gives the date of creation as 1505.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sims |first1=Eleanor |title=Peerless images : Persian painting and its sources |date=2002 |publisher=New Haven : Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-09038-3 |page=151 |url=https://archive.org/details/peerlessimagespe0000sims/page/150/mode/1up?view=theater}}</ref>

One of the main criteria used to differentiate the Safavid miniatures from the Aq Qoyunlu ones is for a great part iconographic, as the protagonists in Shah Isma'il's paintings generally wear his signature turban, the ''[[Taj-i Haydari]]'', which he introduced when he occupied Tabriz in 1501-1502.<ref name="IS">{{cite journal |last1=Stchoukine |first1=Ivan |title=Les peintures turcomanes et ṣafavies d'une Khamseh de Niẓâmî achevée à Tabrîz en 886/1481 |journal=Arts Asiatiques |date=1966 |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=4 |doi=10.3406/arasi.1966.955 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arasi_0004-3958_1966_num_14_1_955}}</ref>

Towards the end of his reign, circa 1520-21, Shāh Ismaʿīl also commissioned panegyric histories of his accomplishments, where he can be seen in various court and battle scenes. These works, such as the [[Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl (Tabriz, 1541)|''Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl'' (Tabriz, 1541)]], were generally completed only after he died.<ref name="AH">{{cite journal |last1=Wood |first1=Barry D. |title=The "Tarikh-I Jahanara" in the Chester Beatty Library: An Illustrated Manuscript of the "Anonymous Histories of Shah Isma'I" |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2004 |volume=37 |issue=1 |page=101 |doi=10.1080/0021086042000232956 |jstor=4311593 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4311593 |issn=0021-0862}}</ref><ref name="NMT86"/> These manuscripts offer some very interesting illustrations in lively style, which, stylistically, are witnesses to the persistence of the Turkoman element in the creations of [[Tabriz]] around 1541.<ref name="AH"/><ref name="NMT86"/> Some, such as [[:Commons:Category:Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl, circa 1540 (Bodleian Library, MS. Elliot 328)|''Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl'' (Bodleian Library, MS. Elliot 328)]] are more provincial in style but also show undisguised and rather gruesome scenes of conquest, such as the time when a defender of [[Firuzkuh]] was roasted on a spit at the hands of the Safavids.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bashir |first1=Shahzad |title=Shah Ismaʿil and the Qizilbash: Cannibalism in the Religious History of Early Safavid Iran |journal=History of Religions |date=2006 |volume=45 |issue=3 |page=242 |doi=10.1086/503715 |jstor=10.1086/503715 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/503715 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wood |first1=Barry D. |title=The "Tarikh-I Jahanara" in the Chester Beatty Library: An Illustrated Manuscript of the "Anonymous Histories of Shah Isma'I" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4311593 |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2004 |volume=37 |issue=1 |page=101 |jstor=4311593 }}</ref>

Probably about 1522, Shah Isma'il started a sumptuous illuminated manuscript of the ''Shahnameh'' for his son [[Shah Tahmasp I]]. But Shah Ismail I died in 1524, shortly after the work had begun.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shnm/hd_shnm.htm|title=The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp|website=www.metmuseum.org|access-date=2018-11-27}}</ref> Work continued into the 1530s, ultimately including 258 original miniatures. It is now dispersed, and known under the name of ''[[Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leoni |first1=Francesca |title=The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp - The Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shnm/hd_shnm.htm |website=www.metmuseum.org |language=en |date=1 June 2008}}</ref>

=== Ismail's poetry ===
[[File:Dīvān (collected poems) by Khatā'ī (Shah Isma’il) (d. 1524) Text in Turkish in black nasta’liq script.jpg|thumb|''[[:Commons:Category:Divan-i Khata'i, Tabriz, 1520 (Freer Gallery of Art, S1986.60)|Dīvān of Khatā'ī]]'' (Collected Poems by Shah Isma’il), "Five youths in the garden". Tabriz. 1515-20s. Text in Turkish in black nasta’liq script: ''"I have never seen anyone so beautiful as you on the earth, never in this world anyone as gorgeous as you. Truly within the garden of the soul there can be no gesture so elegant as your tall erect cypress. Although there are many beauties among humanity, there is none, O Beauty, so radiant as you".''<ref>{{cite web |title=Divan (collected poems) by Khatai (Shah Isma'il) (d. 1524) |url=https://asia-archive.si.edu/object/S1986.60/#object-content |website=Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art}}</ref>]]
[[File:Divan-i Khata'i, the castle.jpg|thumb|''[[:Commons:Category:Divan-i Khata'i, Tabriz, 1520 (Freer Gallery of Art, S1986.60)|Dīvān of Khatā'ī]]'' (Collected Poems by Shah Isma’il), "The Castle". Tabriz. 1515-20s. Text on the castle walls: ''"Founder of the Sultanate, the greatest sultan and most just, most noble emperor, liege lord of the kings of the Arabs and Persians, layer of the foundations of justice and munificence, spreader of the carpet of safety and security, Abu'l-Muzaffar Shah Isma'il Bahadur Khan".''<ref>{{cite web |title=Divan (collected poems) by Khatai (Shah Isma'il) (d. 1524) |url=https://asia-archive.si.edu/object/S1986.60/#object-content |website=Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art}}</ref>]]
Ismail is also known for his poetry using the [[pen name]] ''Khaṭāʾī'' ({{Langx|ar|خطائي|lit=the wrongful}},<ref name="ismailsafaviiranica">[http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v8f6/v8f665.html Encyclopædia Iranica. ''ٍIsmail Safavi''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021235105/http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v8f6/v8f665.html |date=October 21, 2007 }}</ref> 'sinner',{{Sfn|Minorsky|1942|p=1028a}} or 'the mistaken one').{{Sfn|Heß|2020}} ''Khatai'' was a popular pen name among Iranian poets, but none are as famous as Ismail.<ref name="khataiislamica">[https://www.cgie.org.ir/fa/article/240771/%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C Encyclopædia Islamica. ''ٍخطایی''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119214533/https://www.cgie.org.ir/fa/article/240771/%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C |date=January 19, 2021 }}</ref> He wrote in Turkish and Persian, although his extant verses in the former vastly outnumber those in the latter.{{Sfn|Minorsky|1942|pp=1007a-1008a}} The Turkish spoken in Iran, which was commonly known as ''Turki'',{{Sfn|Floor|2013|p=569}} was not the [[Turkish language|Turkish of Istanbul]],{{Sfn|Blow|2009|p=165}} but a precursor of modern-day [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani or Azeri Turkic]] (see also: [[Ajem-Turkic]]).<ref name="Dale">{{harvnb|Dale|2020|pp=73–74}}.</ref> His devotional poetry was meant for the mainly Turkish-speaking Qizilbash who followed him, hence his decision to write in that language.<ref name=":0" /> Ismail used some words and forms not found in modern Turkish speech. [[Chagatai language|Chaghatai]] words are also found in his poetry.{{efn|Within this context, James J. Reid suggests that Chaghatai became the ''[[lingua franca]]'' amongst the multilingual and polyglot Qizilbash in Iran.{{Sfn|Karakaya-Stump|2020|p=252 (note 53)}}}} [[Vladimir Minorsky]] writes that Ismail's Turkish "already shows traces of decomposition due to the influence of the Iranian milieu".{{Sfn|Minorsky|1942|p=1010a}}

Khata'i's [[Diwan (poetry)|divan]] (collection of poems) was compiled during the reign of Ismail's successor, [[Tahmasp I]], so all of the poems in it may not actually belong to Ismail's pen.{{Sfn|Heß|2020}} The oldest surviving copy of the divan (dated 1535) comprises 262 [[Qasida|''qasidas'']] and [[Ghazal|''ghazals'']], and ten ''[[ruba'i]]s''. The second oldest copy has 254 ''qasidas'' and ''ghazals'', three ''[[mathnawi]]s'', one ''murabba''' and one ''[[musaddas]]''. T. Gandjei argues that the [[Syllabic verse|syllabic]] poems attributed to Khata'i (as opposed to the usual ''[[aruz]]'' ones, based on syllable length) are really the works of [[Bektashi]]-[[Alevi]] poets in Anatolia.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}} Kioumars Ghereghlou states that the author of the divan is "still unknown", citing the fact that Ismail's son [[Sam Mirza]] never referred to his father as the author of the divan in his ''Tuhfa-yi Sami'', a collection of biographies of contemporary Persian poets{{Sfn|Ghereghlou|2011|p=423}} (he does, however, state that his father wrote poetry in Persian and Turkish).{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}

Ismail is considered an important figure in the literary history of Azerbaijani language.{{Sfn|Heß|2020}} According to [[Roger Savory]] and Ahmet Karamustafa, "Ismail was a skillful poet who used prevalent themes and images in lyric and didactic-religious poetry with ease and some degree of originality".{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}} He was also deeply influenced by the [[Persian literature|Persian literary tradition]] of Iran, particularly by the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' of [[Ferdowsi]], which probably explains the fact that he named all of his sons after characters from the ''Shahnameh''. Dickson and Welch suggest that Ismail's "Shahnamaye Shahi" was intended as a present to his young son Tahmasp.{{Sfn|Dickson|Welch|1981|p=34}} After defeating [[Muhammad Shaybani]]'s Uzbeks, Ismail asked [[Hatefi]], a famous poet from [[Ghor Province|Jam (Khorasan)]], to write a ''Shahnameh''-like epic about his victories and his newly established dynasty. Although the epic was left unfinished, it was an example of ''[[mathnawi]]s'' in the heroic style of the ''Shahnameh'' written later on for the Safavid kings.<ref name="savoryeiref">{{harvnb|Savory|2012}}.</ref>

Most of the poems are concerned with love—particularly the [[Mysticism|mystical]] Sufi kind—though there are also poems propagating Shi'i doctrine and [[Safaviya (sufi order)|Safavi]] politics. His other serious works include the ''[[Nasihatnāme]]'', a book of advice sometimes included in his divan, and the unfinished ''[[Dahname|Dahnāme]]'', a book which extols the virtues of love—both written in proto-Azeri Turkic.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}<ref name="literature">{{harvnb|Javadi|Burrill|1998}}.</ref>

Along with the poet [[Imadaddin Nasimi]], Khata'i is considered to be among the first proponents of using a simpler Azerbaijani language in verse that would appeal to a broader audience. His work is most popular in Azerbaijan, as well as among the [[Bektashi]]s of [[Turkey]].{{failed verification|date=June 2023}} There is a large body of Alevi and Bektashi poetry that has been attributed to him.{{failed verification|date=June 2023}} The major impact of his religious writings, in the long run, was the conversion of [[Persia]] from Sunni to Shia Islam.<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/>

Examples of his poems are:{{sfn|Newman|2008|p=13}}{{Sfn|Minorsky|1942|pp=1042a–1043a}}

=== Poetry example 1 ===
{{Blockquote|<poem>
Today I have come to the world as a Master. Know truly that I am Haydar's son.
I am [[Fereydun]], [[Kai Khosrow|Khosrow]], [[Jamshid]], and [[Zahak]]. I am [[Zal]]'s son ([[Rostam]]) and Alexander.
The mystery of I am the truth is hidden in this my heart. I am the Absolute Truth and what I say is Truth.
I belong to the religion of the "Adherent of the Ali" and on the Shah's path I am a guide to every one who says: "I am a Muslim." My sign is the "Crown of Happiness".
I am the [[Solomon's Ring|signet-ring]] on [[Solomon|Sulayman]]'s finger. [[Muhammad]] is made of light, Ali of Mystery.
I am a pearl in the sea of Absolute Reality. 
I am Khatai, the Shah's slave full of shortcomings. 
At thy gate I am the smallest and the last [servant].
</poem>}}

=== Poetry example 2 ===
{{Blockquote|<poem>
My name is Shāh Ismā'īl. I am God's mystery. I am the leader of all these ghāzīs.
My mother is [[Fātimah|Fātima]], my father is '[[Ali]]; and eke I am the [[Pir (Sufism)|Pīr]] of the [[The Twelve Imams|Twelve Imāms]].
I have recovered my father's blood from [[Yazid I|Yazīd]]. Be sure that I am of [[Ali|Haydarian]] essence.
I am the living [[Khidr]] and Jesus, son of Mary. I am the Alexander of (my) contemporaries.
Look you, Yazīd, polytheist and the adept of the Accursed one, I am free from the [[Ka'ba]] of hypocrites.
In me is Prophethood (and) the mystery of Holiness. I follow the path of [[Muhammad|Muhammad Mustafā]].
I have conquered the world at the point of (my) sword. I am the Qanbar of Murtaza 'Ali.
My sire is Safī, my father Haydar. Truly I am the [[Ja'far al-Sadiq|Ja'far]] of the audacious.
I am a [[Husaynid]] and have curses for Yazīd. I am Khatā'ī, a servant of the Shāh's.
</poem>}}

==Architecture==
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=500|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Dar al-Hadith (Ardabil) Panoramic close-up (cleaned up).jpg
| caption1 = ''[[:Commons:Category:Dar al-Hadith (Ardabil)|Dar al-Hadith]]'' ("Hall for the study of the ''[[Hadiths]]''") in the ''[[Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble]]'' in [[Ardabil]]
| image2   = Southern iwan of Imamzadeh Harun-e Velayat.jpg
| caption2 = ''[[Imamzadeh Haroun-e-Velayat|Mausoleum of Harun-e Vilayat]]'' in [[Isfahan]] (1512–1513).{{sfn|Babaie|2003|p=30}}
| footer=
}}
Architectural construction was almost nonexistent during the time of Shah Ismail and his son [[Shah Tahmasp]], especially compared to the previous Timurid era, or the following century under [[Abbas the Great]], probably because of the general instability of the realm which discouraged large and long-term monumental investments.{{sfn|Babaie|2003|pp=28-30}} Many buildings also remained from previous eras, which limited the need for further constructions.{{sfn|Babaie|2003|pp=28-30}} Thus, at Tabriz, the new capital, all the surviving [[Ilkhanid]], [[Jalayirid]], [[Aq Qoyunlu]] and [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] monuments largely satisfied the needs of the Shah and his administration.

It was nevertheless Ismail who made the city of [[Ardabil]] (northern Iran) into a dynastic center and place of pilgrimage, embellishing the [[Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble|Ardabil complex]] surrounding the tomb of [[Safi-ad-Din Ardabili|Shaykh Safi]] and burying there the remains of his father in 1509. Shah Ismail was probably responsible for the construction of the ''[[:Commons:Category:Dar al-Hadith (Ardabil)|Dar al-Hadith]]'' in Ardabil, a hall dedicated to the study of the [[Hadiths]], similar to the old ''[[:Commons:Category:Dar al-Huffaz|Dar al-Huffaz]]'', which served for reciting the [[Koran|Quran]].{{sfn|Babaie|2003|p=32}} More marginally, Ismail is also credited with the restoration of the [[Jameh Mosque of Saveh]], in 1520, of which the exterior decoration has disappeared, but of which the [[mihrab]] combines the use of ancient stucco and a delicate decoration of arabesques in ceramic mosaic. Another mosque of [[Saveh]], the Masjed-e meydan, also received a similar mihrab, dated by inscriptions to between 1510 and 1518.{{sfn|Babaie|2003|pp=28-30}}

[[Durmish Khan Shamlu]], a Turkoman potentate and brother-in-law of Ismail, partially compensated for this lack of construction beginning in 1503. This governor of Isfahan, who lived more often at the court of Tabriz than in his city, left the reins to Mirza Shah Hussein Isfahani, the greatest architect of the period, whom he commissioned and funded to build in Isfahan the ''[[Imamzadeh Haroun-e-Velayat|Mausoleum of Harun-e Vilayat]]'' (1512–1513), and the ''[[:Commons:Category:Ali Mosque (Isfahan)|Ali Mosque]]'' (1522), the only mosque built in Iran in the first half of the 16th century.{{sfn|Babaie|2003|pp=28-30}} The Mausoleum of Harun-e Vilayat is composed of a square chamber under a cupola, a completely traditional design. The cupola rests on a high drum, the [[muqarnas]] filling the octagonal passageway.  Two minarets, now gone, magnified the great porch, while the decor of hazerbaf and the ceramic mosaic, concentrated on the facade, stayed in the Timurid tradition. The facade, punctuated by blind arches, is thus unified by basic decor, as was already the case at the mosque of Yazd. Still, the decorative elements of the Mausoleum of Harun-e Vilayat and their extreme density are already indicative of the ulterior development of Safavid architecture.{{sfn|Babaie|2003|pp=28-30}}

==Appearance and skills==
[[File:Shah Ismail Safavi and Six of His Descendants (Shah Ismail detail). Calligraphy signed Shah Qasim. Mughal India, circa 1650-60.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Portrait of Shah Ismail, from Mughal India, circa 1650-60]]
Ismail was described by contemporaries as having a regal appearance, [[gentleman]]ly in quality and [[youth]]fulness. He also had a [[Light skin|fair complexion]] and [[red hair]].{{sfn|Roemer|1986|p=211}}

An Italian traveller, [[Giovanni Maria Angiolello]], described Ismail as follows:

{{blockquote|This [[Sophy (Safavid Empire)|Sophi]] is fair, handsome, and very pleasing; not very tall, but of a light and well-framed figure; rather stout than slight, with broad shoulders. His hair is reddish; he only wears moustachios, and uses his left hand instead of his right. He is as brave as a game cock, and stronger than any of his lords; in the archery contests, out of the ten apples that are knocked down, he knocks down seven.<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Grey |first1=Charles |last2=Angiolelli |first2=Giovanni Maria degli |last3=Alessnndri |first3=Vincentio d' 16 cent |title=A narrative of Italian travels in Persia, in the fifteenth and sixteen centuries |date=1873 |publisher=London, Printed for the Hakluyt society |page=111 |url=https://archive.org/details/narrativeofitali00greyrich/page/110/mode/2up}}</ref>}}

===Mughal portraiture===
A few Mughal depictions of Shah Ismail are also known, such as ''[[:File:Shah Ismail Safavi and Six of His Descendants. Calligraphy signed Shah Qasim. Mughal India, circa 1650-60.jpg|"Shah Ismail Safavi and Six of His Descendants"]]'', now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar (MIA.2013.109).<ref name="NSK">{{cite book |last1=Sobers-Khan |first1=Nur |title='Building Our Collection: Mughal and Safavid Albums' Museum of Islamic Art, Doha (17 September 2014 - 21 February 2015) |date=17 September 2014 |publisher=Museum of Islamic Art |location=Doha, Qatar |pages=22-24 |url=https://www.academia.edu/8516325/Building_Our_Collection_Mughal_and_Safavid_Albums_Museum_of_Islamic_Art_Doha_17_September_2014_21_February_2015_}}</ref> Shah Ismail Safavi appears seating under a symbolic canopy, together with several of his illustrious descendants from the line of his youger son [[Bahram Mirza Safavi]], who formed a [[cadet branch]] of the Safavid dynasty in the service of the [[Mughal Empire]] that survived there for two centuries and became one of the most prominent families in the Mughal court.<ref name="NSK"/> One of its most prominent members was [[Rustam Mirza Safavi]] (1565–1642), who also appears in the line-up. This painting was in the possession of the rival dynasty of the Mughal.<ref name="NSK"/> This may reflect an intent to document the Safavid dynasty, or even to exert some kind of symbolic influence over it.<ref name="NSK"/>

===European perception===
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 2
| total_width       = 350
| caption_align     = center
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Hysmael Sophus (Shah Ismail imaginary portrait) by Giovio, Paolo, 1483-1552.jpg
| caption1          = Imaginary portrait of Shah Ismail ("''Hysmael Sophus''"), by [[Paolo Giovio]] in his ''Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium'' (1554).<ref name="EA"/><ref name="Petri Pernae"/>
| image2            = Сефи_1й_1629-42.jpg
| caption2          = Idealized European portrait of [[List of monarchs of Persia|Shah]] Ismail I, inscribed "Ismael [[Sophy (Safavid Iran)|Sophy]] Rex [[Name of Iran|Pers]]". [[Italians|Italian]] painter [[Cristofano dell'Altissimo]], 1552–68, after the engraving by Paolo Giovio.{{Sfn|Casale|2023|p=34}}<ref name="EA"/><ref name="Petri Pernae">{{cite book |last1=Giovio |first1=Paolo |last2=Stimmer |first2=Tobias |title=Pavli Iovii novocomensis episcopi nvcerini Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium |date=1575 |publisher=Petri Pernae|location=Basel |page=254 |url=https://archive.org/details/pavliioviinovoco00giov_0/page/254/mode/1up}}</ref>
}}

Europeans made several attempts at a portraiture of Sultan Ismail. [[Paolo Giovio]], in his ''Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium'' (1554),<ref name="Petri Pernae"/> created a gallery of portraits for all the great men of his time, some possibly based on notes from travelers, including a portrait of Sultan Ismail, whom he named "Hysmael Sophus" ("Ismail the Sage").{{Sfn|Casale|2023|p=34}}<ref name="EA">{{cite journal |last1=Aliyev |first1=Elshad |title=Identification of portrait features of Shah Ismail I according to the 16th century European sources |journal=Problems of Arts and Culture. International Scientific Journal |date=1 January 2020 |url=https://www.academia.edu/45145651|pages=42–43}}</ref><ref name="Petri Pernae">{{cite book |last1=Giovio |first1=Paolo |last2=Stimmer |first2=Tobias |title=Pavli Iovii novocomensis episcopi nvcerini Elogia virorum bellica virtute illustrium |date=1575 |publisher=Petri Pernae|location=Basel |page=254 |url=https://archive.org/details/pavliioviinovoco00giov_0/page/254/mode/1up}}</ref>

This portrait engraving was then used as a reference by the [[Italians|Italian]] painter [[Cristofano dell'Altissimo]] between 1552 and 1568 for his famous [[:File:Portrait_of_Shah_Ismail_I._Inscribed_"Ismael_Sophy_Rex_Pers"._Painted_by_Cristofano_dell'Altissimo,_dated_1552-1568.jpg|portrait of Shah Ismail]] in the [[Florence|Florencian style]]. It is thought that this portrait was affected by idealized notions of Shah Ismail as a savior of Christians and Europeans against the Ottomans, complete with rumors of a conversion of Christianity.<ref name="EA"/> It may be for this reason that Shah Ismail's face is idealized in this portrait as "spiritual, nice and bright".<ref name="EA"/>

== Legacy ==
Ismail's greatest legacy was establishing an empire which lasted over 200 years. As Brad Brown states, "The Safavid dynasty would rule for two more centuries [after Ismail's death] and establish the basis for the modern nation-state of Iran."{{Sfn|Mikaberidze|2011|p=432}} Even after the fall of the Safavids in 1736, their cultural and political influence endured through the succeeding dynasties of the [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid]], [[Zand dynasty|Zand]], [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar]], and [[Pahlavi dynasty|Pahlavi]] states and into the contemporary [[Iran|Islamic Republic of Iran]] as well as the neighbouring [[Azerbaijan|Republic of Azerbaijan]], where [[Shia Islam]] is still the dominant religion as it was during the Safavid era.

== In popular culture ==

=== Literature ===
In the Safavid period, the famous Azeri folk romance ''Shah Ismail'' emerged.<ref>{{harvnb|Berengian|1988|p=20: "It was also during the Safavid period that the famous Azeri folk romances – Shah Esmail, Asli-Karam, Ashiq Gharib, Koroghli, which are all considered bridges between local dialects and the classical language – were created and in time penetrated into Ottoman, Uzbek, and Persian literatures. The fact that some of these lyrical and epic romances are in prose may be regarded as another distinctive feature of Azeri compared to Ottoman and Chaghatay literatures."}}</ref> According to Azerbaijani literary critic [[Hamid Arasly]], this story is related to Ismail I. But it is also possible that it is dedicated to Ismail II.

===Places and structures ===
* A district ([[Xətai raion]]), facility,<ref>[http://www5.day.az/news/showbiz/10296.html Отмечен день рождения Шаха Исмаила Хатаи] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041210200829/http://day.az/news/showbiz/10296.html |date=2004-12-10 }}</ref> [[Monument to Shah Ismail Khatai|monument]] (erected in 1993), and [[Şah İsmail Xətai (Baku Metro)|metro station]] in [[Baku, Azerbaijan]]
* A street in [[Ganja, Azerbaijan]]

===Statues===
* A statue in [[Ardabil, Iran]] (in the [[Azerbaijan region]] of Iran)
*A statue in [[Baku]], [[Azerbaijan]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.president.az/articles/36015|title=Ilham Aliyev visited newly-built park where statue of Shah Ismail Khatai was moved|website=Official web-site of President of Azerbaijan|language=en|access-date=2020-03-06}}</ref>
* A sculpture in [[Khachmaz (city)|Khachmaz, Azerbaijan]]
*A bust in [[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]], [[Azerbaijan]]

=== Music ===
''Shah Ismayil'' is the name of an [[Azerbaijan]]i [[mugham]] opera in 6 acts and 7 scenes composed by [[Muslim Magomayev (composer)|Muslim Magomayev]],<ref>{{Cite news
| title=Опера "Шах Исмаил"
| url=http://www.citylife.az/content.php?lang=ru&et=2&nid=439
| publisher=citylife.az
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105185539/http://citylife.az/content.php?lang=ru&et=2&nid=439
| archive-date=2016-11-05
| url-status=dead
}}</ref> in 1915–19.{{Sfn|Abasova|1976}}

=== Other ===
[[Shah Ismail Order]] (the highest [[Azerbaijani Armed Forces|Azerbaijani military]] award presented by the Commander-in-chief and [[President of the Republic of Azerbaijan|President of Azerbaijan]])

== Issue ==

===Sons===
[[File:Portrait of Shah Tahmasp at the Celebration of Id. Cartier Hafiz. Circa 1531.jpg|thumb|upright|Contemporary portrait of [[Shah Tahmasp]], son of Shah Ismail. ''[[Cartier Hafiz]]'', painted circa 1531.{{sfn|Blair|2014|pp=240-241}}]]
[[File:Likely depiction of Soltanum. The Princely Lovers, attributable to Mirza Ali. Qazvin, circa 1544.jpg|thumb|upright|Likely depiction of [[Mahinbanu Sultan|Mahinbanu Soltanum]], daughter of Shah Ismail. Qazvin, circa 1544.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Soudavar |first1=Abolala |title=Art of the Persian courts : selections from the Art and History Trust Collection |date=1992 |publisher=New York : Rizzoli |isbn=978-0-8478-1660-6 |pages=170–173 |url=https://archive.org/details/artofpersiancour0000soud/page/172/mode/2up}}</ref>]]
*[[Tahmasp I]] – with [[Tajlu Khanum]]. 
* [[Alqas Mirza|'Abul Ghazi Sultan Alqas Mirza]] (15 March 1515&nbsp;– 9 April 1550) Governor of [[Astrabad]] 1532/33–1538, [[Shirvan]] 1538–1547 and [[Derbent]] 1546–1547. He rebelled against his brother Tahmasp with [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] help. Captured and imprisoned at the Fortress of [[Qahqaheh Castle|Qahqahan]]. He had a consort, Khadija Sultan Khanum, and two sons, 
** Ahmad Mirza (died 1568)  
** Farukh Mirza (died 1568)
* Rustam Mirza (born 13 September 1517)
* [[Sam Mirza Safavi|'Abul Naser Sultan Sam Mirza]] (28 August 1518 – December 1567) Governor-General of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] 1521–1529 and 1532–1534, and of [[Ardabil]] 1549–1571. He rebelled against his brother Tahmasp, captured and imprisoned at the Fortress of Qahqahan. He had two sons and one daughter. His daughter married [[Prince Jesse of Kakheti]] (died 1583) Governor of [[Shaki, Azerbaijan|Shaki]], the third son of Georgian king [[Levan of Kakheti]].
* [[Bahram Mirza Safavi|'Abu'l Fat'h Sultan Moez od-din Bahram Mirza]] (7 September 1518&nbsp;– 16 September 1550) – with Tajlu Khanum. Governor of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] 1529–1532, Gilan 1536–1537 and [[Hamadan]] 1546–1549. He married Zainab Sultan Khanum and had three sons: 
** [[Soltan Hosayn Mirza Safavi|Soltan Hosayn Mirza]] (died 1577)  
** [[Ibrahim Mirza]] (1541–1577), 
** [[Badi-al Zaman Mirza Safavi|Badi uz-Zaman Mirza]] (''k.''1577)
* Hussein Mirza (born 11 December 1520)

===Daughters===
*[[Parikhan Khanum (1506-1540)|Parikhan Khanum]] – with Tajlu Khanum,<ref name="Iran Society 1960">{{cite book | last=Iran Society (Calcutta | first=India) | title=Indo-iranica | publisher=Iran Society. | issue=v. 13, nos. 1–3 | year=1960 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hkZIAAAAMAAJ | language=sl | access-date=2021-11-25 }}</ref> married in 1520–21 to [[Shirvanshah]] [[Khalilullah II]];<ref name="Youssef-Jamālī 2013">{{harvnb|Youssef-Jamali|1981|pp=353–360}}</ref>
*[[Mahinbanu Sultan|Mahinbanu Khanum]] – with Tajlu Khanum<ref name="Iran Society 1960"/> (1519 – 20 January 1562, buried in [[Qom]]),<ref name="Youssef-Jamālī 2013"/> unmarried;<ref name="Rastegar Vanzan 2007">{{harvnb|Rastegar|Vanzan|2007|p=65}}.</ref>
*Khanish Khanum<ref name="Iran Society 1960"/> (1507–563, buried in [[Imam Husayn Shrine]], [[Karbala]]), married to Shah Nur-al Din Nimatullah Baqi,<ref name="Youssef-Jamālī 2013"/> and had a son named Mirmiran and a daughter;{{Sfn|Jahangir|1999|p=88}}
*Khair al-Nisa Khanum (died at Masuleh, 13 March 1532, and buried in [[Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble|Sheikh Safi al-Din tomb]], [[Ardabil]]), married on 5 September 1517 to Amira Dubbaj, ruler of Gilan and Fuman;<ref name="Youssef-Jamālī 2013"/>
*Shah Zainab Khanum;<ref name="Youssef-Jamālī 2013"/><ref name="Iran Society 1960"/>
*Nakira Khanum;<ref name="Youssef-Jamālī 2013"/>
*Farangis Khanum;<ref name="Youssef-Jamālī 2013"/><ref name="Iran Society 1960"/>

== Ancestry ==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Ismail I'''
|2= 2. [[Haydar Safavi Sultan|Sheikh Heydar Safavi]]
|3= 3. [[Alemshah Halime Begum]]
|4= 4. [[Sheikh Junāyd|Sheikh Junāyd Safavi]]
|5= 5. Khadijeh Khatun
|6= 6. [[Uzun Hassan|Uzun Hassan, Ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu]]
|7= 7. [[Despina Khatun|Theodora of Trebizond]]
|8= 8. Sheikh Ibrahim Safavi
|10= 10. [[Ali Beg (Aq Qoyunlu)|Ali Beyg, Ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu]] (= 12)
|11= 11. [[Sara Khatun]] (= 13)
|12= 12. Ali Beyg, Ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu (= 10)
|13= 13. [[Sara Khatun]] (= 11)
|14= 14. [[John IV of Trebizond]]
|15= 15. [[Bagrationi, wife of John IV of Trebizond|Bagrationi]]
|16= 16. [[Khvajeh Ali Safavi]]
|20= 20. [[Kara Osman|Qara Yuluk Osman, Ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu]] (= 24)
|21= 21. Daughter of [[Alexios III of Trebizond]] (= 25)
|24= 24. [[Kara Osman|Qara Yuluk Osman, Ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu]] (= 20)
|25= 25. Daughter of [[Alexios III of Trebizond]] (= 21)
|28= 28. [[Alexios IV of Trebizond]]
|29= 29. [[Theodora Kantakouzene (wife of Alexios IV of Trebizond)|Theodora Kantakouzene]]
|30= 30. [[Alexander I of Georgia]]
|22= 22. Pir Ali Bayandur (= 26)
|23=
|26= 26. Pir Ali Bayandur (= 22)
|27=
|31= 31. Dulandukht Orbeliani}}

== See also ==
{{portal bar|Iran|Biography|Shia Islam|Monarchy|Royalty|Poetry}}
*[[Campaigns of Ismail I]]
*[[Iranian Azerbaijanis]]
* [[Safavid dynasty family tree]]
* [[List of Turkic-languages poets]]
* [[Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism#Ismail I|Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism]]
* [[Seven Great Poets]]
{{Clear}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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* {{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Savory |author-first=Roger |author-link=Roger Savory |year=2012 |orig-date=1995 |title=Ṣafawids |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor4-last=Lewis |editor4-first=B. |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |editor6-last=Schacht |editor6-first=J. |editor6-link=Joseph Schacht |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam#2nd edition, EI2|Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition]] |location=Leiden |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=8 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0964 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4}}
* {{cite book|first=Alireza Shapur |last=Shahbazi |author-link=Alireza Shapur Shahbazi|year=2005 |chapter=The History of the Idea of Iran |editor-first=Vesta |editor-last=Curtis |title=Birth of the Persian Empire|publisher=I.B. Tauris|location=London}}
* {{cite book|first=Stanford Jay |last=Shaw |author-link=Stanford J. Shaw |title=History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey|volume=1 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1976|isbn=0-521-21280-4}}
* {{cite book|last1=Sicker|first1=Martin|title=The Islamic World in Ascendancy: From the Arab Conquests to the Siege of Vienna|date=2000|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0275968922}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sinclair |first=T. A. |title=Eastern Turkey: An Architectural & Archaeological Survey |publisher=Pindar Press |year=1989 |isbn=9781904597759 |volume=2}}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online | article = ʿAbd-al-Bāqī Yazdī | last = Soucek | first = P. P. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abd-al-baqi-yazdi-safavid-official-and-poet-killed-at-calderan-august-1514 |volume=1|fascicle=1| pages = 105–106 | year = 1982 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Streusand |first=Douglas E. |title=Islamic Gunpowder Empires: Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals |date=2010 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-8133-9194-6 |location=Boulder}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAzGTtWlp7gC|title=Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of the Shahsevan|last=Tapper|first=Richard|date=1997|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521583367}}
* {{cite thesis| last=Youssef-Jamali | first=Mohammad Karim | title=Life and Personality of S̲hāh Ismāʻīl I (1487–1524) |url=https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/7526|degree=PhD|date=1981|publisher=University of Edinburgh}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==

* {{Commons-inline}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Safavid dynasty]]||17 July 1487||23 May 1524}}
{{s-roy|ir}}
{{S-new|creation}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of monarchs of Persia|Shah of Iran]]|years=1501–1524}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Tahmasp I]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Safavid Rulers}}
{{Persian literature}}
{{Azerbaijani Turkic literature}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ismail 01}}
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