View of the Shah Mosque, built in Isfahan in the 17th century for the ruler Abbas I. • ISTOCKPHOTO Around 1700, Iran was at the heart of European politics. For two centuries, the Safavid dynasty and the Ottoman Empire have been in permanent rivalry, both political and religious, and several European states are seeking to forge alliances with the Persian power. Embassies are exchanged between Spain and Persia, countries whose English emissaries also seek support to counter Portuguese trade in India. You can even meet Catholic priests there, because Christianity agrees quite easily with Persian Shiite precepts (cult of martyrs, iconophilia, etc.) imbued with Sufism. The work of Abbas I All these diplomats, clerics and merchants had one destination:Isfahan. The city, whose history dates back to the Sassanid period, was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century. century by the great Persian ruler Abbas I st (1587-1629), who built avenues, palaces and mosques, and transformed these places into what they still are today:the most dazzling testimony to Islamic architecture in the world. Anyone who visited the city three centuries ago was probably just as fascinated as the modern traveller, which is perfectly expressed in a Persian proverb, Esfahân nesf-e djahân “Isfahan is half the world. » Isfahan stands on the banks of the Zayandeh Rud River, which travels 400 kilometers from the Zagros Mountains to empty into Lake Gavkhuni. The city is located halfway, at 1,600 meters above sea level. This altitude gives the vegetation the unusual luxuriance of a plateau, which is also favored by the double barrier, western and eastern, of the chain mountain range of the Zagros. To the west, the city faced the road which, along the Karoun river, led to the Persian Gulf and the ships; to the east, it overlooked the Dasht-e Kavir, the great salty desert from which came the caravans loaded with goods from the other half of the world. The traveler reached Isfahan by the river. His walk began with the Si-o-seh Pol, the "bridge with 33 arches", firmly anchored to the ground by massive piles. He must certainly have admired the harmony and visual balance of the double row of arcades, the upper level with narrower arches forming an additional causeway. His companions responded to his curiosity by telling him about Shah Abbas I st the Great, the designer of the bridge, of modern Isfahan and of Iran as we still know it today. Countering Ottoman hegemony Combining cruelty, modernization, diplomacy and cultural splendour, Abbas I st consolidates the Safavid dynasty and structures an immense territory from the geographical center of Isfahan. To counter the Ottoman Empire and its hegemonic place in Sunni Islam, Abbas confirmed the choices of Ismail, the first Safavid shah, who made Shiism the official religion of Persia; it also establishes alternative places of pilgrimage to the Sunni domination of Mecca, such as Mashhad, near the border with Turkmenistan. But Abbas is also a monarch who rules with an iron fist. He does not hesitate to order the massacre and the massive deportation of tens of thousands of Georgians allied with the Ottomans; he stifles any revolt in blood and with fire, or strikes out with a stroke of a pen the praetorian caste of the Qizilbash (“red heads”), a group of Turkmen tribes who formed the military aristocracy of the Safavid state. The emperor, it was said, spoke to no one in the palace, except to eunuchs and young ephebes, during evenings devoted to wine and poetry, as the miniatures of the time show. As implacable as he was ruthless, he had ordered that his sons have their eyes gouged out, except for the one he had designated as heir. Between gardens and palaces Leaving the Si-o-seh Pol bridge, the traveler headed north along Boulevard Chahar Bagh, a long avenue whose name comes from the grid of the Persian gardens (chahar bagh , “the four gardens”), a style that prevailed in the development of Islamic gardens, from the Alhambra in Granada to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. It is probable that his hosts compared the gardens to the description of paradise given by the Koran; in reality, it is the Koranic account which was inspired by the layout of the gardens of the kings of Sassanid Persia (III th -VII e centuries). While traversing the boulevard Chahar Bagh, the traveler was intoxicated by the perfume of the lilies, the lotuses and the roses, and perhaps stopped to listen to the verses of a famous Persian work, the Garden of the roses (or Gulistan ) of the poet Saadi (1213-1291), each sentence of which contained 72 meanings. It was in Safavid Iran that the style of the "four gardens" was invented, which was to prevail throughout the Muslim world, from the Alhambra, in Spain, to the Taj Mahal, in India. Going up the avenue, the traveler arrived at the madrasa Chahar Bagh. Built by Hussein, successor of Abbas, this Koranic school is still recognizable by its enormous dome covered with ceramic tiles with floral motifs on a turquoise and lapis lazuli background. The avenue led to Hacht Behecht, the palace of the "eight gardens of Paradise" with majestic porticoes, and whose flowerbeds hosted royal peacocks, the bird symbol of Isfahan. Then we arrived at the Chehel Sotoun, the "pavilion of the Forty Columns", whose 20 large wooden pillars gave, when reflected in the water, the impression of being twice as numerous. Safavid Persia did not practice the iconoclasm of Sunni Islam. We thus notice, on the wall motifs, gallant scenes in the Indian style and, sometimes, representations of travelers in clothes inspired by 18 th European fashion. century. Leaving the boulevard, the traveler turned right and entered the Ali Qapu royal palace. This name, which in Persian means the "high gate", is a probable reference to the Sublime Porte, the palace of the Ottoman sultans of Constantinople, with whom the Shahs of Persia competed. The pavilion, richly decorated, had many reception rooms, lounges, alcoves, rooms for music, justice and rest. Distributed over three levels, it also offered a breathtaking view of the heart of Safavid Isfahan:the Royal Square, or Meydan-e Chah, also called Naghsh-e Djahân Square. , the “Image of the world”. Place Royale, a prestigious showcase The Place Royale was a large esplanade 510 meters by 165, flanked by four gates each opening onto a large building. The Lotfollah Mosque, with its splendid dome, stands to the west, facing the Ali Qapu Palace. Built between 1602 and 1619 by the architect Muhammad Reza, it was reserved for the royal family and was arranged as a private oratory or a mausoleum. To the south, the Shah Mosque is a majestic work, completed in 1630, a year after the death of Abbas I st , so beautiful that it will be copied by several other architects. To the north, you can contemplate the no less splendid façade of the Grand Bazaar. Place Royale was the prestigious showcase of the Safavid dynasty. Major military, civil and religious ceremonies (such as the Feast of the Sacrifice) and polo games were held there, as the square was of ideal size. Apart from these events, the place was populated by merchants and soldiers, travelers and individuals going to court. According to the French traveler Jean Chardin, “this great place is emptied in festivals and solemnities […]; at other times, it is full of hardware stores, second-hand clothes dealers, dealers, small craftsmen; in a word, an infinity of small shops. […] In the evening, we see […] charlatans, puppets, […] even preachers. » The beating heart of Isfahan, the Royal Square brought together the main mosques of the city and served as the stage for the great festivities of the sovereigns. At the end of the Place Royale, northwest of the bazaar, the traveler discovered a tangle of alleys, where mosques, churches and synagogues cohabited, including the heikhal was oriented towards Jerusalem. Near the bazaar, the traveler could enter one of the famous Persian cafes where wine and sorbets were served. Unless he preferred to go to one of the 263 baths (hammams) that Isfahan had in the 17 th century, or follow one of the courtesans of the city, very numerous in the western districts. If he were truly wealthy, he could hope to receive an invitation to one of the court banquets, described with wonder by European travellers. Then, taking the way back, the visitor admired the setting sun from the Si-o-seh Pol, where his walk had started, and whose discreetly lit arches sheltered the nocturnal walks of lovers. Then, perhaps he was meditating on the meaning of the numbers associated with the monuments he had seen:the four gardens of the Chahar Bagh, the eight paradises of the Hacht Behecht pavilion, the 33 arches of the Si-o-seh Pol, the 40 columns of the Chehel Sotoun… Symbols of the secrecy of this city which was half the world. Find out more The Century of Isfahan, F. Richard, Gallimard (Discoveries), 2007. Timeline 1388 Tamerlane marches on Isfahan, where he is said to have killed some 60,000 people. The city is about to disappear.1452 After having suffered the yoke of the successors of Tamerlane, Ispahan is occupied and pillaged by Djahân Chah, of the Turkmen tribe of Kara Koyunlu.1502 Isfahan falls into the hands of Ismail I st , the first Safavid shah. In 1514, the Ottoman sultan Selim I st temporarily occupied the city.1598 Abbas I st transfers the capital of Persia to Isfahan and embellishes the latter with baths, mosques, palaces and universities.1722 Struggling against power, the Afghans invade central Iran, win the Battle of Gulnabad and occupy Isfahan.1729 Nader Shah defeats the Afghans and enters Isfahan. He proclaimed himself Shah in 1736 and transferred the capital to Mashhad. The great rulers of Safavid Iran In the XVI th century, the monarchs of the Safavid dynasty constituted an empire that stretched from Iraq to Afghanistan and from the Persian Gulf to Transoxiana. Under Abbas I st the Great, the shah exercised absolute power, which was not restricted by religious laws insofar as, as representative of the imams, he enjoyed spiritual and temporal powers. He was also infallible, as indicated by his title, Morshed-e Kâmel , “the perfect Guide”.Ismail I st (1502-1524) Ismail proclaimed himself Shah of Persia in 1502, after defeating the Turcomans at the battle of Sharur. He established his capital in Tabriz. With Ismaïl I st , Safavid expansionism reached its peak in 1510, from Iraq to Khorassan, and from Baku, Azerbaijan, to the Persian Gulf. In 1514, the Turkish Sultan Selim I st takes Kurdistan from Ismail, who conquers Georgia in 1524.Tahmasp I st (1524-1576) Reign of Tahmasp I st , which lasted almost 40 years, was marked by clashes with the Ottoman Empire and the squandering of the kingdom's resources. Suleiman the Magnificent conquered Baghdad, Tabriz and Mosul in 1534, and Tahmasp had to sign a humiliating peace in 1555. Georgia and Azerbaijan also fell to the Turks.Abbas I st (1587-1629) Abbas I st began his reign by signing the Peace of Constantinople with the Turks in 1590, then succeeded in driving the Uzbeks to the other bank of the Oxus in 1597. In 1618, he routed the Turks and Tartars at Soltaniyeh, reorganized the army, takes Kandahar and chases the Portuguese out of Hormuz. He reconquered Mesopotamia in 1623, although for a short time.
