Shah Abbas's Armenian Deportation of 1604

The Safavid Empire: Persia's Return to Greatness — Fexingo History · Jun 14, 2026 · 7m

In 1604, Shah Abbas I of the Safavid Empire ordered the forced relocation of tens of thousands of Armenians from the borderlands with the Ottoman Empire deep into Persia. This episode tells the story of that mass deportation — the scorched-earth strategy behind it, the founding of New Julfa in Isfahan, the destruction of the old Armenian town of Julfa, and the long-term consequences for Armenian identity and Persian commerce. We explore how the deportation was both a military necessity and a calculated economic move, creating a network of Armenian merchants that would control the Silk Road…