Shah Abbas I (شاه عباس اول) (January 27, 1571?-January 19, 1629?) was the most eminent ruler of the Safavid Dynasty. He was also known as Shah Abbas the Great (شاه عباس بزرگ). In early October, 1588 he became shah, by revolting against his father, Mohammad of Safavid , and imprisoning him.
In the midst of general anarchy in Persia, he was proclaimed ruler of Khorasan in 1581, and obtained possession of the Persian throne with the help of Morshed Gholi Ostajlou , whom he later killed in July, 1589. Determined to raise the fallen fortunes of his country, he first directed his efforts against the predatory Uzbeks, who occupied and harassed Khorasan. After a long and severe struggle, he regained Mashhad, defeated them in a great battle near Herat in 1597, and drove them out of his dominions.
He moved his capital from Qazvin to Isfahan in 1592. A few years later, in 1599, the Englishman Sir Robert Shirley directed a major army reform. With his new army, he defeated the Ottoman Turks in 1603, forcing them to give back the territory they had seized, including Baghdad. In 1605 following a victory at Basra he extended his empire beyond the Euphrates; Sultan Ahmed I was forced to cede Shirvan and Kurdistan in 1611; the united armies of the Turks and Tatars were completely defeated near Sultanieh in 1618, and Abbas made peace on very favourable terms; and on the Turks renewing the war, Baghdad fell into his hands after a year's siege in 1623. In 1622 he took the island of Hormus from the Portuguese, by the assistance of the British, and much of its trade was diverted to the town of Bandar Abbas which he had taken from the Portuguese in 1615 and had named after himself.
Shah Abbas I embracing his wine boy. Painting by Muhammad Qasim, 1627. The poem reads “May life grant all that you desire from three lips, those of your lover, the river, and the cup.” Louvre, Paris
Last updated: 02-19-2005 12:37:33