Ismail
Ismail
(ĭsmäēl`), 1486–1524, shah of Persia (1502–24), founder of the SafavidSafavid, Iranian dynasty (1499–1736), that established Shiite Islam in Iran as an official state religion. The Safavid state provided both the territorial and societal foundations of modern Iran.
..... Click the link for more information. dynasty. He restored Persia to the position of a sovereign state for the first time since the Arab invasion of Persia. Ismail established the ShiiteShiites
[Arab., shiat Ali,=the party of Ali], the second largest branch of Islam, Shiites currently account for 10%–15% of all Muslims. Shiite Islam originated as a political movement supporting Ali (cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam) as the
..... Click the link for more information. form of Islam as the state religion; this gained him the animosity of the Uzbeks and the Ottoman Turks, who were Sunni Muslims. He warred on the Uzbeks successfully in 1510, and Selim ISelim I
(Selim the Grim) , 1467–1520, Ottoman sultan (1512–20). He ascended the throne of the Ottoman Empire by forcing the abdication of his father, Beyazid II, and by killing his brothers.
..... Click the link for more information. attacked him in 1514, thus initiating a long series of border wars between the Ottoman Turks and the Persians.