Roman occupation of Britain, £8.99
Shah 'Abbas – Life and legacy
Shah 'Abbas I died in
January 1629. His reign had left Iran stable, strong and powerful
and secured the survival of the Safavid dynasty for nearly 100
years after his death. He was succeeded by his grandson, Shah
Safi.
When Shah Safi died in 1642, his eight-year-old son, Shah 'Abbas II succeeded him. The last two Safavid Shahs, Sulayman and Sultan Husayn, were weak and ineffective rulers, and by 1722 the dynasty fell and Iran was under the rule of Afghans.
After the fall of his dynasty, Shah 'Abbas’s
reputation declined in Iran. 
However,
thanks to his economic reforms and artistic renaissance, his
country had entered the collective imaginations of Europe and
Mughal India. Indians placed images of him in albums alongside the
great Mughal emperors, from Babur to Shah Jahan. European
travellers’ accounts of journeys to Iran include illustrations of
Shah 'Abbas, recognisable by the extreme length of his moustache
and his extravagant turban. In English literature the Safavid shahs
appear in the works of Shakespeare and other Elizabethan
writers.
Isfahan
remained the capital of the Safavids until their fall in the
eighteenth century and continued to impress foreign visitors with
its remarkable architecture, cosmopolitan population, and public
entertainment. Yet Shah 'Abbas’s legacy is found in more than just
the built environment. He left an equally far-reaching mark on the
society, religion and political geography of Iran.
The Ottomans would later reoccupy Baghdad and
the Shi'i shrines of Iraq but Iran’s borders, established by Shah
'Abbas, remained otherwise more or less intact. The silk trade
continued to play a crucial role in the economy, and his support of
religious leaders led to a more just society and ultimately gave
political power to the ʿulama (religious
scholars).
Today, Shah 'Abbas is remembered as the builder of Iran’s most beautiful city, known in Persian since the seventeenth century as Isfahan nesf-e jahan, which translates as ‘Isfahan is half the world’.
But by combining ruthless ambition and a desire for stability, Shah 'Abbas ensured the survival of his dynasty after his death, and by creating such a city he made sure that the rest of the world would remember him and his empire.
More information about the objects featured here (from top):
- Countermarked silver 'abbasi coin of Shah 'Abbas II
- Portrait of Shah 'Abbas hawking
- Dominicus Custos, a bust portrait of Shah 'Abbas I