Latest / The Safavid Empire: Persia's Return to Greatness — Fexingo History
The Redheads Who Built an Empire: Qizilbash of Safavid Persia
The Qizilbash — 'Red Heads' — were the fanatical Turkoman warriors who first carried Shah Ismail I to power, their crimson batons marking them as devotees of a militant Sufi order. This episode traces their transformation from nomadic shock troops to the backbone of Safavid military and administration. We examine their role at the pivotal battle of Chaldiran in 1514, where their reckless charge against Ottoman artillery sealed Persia's defeat, and their subsequent power struggles under Tahmasp I and Shah Abbas I. Learn how Abbas curbed their influence by creating a slave soldier corps…
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