Latest / The Safavid Empire: Persia's Return to Greatness — Fexingo History
Shah Soleyman's Blindness: The Qizilbash Coup of 1666
When Shah Soleyman came to power in 1666, the Safavid Empire faced a succession crisis that ended with a Qizilbash general faking a magical seal to divine the new shah. This episode unpacks the bizarre election of Soleyman, the role of the Qizilbash in engineering his rise, and how his blindness—both literal and figurative—shaped decades of decline. We explore the Tarikh-e Alamara-ye Abbasi account of the seal ceremony, the rivalry between the Qizilbash and the gholam factions, and Soleyman's retreat into drink and piety. How did a ruler who never left Isfahan after his coronation preside…
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