The safavid’s were one of the many Islamic empires that was located in the Middle East. The Safavid Empire lasted from began in the year 1501, and lasted until the year 1722. The safavid’s were a group of mixed origin, as they were made up of people with Azerbaijani and Kurdish origins. The empire covered, all of Iran and parts of countries such as Turkey, and Georgia. They safavid’s established the great Iranian empire, and they were the first Muslim empire to establish Shi'a Islam as the official religion of their empire. Under the Safavid rule, the local economy prospered, and Iran transformed to become Baghdad in the 9th century as it became the center of art, architecture, poetry and philosophy.

In book seven of the Years of Rice and salt, by Kim Stanly Robinson, the history of the Safavid Empire presented is completely the opposite of what occurred in real life throughout history. In the book, the Muslim empires are portrayed as weak with lots of infighting. This infighting leaves the separate empires very weak which allows for them to be easily conquered by a superior army which invaded from India.

Refrences:

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/safavidempire_1.shtml
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safavid_dynasty