Safavid Empire

The Safavid Empire (Persian: شاهنشاهی صفوی, romanized: Šāhanšāhi-ye Safavi), was an Iranian empire, which ruled by the Safavid dynasty of Kurdish origin. The Safavids reasserted the Iranian identity of the region.

Safavid Empire ملک وسیع‌الفضای ایران The Expansive Realm of Iran مملکت ایران The State of Iran
1501–1736
The Safavid Empire under Shah Abbas the Great
Status	Empire
Capital	Tabriz (1501–1555) Qazvin (1555–1598) Isfahan (1598–1736)
Common languages	Persian (official) Azerbaijani
Government	Monarchy
Shah, Shahanshah
• 1501–1524	Ismail I (first)
• 1732–1736	Abbas III (last)
History
•	1501
•	1736

Shah Ismail, the founder of the dynasty, is a descendant of the Kurdish mystic Safi al-Din.

Sources

• Matthee, Rudi (2005). The Pursuit of Pleasure: Drugs and Stimulants in Iranian History, 1500-1900. Princeton Universty Press. p. 18. The Safavids, as Iranians of Kurdish ancestry and of nontribal background (...)
• "Ṣafavid Dynasty". The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. (2009). Oxford University Press. “Of Kurdish ancestry, the Ṣafavids started as a Sunnī mystical order (...)” 
• Matthee, Rudi (2008). "SAFAVID DYNASTY". Encyclopædia Iranica.  “As Persians of Kurdish ancestry and of a non-tribal background, the Safavids (...)” 
• Savory, Roger (2008). "EBN BAZZĀZ". Encyclopædia Iranica VIII. Fasc. 1..  “This official version contains textual changes designed to obscure the Kurdish origins of the Safavid family and to vindicate their claim to descent from the Imams.” 
• Savory, Roger (1980). Iran under the Safavids. Cambridge University Press. p. 3. Why is there such confusion about the origins of this important dynasty, which reasserted Iranian identity and established an independent Iranian state after eight and a half centuries of rule by foreign dynasties?
• Gelvin, James L. (2008). The Modern Middle East: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 331. Shah Isma'il (reigned 1501-1520) Descendent of the Kurdish mystic Safi ad-Din (...)