Šāhanšāh-i Īrān (King of Kings of Iran)[1][2][3] Ẓellollāh (Shadow of God)[4] Ṣāḥeb-i Qerān-i ʿAlāʾ (Supreme Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction)[5]
Shah Abbas I in a 16th or 17th century portrait[6]
Shah of Iran
Reign
1 October 1587 – 19 January 1629
Coronation
1588
Predecessor
Mohammad Khodabanda
Successor
Safi
Born
27 January 1571 Herat, Safavid Iran (modern-day Afghanistan)
Died
19 January 1629 (aged 57) Behshahr, Mazandaran, Safavid Iran
Burial
Mausoleum of Shah Abbas I, Kashan, Iran
Consort
Oghlan Pasha Khanum
Yakhan Begum
Fakhr Jahan Begum
Princess Marta
Fatima Sultan Begum
Tamar Amilakhori
Issue
See below
Names
English: Abbas the Great Persian: عباس بزرگ
Dynasty
Safavid
Father
Mohammad Khodabanda
Mother
Khayr al-Nisa Begum
Religion
Shia Islam
Abbas I (Persian: عباس یکم, romanized: ʿAbbās; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (Persian: عباس بزرگ, romanized: ʿAbbās-e Bozorg), was the fifth shah of Safavid Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of Iranian history and the Safavid dynasty.
Although Abbas would preside over the apex of Safavid Iran's military, political and economic power, he came to the throne during a troubled time for the country. Under the ineffective rule of his father, the country was riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed Abbas' mother and elder brother. Meanwhile, Iran's enemies, the Ottoman Empire (its archrival) and the Uzbeks, exploited this political chaos to seize territory for themselves. In 1588, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Qoli Khan, overthrew Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne. However, Abbas soon seized power for himself.
Under his leadership, Iran developed the ghilman system where thousands of Circassian, Georgian, and Armenian slave-soldiers joined the civil administration and the military. With the help of these newly created layers in Iranian society (initiated by his predecessors but significantly expanded during his rule), Abbas managed to eclipse the power of the Qizilbash in the civil administration, the royal house, and the military. These actions, as well as his reforms of the Iranian army, enabled him to fight the Ottomans and Uzbeks and reconquer Iran's lost provinces, including Kakheti whose people he subjected to widescale massacres and deportations. By the end of the 1603–1618 Ottoman War, Abbas had regained possession over Transcaucasia and Dagestan, as well as swaths of Eastern Anatolia and Mesopotamia. He also took back land from the Portuguese and the Mughals and expanded Iranian rule and influence in the North Caucasus, beyond the traditional territories of Dagestan.
Abbas was a great builder and moved his kingdom's capital from Qazvin to Isfahan, making the city the pinnacle of Safavid architecture. In his later years, following a court intrigue involving several leading Circassians, Abbas became suspicious of his own sons and had them killed or blinded.
^George Lenczowski, "Iran under the Pahlavis", Hoover Institution Press, 1978, p. 79
^Stefan Sperl, C. Shackle, Nicholas Awde, "Qasida poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa", Brill Academic Pub; Set Only edition (February 1996), p. 193
^Heinz Halm, Janet Watson, Marian Hill, Shi'ism, translated by Janet Watson, Marian Hill, Edition: 2, illustrated, published by Columbia University Press, 2004, p. 80
^Quinn 2015, chpt. Shah Abbas and political legitimacy'
^Quinn 2015, chpt.Shah Abbas as the 'Supreme Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'
Abbas I (Persian: عباس یکم, romanized: ʿAbbās; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as AbbastheGreat (Persian: عباس بزرگ, romanized: ʿAbbās-e...
Abbas I may refer to: AbbastheGreat (1571–1629), Shah of Persia Abbas I of Egypt (1812–1854), Wāli of Egypt and Sudan Abbas (name) This disambiguation...
Bandar Abbas (Persian: بندر عباس; pronounced [bændæɾ æbːɑs] ) is a city in the Central District of Bandar Abbas County, Hormozgan province, Iran, serving...
Look up Abbas or abbas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Abbas may refer to: Abbas (name), list of people with the name, including: Abbas ibn Ali (645–680)...
Abbas II (Persian: عباس دوم, romanized: ʿAbbās II; born Soltan Mohammad Mirza; 30 August 1632 – 26 October 1666) was the seventh Shah of Safavid Iran,...
throughout history the current shrine dates back to the mid Safavid period. Its construction began in 1621 under the orders of Shah AbbastheGreat and was completed...
July 2011). "ʿABBĀS I". Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. I. pp. 71–75. Retrieved 8 August 2023. "Jalal al-Din Muhammad Akbar (Akbar theGreat)". British Museum...
1604-1605 by the order of Shah AbbastheGreat during the Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618). Among the deported population (about 350,000 people), the largest...
centuries. Under the Safavid dynasty, Isfahan became the capital of Persia, for the second time in its history, under Shah AbbastheGreat. The city retains...
Caucasians. The implementation of this branch would be completed and significantly widened under AbbastheGreat (Abbas I). According to the Encyclopædia...
known in the West as Safi Mirza (صفیمیرزا) (15 September 1587, Mashhad – 2 February 1614, Rasht) was the oldest son of Shah AbbastheGreat (r. 1588-1629)...
Murshid (2024). Bilal Abbas Khan was born on 4 June 1993 into an Urdu-speaking Pashtun family in Karachi, Sindh. His father, Sohail Abbas, served as DSP in...
with the Treaty of Amasya. Though Mesopotamia and Eastern Anatolia were eventually reconquered by the Safavids under the reign of Shah AbbastheGreat (r...
Abbas Helmy II (also known as ʿAbbās Ḥilmī Pāshā, Egyptian Arabic: عباس حلمي باشا) (14 July 1874 – 19 December 1944) was the last Khedive of Egypt and...
Azerbaijan) in the 13th century. In the early 17th century, AbbastheGreat moved many Afshars from Azerbaijan to Khorasan to defend the north-eastern...
Abbas Ansari (born 12 February 1992) is the current MLA of Mau Assembly constituency. Abbas Ansari won the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election...
Syed Zaheer Abbas Kirmani PP, (in Punjabi and Urdu: سید ظہیر عباس کرمانی; born 24 July 1947), popularly known as Zaheer Abbas, is a Pakistani former cricketer...
Overview of the Economic Status of the Safavid Era on the Basis of Silver Coins, Case Study: Shah Abbas II and Sultan Hussein Shah 'Abbas – Ruling an...
was ruled by the Portuguese Empire from 1521 until 1602, when they were expelled by Shah AbbastheGreat of the Safavid Iran. In 1783, the Bani Utbah and...
of the later Iranian kings, such as AbbastheGreat, king of the Safavid Empire in the 17th-century AD. Starting from 498 BC, Xerxes resided in the royal...
defending Husayn. Abbas is regarded by Shia Muslims as an ultimate paragon of courage and self-sacrifice. The shrine of Abbas and the nearby mausoleum...
Zara Noor Abbas Gill (Urdu: زارا نور عباس), also known by her married name Zara Noor Abbas Siddiqui, is a Pakistani actress. She is best known for her...
his great collection of porcelain items and loyal service to Shah Abbas I. Qarachaqay Khan was killed while commanding an expedition against the Georgian...
მართა) was a Georgian princess royal of the Bagrationi dynasty, and a wife of the Safavid Iranian king (shah) Abbas I (r. 1588–1629). Marta was a daughter...
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