Ismail II

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Shah Ismail II
Shahanshah of Persia

Artwork of Ismail II
Reign 1576–77
Born 28 May 1537 [1]
Died 1577
Predecessor Tahmasp I
Successor Mohammed Khodabanda
Dynasty Safavid
Father Tahmasp I
Mother Sultanum Begum Mawsillu
Religious beliefs Twelver Shi'a Islam
For the 14th century Nasrid sultan of Granada, see Ismail II, Sultan of Granada.

Ismail II (Persian: شاه اسماعیل دوم‎) (born 28 May 1537[2]; died 1577; reigned 1576–77) was the third Safavid Shah of Iran.

Life

Ismail was the son of Shah Tahmasp I by a Turcoman mother, Sultanum Begum Mawsillu.[3] In 1547, he was appointed governor of the province of Shirvan where he led several expeditions against the Ottomans. In 1556 he became governor of Khorasan but one of his father's leading courtiers, Masum Beg Safavi, convinced the shah that Ismail was plotting to overthrow him. Ismail spent the next 20 years in the prison at Qahqaha.[4]

When Tahmasp died in 1576, powerful Qizilbash army factions disputed the succession. The Qizilbash were split between the supporters of Ismail and those of his younger brother Heydar Ali, Tahmasp's son by a Georgian mother. The pro-Heydar faction were briefly successful at placing their candidate on the throne but Heydar was killed in the ensuing fight between his supporters and their opponents. Another faction tried to make Tahmasp's son by a Circassian woman shah, but Ismail's supporters defeated them and Ismail was finally crowned on 22 August 1576.[5]

Ismail's years in prison seem to have affected his mind. As well as executing members of the faction who had opposed him, he also turned on some of his own supporters. He killed or blinded five of his own brothers and four other Safavid princes, including Ibrahim Mirza, so they would be unable to take the throne from him. He also implemented a pro-Sunni policy.[6] The Qizilbash began to regret their choice of shah and plotted to assassinate Ismail with the help of his own sister Pari Khan Khanum. Ismail died after consuming poisoned opium on 24 November 1577.[7]

Offspring

  • Prince Sultan Shoja al-din Mohammad Mirza (b. 16 October 1577 – d. 17 February 1578)
  • Princess Safieh Sultan Beygom (b. 1555 – d. 3 September 1617)
  • Princess Fakhr-i-Jahan Khanoum (b. 1577 – d. ?)
  • Princess Gowhar Sultan Khanoum (b. 1578 – d. 1618)

See also

  • Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism

References

  1. ↑ Ismail II , Dr Manouchehr Parsadoost, ISBN 9643251063, 2003
  2. ↑ Ismail II , Dr Manouchehr Parsadoost, ISBN 9643251063, 2003
  3. ↑ Andrew J. Newman, Safavid Iran (IB Tauris, 2004) p. 42
  4. ↑ Savory p. 68.
  5. ↑ Savory p. 69.
  6. ↑ The Encyclopedia of world history: ancient, medieval, and modern Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer, p. 360.
  7. ↑ Savory pp. 69–70

Sources

  • Roger Savory Iran Under the Safavids (Cambridge University Press)
Ismail II
Safavid Dynasty
Preceded by
Tahmasp I		 Shah of Persia
1576–1577 		Succeeded by
Mohammed Khodabanda

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