The Safavid Empire - The Rising Sun

[Fingal]

Funnily enough hes named after him...



but the steering wheel works too!

The Ottomans have shocked me too Ragusa... obviously just love me. As for the Mughals I don't know if I want the trouble of having to dabble in India. I like having them to keep everything quiet in the east. Mind you now they're out of the alliance its hard to tell how long that will last.

[Fingal]

Abu Talib – Not up to the job (1586 - 1587)

The bookies were offering short odds on Abu being assassinated

Abu Talib came to the position of the Shah on the death of his brother Hamza. Although he was Shah as he came to rule he had very little real power. For that reason, and the fact he lasted less then 6 months, his reign is remembered for little. As was becoming the norm for Shahs in these troubled times a man cloaked in black paid him a visit and that was the end of Abu.

Fortunately for the Safavids hope appeared to be on the horizon in the form of a man called Abbas.

[Chief Ragusa]

At the rate he's collecting commissions our cloaked man in black will soon be able to start up as the new "Old Man of the Mountains".

[Fingal]

Shah Abbas – 'Most Perfect Leader' (1587 – 1594)

I like the look of Abbas!

Abbas came to rule the Safavid Empire after a string of ineffective, short-lived rulers. The average time in charge of the last four Shahs was just over two years and it was only so high due to Mommy lasting eight. All the last four Shahs had been killed by the same assassin but in truth never really looked the part of the ruler of the greatest empire in the world. In order to try and get over the troubled times Abbas started by announcing that unless you had ruled for more then a year you didn’t officially get the title ‘Shah’. This law was put in place because Shahs were supposed to be almighty men with divine favour and if you died so quickly you just didn’t fit the bill. The name ‘Shah’ was scribbled out in all records of the three failures between him and Tahmasp.

Secondly Abbas proceeded to hunt out the now infamous man in black. After a months search Abbas’ guard cornered him and dragged him back to the palace. Abbas kindly thanked him for removing the inadequate ‘Non-Shahs’ and then had him beheaded for being such a nasty assassin.

Next on the agenda was to sort out the Austro-Ottoman war which had been raging for some years while the Safavid Empire had been in turmoil. Abbas organised a peace treaty which handed over Croatia, Serbia and Wallachia to the Ottomans. He was reluctant to hand over so much land as relations with the Ottomans were becoming ever more strained but they had driven the Austrians into the dirt and the treaty was lenient on Austria if anything.

The Ottoman Empire, red shows their most recent gains

After the war was concluded the Empire fell quiet. Abbas went about ensuring the loyalty and asserting his control of the numerous clans across his realm and also took time out to commission the building of a fine arts academy in the new capital at Tabriz. One of Abbas’ old friends, Ferhad Khan was placed in control of the Persian Army but had little to do for a few years at least.

In 1592 tensions in the eastern Sunni corner between the Sunnis and the ever growing Shiite minority reached boiling point, something had to give. Apparently, according to some inept advisors who were later sacked the tension was some how heightened by the reformation of Christianity in Europe. Maybe the Non-Shahs weren’t that bad with advisors that stupid even Abbas would have struggled to rule.

A strange link but one that Abbas didn’t waste

Abbas used these tensions as an excuse to start removing Sunnis. He wasn’t particularly religious himself but knew that a united country needed a united religion. Violence erupted and 32,000 Sunnis took to arms against the Safavid oppression. Abbas ordered his old friend Ferhad to go and sort out the issue. Ferhad waited patiently while the poorly supplied rebel army was crippled by desertions and starvation before moving in and crushing them.

Removing rebels in Zahedan

With the rebels dealt with and the Sunni corner looking more and more like Shiite corner Abbas tried to decide what to do next. He identified two major threats to the Empire’s interests… firstly and most obviously the Ottomans and secondly the Portuguese who were interfering in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. What to do about these problems was another matter entirely… Abbas called a meeting of the wisest people in the Safavid realm to decide what must be done!

[Fingal]

Well there we go a proper update. Its been a while...

Struggling to know where to take things now. Got Abbas now whos great! Was thinking of a war with Portugal or the Ottomans but if anyone has any better ideas they'd be appriciated!

[Duke of Wellington]

Some good updates there. Excellent to see a Shah truly worthy of the title come along, he is deserved. I'm glad you sacked your religious advisors, they do seem to be lacking somewhat in brains.

[Lord Skane]

Dont give the Turks so much power! Try and trick around and give them only money, More land expansions makes em terribly powerful and specially since your not in a good relation with them nasty and stubborn buggers!

[Chief Ragusa]

Those Ottoman vasals would look mucha better as Safavid vassals and you could annex the OTTOMANS. Make that Abbas' goal in life to annex them. I know they keep the Europeans out of your hair, but they'll turn on you one day.

[Herbert West]

Conquer a bit in India, build up economy, go flatten turks.

[Fingal]

Yeah nice to see a decent Shah for once isn't it Duke

Was trying to be fair on the Ottoman AI. They were occupying almost all of Austria Skane but following Ragusa and Wests advice Abbas is looking for an excuse to attack them and seems to have found one!

[Fingal]

Shah Abbas – Fortune Favours the Bold (1594 – 1597)

Abbas held council with the chiefs of the tribes as well as advisors and courtiers. The verdict of the council was simple. The Ottomans were a menace who would, if not soon, one day threaten the Safavid Empire and there were serious doubts about just how Shiite they were. Some even suggested they were maintaining the Shiite charade just to please the Shah! Abbas wouldn’t stand for this and began moving his forces west ready for the eventual war with the Ottomans.

As it happened the Ottomans moved the war forward by a few years at least when in January of 1594 a messenger arrived…

Just the excuse Abbas needed

Abbas declared the Ottomans unpleasant heretics on the grounds they constantly abused the Shiite alliance for offensive purposes (not that the Safavid would ever do anything like that). An advisor did point out that the Poles were heathens but Abbas didn’t really care he just wanted to deal out some punishment to the Ottomans and so taking lead of the army himself he ordered the Shiite Alliance (now down to one member) onwards!

The giants clash

While Safavid forces and small Ottoman garrisons clashed all over sub continent Abbas himself led a 30,000 strong force straight for Anatolia to block off Turkish reinforcements coming from Istanbul. On route he met a similar sized Ottoman army and met them in the field.

The battle was a terrible affair. The Ottoman army, modernised and built on a backbone of Janissary infantrymen carrying hand-guns with huge cannon drawn up behind them was a fearsome sight. For years the Shahs of Persia had feared the war machine of the Turks but now Abbas led an army to face them head on. Some thought him brave others foolish, in truth he was a bit of both. His own army was roughly 2/3 infantry and 1/3 cavalry with a few cannon mainly used for sieges. What the Safavids lacked in order and technology they would make up for with the fine horsemanship of the tribes!

The two sides clashed and at first the Ottomans seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Their cannons and advanced muskets roared out and spat flame and iron at the Safavid lines. Abbas’ gunners simply couldn’t stand up to the barrage and great clouds of smoke bellowed up out of the weapons of both sides. Just as all looked lost Ferhad Khan who had been given charge of the cavalry came galloping out of the smoke with 10,000 cavalrymen of the tribes smashing into the flanks of the Ottoman lines. The Turks fled.

Abbas leading the Safavids to victory

Abbas now marched on to Anatolia where he started besieging the fortress there. Meanwhile Ottoman strongholds from Isfahan to Trabzon began falling.

No way over the Boshphorus

Due to lacking a navy Abbas had no way to cross over to reach Istanbul and so the Persian forces went about the task of taking all cities and fortresses in Asia Minor. After just over a year only Larande in Tarus held out and the days of the defenders were numbered…

The last Turkish stronghold in Asia Minor

With victory looking almost certain due to the Poles advancing on Istanbul from the West all that was left to do for Abbas was begin to plan what lands he wished to take from the Turks. He’d been surprised how fearful his predecessors had been of the Ottoman Sultans. The war had been bloody but in just 3 years he was in complete control!

[Chief Ragusa]

That's a mighty humbling of the Ottomans. Good luck in extracting provinces out of the Ottomans. Shah Abbas may now add "the Great" to his name.

[Lord Skane]

Weird, How can you with lower land technology and less infantry and more cavalry units...agaisnt a 30k Ottoman army in mountains...have such a devestating victorY?

[Fingal]

Shah Abbas also happens to be a very good leader Skane

Also managed to catch up to only 1/2 land techs behind Ottomans. Combat in EU 2 has me puzzled a lot of the time. I don't try to plan too heavily just put my leaders on reasonable sized armies and avoid too much attrition.

...and I think your right Ragusa 'the Great' will be added next update.

[Lord Skane]

Shah Abbas also happens to be a very good leader Skane

Also managed to catch up to only 1/2 land techs behind Ottomans. Combat in EU 2 has me puzzled a lot of the time. I don't try to plan too heavily just put my leaders on reasonable sized armies and avoid too much attrition.

...and I think your right Ragusa 'the Great' will be added next update.

Hehe! I did not think of good leaders! One can see a 1/3 army on same tech and with a bit more cavalry beat up normal armies so now I See what you mean! Still a most magnificent beat up!

[Duke of Wellington]

Always a pleasure to see the Ottoman humbled. And when it is done so well and completely its just great. Excellent work there leading the one member alliance to glory.

[Fingal]

I was preety surpised to be honest Skane. Another one coming although not quite as good as the last. Beating the Ottomans was nice too seen as I still had real doubts if I could manage it. Anyway update coming up...

[Fingal]

Shah Abbas – the Great (1597 – 1600)

Larande fell soon after and in Tabriz there was much merry making. The people declared Abbas the best Shah ever and he was officially given the title of ‘Abbas the Great’. While the people enjoyed the victory over the Ottomans (who in truth no real Safavid had ever liked) Abbas the Great had to deal with a new Ottoman army recalled from the Polish war to help in the east.

The latest Ottoman attempt to take back Anatolia

Abbas quickly moved his forces to meet the Turks as they crossed the Bosphorus and poured into now Safavid controlled lands. Scouts first gained sight of the enemy around 10 leagues from the shoreline. Abbas immediately led his army on in an attempt to catch them off guard. The chaos that followed led to a victory greater then Abbas’ previous one.

Abba proving just how great he is…

Unlike the last battle the Ottomans had nowhere to run. Their army routed quickly under the hooves of Ferhan Khan and his cavalry and with nowhere to flee thousands were slain and captured. Of the 23,000 who crossed into Asia Minor 10,000 were held prisoner and sent back to Tabriz - the rest lay dead on the sandy beaches where they had fled.

Despite the crushing nature of his victory the Ottomans seemed reluctant to part with many provinces for peace. They desperately clung onto their lands knowing that losing too much may well remove them as a world power and even regional power. At first Abbas attempted to create a corridor through Sivas, Trabzon and Kastamon to Anatolia but the Turks resisted this and so Abbas settled for Aleppo instead of his corridor. The peace deal cut off the lands of the now non-existent Kingdom of Georgia from the Ottoman menace, preventing further expansion into the east. Abbas had first intended to split the Ottomans in two but accepted this lesser peace with an interesting extra – the treaty of Cyprus was declared null and void. This effectively meant the Mamluk-Vassal States were up for grabs. Abbas wasn’t sure what to do about it but after proving himself the most powerful man in the region land up for grabs couldn’t be bad.

The new map of the area – green shows the lands taken from the Ottomans

Isfahan was also taken from the Ottomans removing the 'slim waistline' of the Empire.

As time passed Abbas began to gain Tahmasp’s unreasonable desire for a nice looking, round and evenly bordered empire. He took this a step further by decreeing that the capital in Tabriz didn’t fit centrally enough into the empire and that the captial would be moved to Isfahan where a grand new city would be built.

The move to the more central aesthetically pleasing Isfahan… again the being pushed back by the Turks bit doesn’t really apply

While most people in the realm bought Abbas little tale about an aesthetic capital and honouring Tahmasp etc. etc. the obvious benefits and presumably the plan of Abbas’ from the started to become clear. In moving the capital he shifted the trade of the Silk Road to a new home in Isfahan. Abbas quickly ordered the capital to be flooded with Safavid merchants which, coupled with practicably no competition soon led to a Safavid monopoly on the trade of the Empire. Only 6 months after the move the trade income of the Safavids had shot up. Abbas was really starting to live up to his title…

Abbas quickly makes use of the new centre of trade created

[Chief Ragusa]

Excellent result to the war and a very good trade centre to gain. Abbas can now concentrate on building a navy. The Mamluks will soon be Safavid vassals and Shia. Oh and you can go convert the uzbeks.

[Duke of Wellington]

A new COT like that is useful. Some good gains from the OE but a shame they don't really reflect how well you beat them.