154 • 9 FIREARMS, SLAVES, AND EMPIRESThe Safavid Zenith
The Safavids' drive to conquer the rest of the Muslim world shifted to cre¬
ating a good life for themselves. Tabriz, Qazvin, and finally Isfahan became
the capitals of their empire. Each in turn became a center for artists, ar¬
tisans, and (most conspicuously) architects. Isfahan was a dazzling and
beautiful city. Even now, its mosques, bazaars, madrasas, and palaces are
eloquent testimony to the opulent lifestyle of the Safavid shahs. But Isfahan
is better seen, even on a Web site, than read about in a textbook. As the Per¬
sians say, Isfahan nisf-i-jehan, or "Isfahan is half the world."
The reign of Shah Abbas I (1587-1629) was the zenith of Safavid wealth
and power. Earlier shahs had been manipulated by the kizilbash tribal
chiefs, but Abbas brought them to heel by executing anyone he suspected of
plotting against him and by seizing much of their agricultural land. Like
many earlier Muslim rulers, Abbas brought in slave boys (called ghulams in
Persian) to be indoctrinated and trained as salaried warriors and adminis¬
trators. In the Safavid case, they were mainly Armenian and Georgian
Christians, not all of whom converted to Shi'ism. Abbas hoped to set up a
balance between his aristocracy (the kizilbash) and this new corps of ghu¬
lams, each competing to serve the Safavid state. Like the Ottoman sultans,
the Safavids divided their government into branches: the royal household,
the state administration, the military corps, and the religious-judicial sys¬
tem. Each branch contained two or more dignitaries competing for the
shah's favor, giving him more leverage. This governmental system was not
unique to this era; Persia's hierarchy can be traced back to the early caliphs,
the Sasanids, and even the Achaemenids.
The Europeans courted Abbas. He brought in English advisers to train
his ghulams to use cannons and pistols, strengthening the Safavid army
against the Ottomans. Because of the hostility between the Christian West
and the Ottoman Empire, every European country that hoped to be a naval
and commercial power sent envoys and merchants to Isfahan, seeking Ab-
bas's help against Istanbul. Spain, Portugal, France, England, and Holland
had representatives at his court. Even Catholic missionaries entered Safavid
Persia. Was Shah Abbas a new Prester John?
Certainly not. Abbas was a great Muslim ruler like Harun al-Rashid or
Suleyman the Magnificent. His reign marked a turning point in the his¬
tory of his dynasty (as had theirs). Significant changes were taking place
within the Shi'i religious establishment as the Sufis who had formerly led
the rulers and people lost their power and influence to the ulama. Among
the ulama, too, the earlier school, which had based its doctrinal and legal
decisions heavily on the Quran and the prophetic sunna, gave way to one
that accorded far-reaching authority to the mujtahids (legists) to interpret