Geographic HistoryMap of Safavid Persia
On the Geographic History map, Safavid Persia appears from 1502 to 1736. It reaches its largest mapped extent in 1654: about 2.4 million km² across 57 provinces.
The Safavid dynasty came to power in 1501, when Shah Ismail I was crowned in Tabriz and made Twelver Shia Islam the state religion of Iran, as it largely remains today. Under Shah Abbas I (1588-1629) Safavid Persia reached its peak, with Isfahan rebuilt as a magnificent capital. An Afghan invasion took Isfahan in 1722, and the last Safavid shah was deposed in 1736.
Mapped area over time
Safavid Persia on the world maps
Largest other states in 1654
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Russia | 12 million km² |
| Spanish Empire | 8.7 million km² |
| Qing | 5.1 million km² |
| Ottoman Empire | 3.7 million km² |
| Kingdom of Portugal | 2.9 million km² |
| Kazakh Khanate | 2.7 million km² |
| Mughal | 1.9 million km² |
| Khoshuud | 1.5 million km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
