The effect of sectarian conflict on politics in the Safavid State

The Seljuks, who met with sectarian conflicts after accepting Islam, found themselves defending Sunni Islam against Shiite Islam. Seljuk rulers and viziers who struggled with the Shiite Buyids, Shiite Fatimids and Hasan Sabbah, the representative of the Batini movement, made some social and political actions in line with this goal. The persecutions of the Mongols by coming to Anatolia and Iran had led the communities living there to mystical formations. Erdebil Lodge, which was established during the Ilkhanid State, was the strongest Sufi formation that emerged after the sects of Mevlana and Hacı Bektaş. Erdebil Lodge, centered in Erdebil and founded on the axis of Sunni belief, had undergone a transformation towards the Shiite sect during the times of Sheikh Cüneyd and Sheikh Haydar. The political and sectarian transformation of the Ardebil Sect, which received the support of many non-Sunni groups from Anatolia and Iran and became stronger, was completed with the establishment of the Safavid State of Sheikh Ismail. Shah Ismail, who declared Shiism as the official sect as soon as he founded his state, entered into conflicts with his neighbor Sunni states. The Safavid ruler, who carried out various massacres in order to spread Shiism in Iran, crushed the Sunni Shirvanshahs, who prevented the spread of Shiism during the time of his grandfather and father. Shah Ismail, who started conflicts with the Ottomans and Uzbeks for some reasons such as religious accusations against each other, made an alliance with the Sunni Mughals as a result of his political interests. Kizilbash, who had an important place in the establishment of the state, started to be seen as a great danger from the time of Shah Tahmasb and various efforts were started to remove them from the administration and to be Shiite. The Ottomans also had an important place between the two states, which were constantly in conflict until the disappearance of the Uzbeks. The Ottoman rulers, who formed alliances with the Sunni Uzbeks against the Shiite Safavids, were the most important representatives of Sunnism. With some agreements made between the Safavids and the Ottomans, who were in constant conflict due to sectarian issues, bad actions against the values of the Sunni sect in Iran were tried to be prevented. The practice of changing the status of the lands, which the Safavids had made to neutralize the Qizilbash politically and militarily, led to the formation of military deficits in strategic regions over time. Especially during the reigns of Shah Suleiman and Shah Hussein, the harsh policies implemented against some groups such as the Qizilbash, who were close to Sufism and Sufism, and the Sunnis, Zoroastrians and Jews in Iran, accelerated the collapse of the state. The Sunni Afghans, who could not stand the religious pressures and saw the military and political situation of the Safavid State, started an uprising and Nadir Bey Afşar was able to suppress this uprising. Nadir Bey, who suppressed the Afghan uprisings, later put an end to the Safavid dynasty and established his own state. In this study, the religious, economic and other dimensions of the conflicts that took place in the Safavid-Uzbek and Ottoman triangle were mentioned.