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Shah Tahmasp I
Compiled by: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On 9th of the Islamic month of Rajab in 930 AH, the 10-year old Shah Tahmasp I was crowned the second Safavid king of Iran, a week after the death of his father and founder of the Safavid Dynasty, Shah Ismael I. His reign of 54-years is the longest reign of any Muslim king of Iran, and was marked by foreign threats, primarily from the Ottomans in the west and the Uzbeks in the northeast. On reaching adulthood, he reasserted his power and consolidated the country against both the internal and external enemies.
Although he lost Iraq and parts of Anatolia to the Ottoman invaders, his pious nature made him avoid unnecessary shedding of Muslim blood. As a result, after thwarting Ottoman designs in the Caucasus, Shah Tahmasp concluded the Peace Treaty of Amasya, with Sulaiman, resulting in a peace that last 30 years. He continued his father’s policy of enlightening the people with the teachings of the Prophet’s Ahl al-Bayt, and assembled leading ulema from Iran and from Bahrain, Iraq, and Lebanon at his court in Qazvin.
As a descendant of the Prophet and head of the Safavid spiritual order tracing to Safi od-Din Ardebili, he was acknowledged as suzerain by the Shi’ite Muslim sultanates of the Deccan (South India) – Nizamshahis of Ahmadnagar, Adilshahis of Bijapur, and Qutbshahis of Golconda-Hyderabad. Shah Tahmasp is also known for the reception he gave to the fugitive Mughal Emperor Humayun of Hindustan (North India) when the latter lost his kingdom to the Afghan Sher Shah Suri. Humayun, whose father Babur, was a protégé of Shah Ismail Safavi, was treated as a royal guest, and while returning to Hindustan, was provided with a large retinue of Iranian noblemen and soldiers, which led to an important change in Mughal court culture, as the Central Asian origins of the dynasty were overshadowed by the influences of Persian art, architecture, language and literature.
One of Shah Tahmasp's more lasting achievements was his encouragement of the Persian carpet industry on a national scale. He was an enthusiastic patron of the arts with a particular interest in the Persian miniature, especially book illustration. He had been trained in drawing himself, and had some talent. The most famous example of such work is the “Shahnama-e Shah Tahmaspi”, containing 250 miniatures by the leading court artists.
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