Şah Abbas ve zamanı
Özet
Abbas Mirza came to the throne of Persia in 1587. He found his country in that condition of anarchy which in a despotic state is the invariable accompaniment of any weakening of the central power. Everywhere khans, tribal chiefs, provincial governors had set themselves up as independent kings and princes. Not only was Persia riven by internal quarrels; it was attacked by foes from without. The Uzbeks on the north east held the province of Khorasan in constant dread of their fierce raids. On the north west, the one-time Persian provinces of Shirvan and Daghestan had been held by Turks since the days of Suleiman The Magnificent, and Turkish armies were now waging victorious war in Azerbaijan. He had effectually put down rebellions in Persia and had brought that country to a state of order and safety which astonished European travellers. He had renewed the wars with Turkey and had already won back much of the lost territory.Shah Abbas The Great, consolidated the state by securing the borders, establishing a central administration and bureaucracy, fortifying the economy and creating a standing army responsible not to the tribal heads but to the King [Shah] as the head of the state. He turned the kingdom, previously held together primarily by the ardent faith of a number of militant tribes, into a cohesive and stable monarchy.During the era of Shah Abbas I (1587-1629), the administration of the Safavid state was re-organized on entirely new bases. Shah used social mobility to balance the power of Persians and the Turkmens in the administration, as the Shah had no intention of creating a theocratic state. As the bureaucracy expanded in its new form, the Shah used more non-Turkish elements in the state, army and provincial administrative systems.