Latest / The Safavid Empire: Persia's Return to Greatness — Fexingo History
The Sword of the Shah: Qizilbash and Ghulams in the Safavid Military
Shah Ismail I rode to power with the Qizilbash, Turkish warrior-mystics whose red caps pledged blood loyalty. But within a century, those same tribes had become a threat to the throne. In this episode, Lucas and Luna trace the Safavid military's evolution from tribal cavalry to a gunpowder army of enslaved ghulams. They explore how Shah Abbas I deliberately recruited Christian Armenians and Georgians into a new corps, trained in muskets and cannon, to counterbalance the Qizilbash. The reforms allowed Abbas to retake Kandahar and expel the Portuguese from Hormuz, but also sowed division. By…
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