Shah Ismail Makes Shi’a Islam Iran’s State Religion

In 1501, a fourteen-year-old youth entered the city of Tabriz to claim the Iranian throne. Ismail I inherited the leadership of the Safavid Sufi order as a child after his father and older brother fell in conflict against the Aq Qoyunlu tribal federation. For years he lived hidden in Gilan, guided by tutors, until he resurfaced at age twelve surrounded by devoted followers. These fighters, known as the Qizilbash, were drawn heavily from Turkoman tribes of Anatolia and Azerbaijan. Supported by this force and guided by a close council of seven senior advisers, the teenage leader defeated the regional powers of Shirvan and the Aq Qoyunlu before taking royal power.

Upon establishing his court in Tabriz, Ismail made a profound religious decree by establishing the Twelver tradition of Shia Islam as the mandatory faith of his realm. This transformation was imposed decisively across the territories he seized. Sunni religious brotherhoods were suppressed, and many who resisted the new faith were killed. When Safavid forces took Baghdad in 1508, sectarian tensions escalated sharply as Ismail is reported to have ordered the destruction of several prominent Sunni shrines, including the resting places of the Abbasid caliphs and the jurist Abu Hanifa.