The Study On The Structure Of The Safavid Legitimacy

The safavid dynasty,which lasted for more than 200 years from its establishment in 1502 to its demise in 1722,is the longest autocratic dynasty in Iran since the Great Conquer.The first king of the dynasty,Ismail I,relied on the safavid sufi order founded by the safavid ancestors,attracted a large number of followers by its religious beliefs,and established his rule by military means over the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty and the Shirvanshahs.Religion became the foundation of safavid dynasty,which took the twelver of shi 'ite as the state religion,and laid the foundation for the religious pattern of shi 'ite Islam in the current Iran.The followers of the safavid dynasty that followed ismaili I were mainly turkmen nomadic tribes who formed the main military force after the safavid dynasty was established.The upper echelons of these nomadic tribes held many of the main posts in the dynastic central government and had the task of educating princes,posing a threat to the "absolute" monarchy enjoyed by shah in the early days of the dynasty.The majority of the population in the safavid region was a settled urban population known as the "Tajiks",of whom the "diwan" class was skilled in administrative matters and was largely employed as civil servants in important positions in the financial and religious fields.In order to stabilize his rule,how to reconcile the turkman-tajik ethnic conflict and win the support of both groups at the same time became the main political contradiction faced by each safawi monarch.Abbas I took a series of means to solve threat to the throne,which caused by turkmen military aristocrats.He supported Caucasian ethnic group,whom descents from Georgia,Armenia,and tajik ethnic group to suppress turkmen military aristocracy.And he furthered the religious theory and religious system standardization to get rid of the cult of sufi religious heritage,ultimately attained the balance of several big politics contradiction in Safavid dynasty,and remodeled the legitimacy of the dynasty.The Safavid dynasty came to its heyday under the reign of Abbas I.However,the reform of Abbas I failed to resolve the contradictions of safavid dynasty at root.After his death,his reform measures were further advanced in the hands of his successor,and the shia religious authority became less dependent on the royal power and had more political influence.The old ruling class faction struggle tends to ease,formed the new court politics faction.However,the safavid regime became a tool for the "spoils" of various factions' interests and fell into a long-term decline.It was unable to cope with the challenge of social crisis from inside and outside the regime and lacked the motivation for transformation.Finally,it was destroyed by the Afghan Hotak tribal uprising and invasion in 1722.