Safavid IranSafavid Iran or Safavid Persia ('sæfəvɪd,_ˈsɑː-), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam.
Nader ShahNader Shah Afshar (نادر شاه افشار; also known as Nāder Qoli Beyg نادر قلی بیگ or Tahmāsb Qoli Khan تهماسب قلی خان) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was assassinated during a rebellion. He fought numerous campaigns throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia, such as the battles of Herat, Mihmandust, Murche-Khort, Kirkuk, Yeghevārd, Khyber Pass, Karnal, and Kars.
HaremHarem (حَرِيمٌ ḥarīm, "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic servants, and other unmarried female relatives. In harems of the past, slave concubines were also housed in the harem. In former times some harems were guarded by eunuchs who were allowed inside.
Battle of ChaldiranThe Battle of Chaldiran (جنگ چالدران; Çaldıran Savaşı) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and northern Iraq from Safavid Iran. It marked the first Ottoman expansion into Eastern Anatolia (Western Armenia), and the halt of the Safavid expansion to the west. The Chaldiran battle was just the beginning of 41 years of destructive war, which only ended in 1555 with the Treaty of Amasya.
Bektashi OrderThe Bektashi Order or Bektashism is an Islamic Sufi mystic order originating in the 13th-century. It is named after the saint Haji Bektash Veli (d. 1271). The Albanian community is currently led by Baba Mondi, their eighth Bektashi Dedebaba and headquartered in Tirana, Albania. Bektashism began as a Shia Islamic Sufi order in Anatolia during the Ottoman Empire. In 1876, a Salih Nijazi was appointed as the baba "leader" by prominent Bektashi members.
MazdakMazdak (مزدک, Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭪, also Mazdak the Younger; died c. 524 or 528) was a Zoroastrian mobad (priest), Iranian reformer, prophet and religious reformer who gained influence during the reign of the Sasanian emperor Kavadh I. He claimed to be a prophet of Ahura Mazda and instituted social welfare programs. Mazdak was the chief representative of a religious and philosophical teaching called Mazdakism, which he viewed as a reformed and purified version of Zoroastrianism, although his teaching has been argued to display influences from Manichaeism, Carpocratian teachings, and Plato's Republic as well.
AzerbaijanisAzerbaijanis (ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒæni,_-ɑːni; Azərbaycanlılar, آذربایجانلیلار), Azeris (Azərilər, آذریلر), or Azerbaijani Turks (Azərbaycan Türkləri, آذربایجان تۆرکلری) are a Turkic ethnic group living mainly in the Azerbaijan region of northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are predominantly Shia Muslims. They comprise the largest ethnic group in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the second-largest ethnic group in neighboring Iran and Georgia.
Turkoman (ethnonym)Turkoman, also known as Turcoman, ('tərkəmən) was a term for the people of Oghuz Turkic origin, widely used during the Middle Ages. Oghuz Turks were a western Turkic people that, in the 8th century A.D, formed a tribal confederation in an area between the Aral and Caspian seas in Central Asia, and spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. Turkmen, originally an exonym, dates from the High Middle Ages, along with the ancient and familiar name "Turk" (türk), and tribal names such as "Bayat", "Bayandur", "Afshar", and "Kayi".
AlevismAlevism, Anatolian Alevism or Qizilbashism (æˈlɛvɪzəm; Alevilik, Anadolu Aleviliği or Kızılbaşlık; Elewîtî, Rêya Heqî; Ələvilik, Qızılbaşlıq) is a heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who is supposed to have taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams. Differing from Sunni Islam and Usuli Twelver Shia Islam, Alevis have no binding religious dogmas, and teachings are passed on by a spiritual leader as with Sufi orders.
JanissaryA Janissary (yeŋiçeri, jeniˈtʃeɾi, new soldier) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan (1324–1362), during the Viziership of Alaeddin. Janissaries began as elite corps made up through the devşirme system of child levy enslavement, by which Christian Albanians, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Romanians and Serbs were taken, levied, subjected to forced circumcision and conversion to Islam, and incorporated into the Ottoman army.
