Latest / The Safavid Empire: Persia's Return to Greatness — Fexingo History
Shah Ismail's Ghost Army: The Safavid Myth of the Hidden Imam
In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Safavid origin myth of the Hidden Imam and how Shah Ismail I weaponized Twelver Shiism to claim divine authority. They discuss the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, where Ismail's Qizilbash army believed the Imam would protect them from Ottoman cannons, and the aftermath that shattered that belief. The conversation covers the role of the Safaviyya Sufi order, the concept of the Mahdi, and how the Safavid state later reconciled military defeat with religious ideology. Lucas recounts the story of the Qizilbash charging into gunfire with bare chests, the…
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