Editing Tahmasp I (section)

== Background ==
Tahmasp was the second shah of the Safavid dynasty, a family of [[Kurds|Kurdish]] origin,{{Sfn|Amoretti|Matthee|2009}} who were [[sheikh]]s of a [[Sufism|Sufi]] {{transliteration|ar|[[tariqa]]}} (school of Sufism) known as the [[Safavid order]] and centred in [[Ardabil]], a city in the northwestern Iran.{{Sfn|Matthee|2008}} The first sheikh of the order and eponym of the dynasty, [[Safi-ad-din Ardabili]] (d. 1334), married the daughter of [[Zahed Gilani]] (d. 1301) and became the master of his father-in-law's order, the [[Zahediyeh]].{{Sfn|Babinger|Savory|1995}} Two of Safi-ad-Din's descendants, [[Shaykh Junayd]] (d. 1460) and his son, [[Shaykh Haydar]] (d. 1488), made the order more militant and unsuccessfully tried to expand their domain.{{Sfn|Matthee|2008}}

Tahmasp's father, [[Ismail I]] ({{reign|1501|1524}}), who inherited the leadership the Safavid order from his brother, [[Ali Mirza Safavi|Ali Mirza]], became shah of Iran in 1501, a state mired in civil war after the collapse of the [[Timurid Empire]]. He conquered the territories of the [[Aq Qoyunlu]] tribal [[confederation]], the lands of the [[Descent from Genghis Khan|Chinggisid]]{{Sfn|Schwarz|2021|p=357}} (Descendant of Genghis Khan) [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] [[Shaybanids|Shaybanid]] dynasty in the eastern Iran, and many city-states by 1512.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}} Ismail's realm included the whole territory of modern [[Iran]], in addition to sovereignty over [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Armenia]], [[Daghestan]], and [[Shirvan]] in the west, and [[Herat]] in the east.{{sfn|Rayfield|2013|p=165–166}} Unlike his Sufist ancestors, Ismail believed in [[Twelver Shi’ism|Twelver Shia Islam]] and made it the official religion of the realm.{{Sfn|Savory|Gandjeï|2007}} He [[forced conversion]] on the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] population by abolishing Sunni Sufi orders, seizing their property, and giving the Sunni {{transliteration|ar|[[ulama]]}} (Islamic clergymen) a choice of conversion, death, or exile.{{Sfn|Brown|2009|p=235}} From this, a [[power vacuum]] emerged which allowed the Shia {{transliteration|ar|ulama}} to create a clerical aristocracy filled with {{transliteration|ar|[[Sayyid|seyyid]]}} (descendant of [[Muhammad]]) and {{transliteration|ar|[[Independent legal reasoning in Islamic law#Qualifications of a mujtahid|mujtahid]]}} (Islamic scholar expert in the [[Sharia|Islamic law]]) landowners.{{Sfn|Savory|Bruijn|Newman|Welch|2012}}

Ismail established the [[Qizilbash]] [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkoman]] tribes as inseparable members of the Safavid administration since they were the "men of the sword" who brought him to power.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}{{Sfn|Bakhash|1983}} These "men of the sword" clashed with the other major part of his bureaucracy, the "men of the pen", who controlled the literati and were mainly [[Persians|Persian]]. Ismail created the title of {{transliteration|fa|[[Vakil|vakil-e nafs-e nafs-e homayoun]]}} (deputy to the king) to resolve the dispute.{{Sfn|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}} The title of {{Transliteration|Fa|vakil}} surpassed both the {{Transliteration|Ar|amir al-umara}} (commander-in-chief; mostly bestowed upon Qizilbash leaders), and the {{Transliteration|Ar|[[vizier]]}} (minister and head of the bureaucracy) in authority. The holder of the title was the [[vicegerent]] of Ismail and represented him in the royal court.{{Sfn|Berg|2022|p=298–299}} The creation of this new superior title could not cease the clashes between the Qizilbash leaders and Persian bureaucrats, which eventually climaxed in the [[Battle of Ghazdewan]] between the Safavids and the Uzbeks, in which Ismail's {{transliteration|fa|vakil}}, the Persian [[Najm-e Sani]], commended the army. The Uzbek victory, during which Najm was captured and executed afterwards, was the result of the desertion of many of the Qizilbash.{{Sfn|Mazzaoui|2002}}

The Uzbeks of [[Khanate of Bukhara|Bukhara]] were a recurring problem on the Iranian eastern borders. The Safavids and the Shaybanids rose to power almost simultaneously at the turn of the sixteenth century.{{Sfn|Schwarz|2021|p=359}} By 1503, when Ismail I had taken possession of large parts of the [[Iranian plateau]], [[Muhammad Shaybani]], Khan of Bukhara ({{reign|1500|1510}}), had conquered [[Khwarazm]] and [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]. Ismail defeated and killed Muhammad Shaybani in the [[Battle of Marv]] in 1510, returning Khorasan to Iranian possession, though Khwarazm and the [[Persianate society|Persianate]] cities in [[Transoxiana]] remained in Uzbek hands.{{Sfn|Schwarz|2021|p=359}} Thereafter the possession of Khorasan became the main bone of contention between Safavids and Shaybanids.{{Sfn|Schwarz|2021|p=359}}

In 1514, Ismail's prestige and authority were damaged by his loss in the [[Battle of Chaldiran]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Before the war with the Ottomans, Ismail promoted himself as a reincarnation of [[Ali]] or [[Husayn ibn Ali|Husayn]].{{Sfn|Mitchell|2009a|p=32}} This belief weakened after Chaldiran, and Ismail lost his theological-religious relationship with the disappointed Qizilbash tribes who had previously seen him as invincible.{{Sfn|Roemer|2008|p=225}} This affected Ismail, who began [[Alcoholism|drinking heavily]] and never again led an army; this permitted the seizure of power by the Qizilbash tribes which overshadowed Tahmasp's early reign.<ref>{{harvnb|Mitchell|2009b}}; {{harvnb|Savory|Karamustafa|1998}}.</ref>