Iran under the Safavids

Abstract

List of illustrations Map Acknowledgements 1. The Lords of Ardabil 2. Theocratic state: the reign of Shah Isma'il I (1501-1524) 3. Internal dissensions and external foes: the Safavid state from 1524 to 1588 4. The Safavid empire at the height of its power under Shah 'Abbas the Great (1588-1629) 5. Relations with the West during the Safavid period 6. The flowering of the arts under the Safavids 7. 'Isfahan is half the world' - Shah 'Abbas's Isfahan 8. The social and economic structure of the Safavid state 9. Intellectual life under the Safavids 10. Decline and fall of the Safavids Notes Index.