Shah Ismail I, the Founder of the Safavid Dynasty

Compiled by: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 25th of the Islamic month of Rajab in 892 AH, Shah Ismael I, the Founder of the Safavid dynasty, was born in Ardabil, northwestern Iran. His father Haidar was head of the Safaviyya Sufi order established by his venerable ancestor Safi od-Din Ardebeli. His mother, Martha, was the daughter of the Aq Qoyonlu king, Uzun Hasan by his Greek wife Theodora, better known as Despina Khatoun, the daughter of King John IV of Trebizond. Ismail was only a year old when his father was martyred in Daghestan, and at the age of 7 years he succeeded his elder brother Sultan Ali, who was also martyred by the Aq Qoyonlu.
He went into hiding along with his loyal followers before emerging at the age of 12 years to take over Azerbaijan. Soon he was joined by thousands of devotees of the Safaviyya order and gradually took control of all of today's Iran, as well as Iraq, the Caucasus, parts of Central Asia, and western Afghanistan. He declared the School of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt as the state religion of the Safavid Empire, and to Shah Ismail and his successors, who ruled for 235 years, goes the credit of giving Iran its present religious, cultural, lingual and national identity and unity.
On May 23 in 1524 AD, Shah Ismail I, the Founder of the Safavid Dynasty, passed away at the age of 37 after a reign of 23 years. He was an adventurous personality, and is considered the person who gave to Iran its present national and religious identity. The dynasty founded by him lasted 235 years and revived Iran's Islamic glories in science, art, architecture, philosophy, culture, Persian literature, and promotion of the teachings of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt.
Ismail, as a direct descendant and successor of the famous mystic, Safi od-Din Ardabeli, traced his lineage to Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) through Hamza, a son of the 7th Infallible Imam, Musa al-Kazem (AS). Hence he wielded spiritual influence outside Iran as well amongst the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt in Iraq, Syria, Anatolia (modern Turkey), the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Deccan Plateau of India.
The Timurid prince, Babur, who later founded the Mughal Empire in northern India, regarded Shah Ismail as his suzerain, and so did the Deccan Sultanates of Yusuf Adil Shah of Bijapur and Sultan Quli Qutb Shah of Golconda. For this reason, the Ottomans and Uzbeks were his mortal enemies, whose political ambitions, he decisively checked despite the setback he suffered in the Battle of Chaldiran against the former. Shah Ismail was an accomplished poet in both Persian and his native Azeri Turkish, and wrote under the penname of “Khatai”. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Shah Tahmasp I, who further consolidated Iran during his rule of 52 long years.