Following the collapse of the Sassanian empire, Persia was ruled by a succession of conquerors — the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Turks, and the Mongols — until the beginning of the 16th century. In 1500 Ismail I overthrew the Turks and established the Safavids dynasty. The Safavids, originally a Sufi brotherhood, adopted mainstream Shiism and mobilized it to reconstitute a distinctly Persian identity, much as the Sassanians had utilized Zoroastrianism nearly a thousand years earlier, establishing the role of the Shah (king) as leader, spiritual guide, and divine ruler.

After nearly a century of expansionist warfare, Abbas I, who ruled from 1557 to 1629 C.E., established a peaceful, multi-ethnic, and prosperous Safavid empire. Isfahan, which became the capital and Iran’s cultural and intellectual center in 1598, is the material manifestation of this historical period. The city’s many mosques, schools, gardens, and boulevards — planned around the central square, or Maidan, seen here — integrate the religious, commercial, classical, and royal strands of Iranian history.

CREDIT: Afshin Marashi