Ismail I, Shah of Iran - Savafid Empire

Ismail the first, one of the most important men in Persian history, here's his life and times explained in a cringe YouTube video!

Some videos about the Iranian protests

The videos about Shia Islam

Music

[saltyhistorian]

Here's those footnotes I promised at 00:58

00:37 Aq Qoyunlu means White Sheep Turkoman.
00:43 The last truly Persian dynasty to rule Iran was the Sasanians.
01:14 The daughter of Alexander is titled "some Georgian girl!" in the family tree because her real name is unknown.
01:22 That Safavi Order was founded by Ismail's ancestor, the Kurdish mystic Safi-ad-din Ardabili.
01:28 Please note that Pineapple Pizza wouldn't be invented until 1962!
01:38 Qizilbash (sometimes spelled Kizilbash) is a popular last name in many Middle Eastern and Central Asian Countries.
02:02 Quick correction, Haydar smokes a hookah in this clip, however those wouldn't be introduced to the region until a century later.
02:10 Haydar was rading the territories to train his troops. And his excuse for rading was that the territory was "infidel land", AKA, Christian lands, nobody bought it though!
02:16 The Shirvanshah where a vassal of the Aq Qoyunlu.
02:37 While Husayn Beg was his teacher, the one who was taking care of young Ismail was the Ruler of the Kar-Kiya (the dynasty that ruled the city of Gilan) named Soltan-Ali Mirza.
02:49 The song that's playing is Rude Buster by Toby Fox from the game Deltarune. Now, you might be asking, why is this playing in a Persian video? And to that I have to say, It's my video, I do what I want, shut up!
02:49 When Ismail came out hiding, was actually 12, but he did all the cool battle stuff at 14, so I only mention him being 14 in the video.
03:15 The battle between Ismail and Yasar was fought near the Azerbaijani town of Cabanı.
03:41 The Shirvanshah family would continue to govern Baku until the Reign of Ismail’s son Tahmasp 20 years later.
04:18 I don't know why Ismail need the Georgians to fight the Ottomans, and I have no idea how the Georgian Kingdoms's campaign went.
04:43 The general's name was Karachagay khan.
07:16 The song that playing is called Salām-e Shāh the old national anthem of Iran before the Islamic Republic.
07:47 Only after finishing this video did I find out that Alvand didn't die in battle, instead he was exiled after his defeat, probably to the Ottomans.
08:45 The Aq Qoyunlu warlord's name was Kiya Husayn II.
08:59 Ismail actually had 2 wives, Tajlu Khanum was his main and most loved wive, the other one was probably just a political marriage so didn't even bother mentioning her.
08:59 Ismail was about 17 when he married Tajlu, and Tajlu was about 19, so they where both pretty young.
08:59 Tajlu wasn't some helpless delicate princess, she was actually a strong sportswoman, being a capable fencer and wrestler.
09:04 Tahmasp was born on the 22nd of February, 1514.
09:37 I accidentally said Kurdistan twice, woops! Sorry to anyone from Khuzestan that might be watching!
10:46 The song that's playing is called Ey Iran, a Iranian patriotic song, this specific version is from 1944. There's an instrument version of this song in the video intro.
11:21 Mirza actually had a brother that escaped with him, but he didn't survive the journey to Tabriz
11:45 The army troubles Shaybani was having was due to military defeats he suffered against some Afghans (Hazaras to be specific), in which he lost most of his calvary.
11:53 Something I should have mentioned: when Ismail conquered Herat and it's surroundings, that included Mashhad and Sarakhs. Mashhad, is most notable as that is the second most populous city in Iran.
12:34 It was actually Shaybani's wife, Moghul Khanum, who convinced Shaybani to attack the retreating Ismail. After all of Shaybani's emirs told him to stay inside Merv, she yelled out, "And you are afraid of the Qizilbash! If you are afraid, I will take the troops myself and lead them. Now is the right moment, there will be no such moment again." After she said that, all of Shaybani's emirs quickly turned into yes-men and agreed to the attack.
13:20 Unlike in my depiction, Ismail didn't keep Shaybani's skull cup forever, he would eventually send it to Babur as a goodwill gesture as Babur aways had beef with Shaybani.
14:15 Najm-e Sani was Vicegerent to replace Najm Zargar, who had died a little while back.
14:27Najm-e Sani massaquered Qarshi because he thought it was the Uzbek's capital and wanted to kill the Uzbek state by striking at it's heart.
14:54 For all you smooth brains that haven't figured it out by now, Babur is the founder of the Mughal Empire of India.
16:18 The song that playing is a Ottoman military march called Osmaniye Marşı
16:27 lol
17:07 The Şahkulu rebellion was a Shia Qizilbash rebellion lead by a man named Şahkulu. In the rebellion, the Shias sacked the Ottoman treasury. The rebellion ended after the leader Şahkulu was killed in battle, and the revolt lost steam.
17:22 Selim overthrew Bayezid because Bayezid had chosen Selim's older brother Ahmet to be his heir. After Selim took the throne, he had Ahmet strangled to death...nice...
17:55 Selim's Shia massaquere was the largest of it's kind in the Ottoman Empire until the 19th century.
18:06 the song that's playing is an Ottoman military march called Ceddin Deden, but you probably already knew that since this song is so popular.
18:39When I say cut to pieces, I really do mean cut to pieces!!
20:46 After the battle Selim said this about Ismail "Always drunk to the point of losing his mind and totally neglectful of the affairs of the state". Ouch!
21:13Selim I was actually one of the best and most important Ottoman Sultans. Despite only ruling for 8 years, he doubled the Empire's territories, not just because of his conquest of the East Safavid territories, but also he was the Ottoman Sultan that conquered Egypt. After which, now possessing Mecca, Madina and Jerusalem, he proclaimed himself to be the Caliph.
21:37 So about Ismail’s alcoholism. You probably noticed through the video that his aways drinking. He was an alcoholic through most of this life, but after the Battle of Chaldiran, his alcoholism got really bad.
22:26 I have no idea what Ismail died of! I looked at over all my sources and none of them tell, just that he died.
23:25Sadegh Hedayat was an Iranian author who wrote many books, the most famous being The Blind Owl (1937), one of, if not the most influential works of literature in modern Iranian history. You can think of it as beings similar to the influence of The Great Gatsby in American literature. Unfortunately, most of his works have been heavily censored or banned by the modern Iranian dictatorship, with the only way for your average Iranian to experience his work being through second-hand copies.
23:41 I may or may not do a video about Nader Shah and the Naderian Wars. We'll see...

[ammarshaei]

As a Persian Bahraini, I love Shah Ismail

[Arya_N]

I love Shah Ismail, a truly great Shah for Iranians at the time. He resurrected a unified Iran, not seen since the native Persian dynasties during the Iranian-Intermezzo period in the post Islamic era. This was a beautiful video. Thanks for sharing.

[Iranian_nationalist]

In Iran we have Turk Pars Kurds and other ethnic groups. Shah Ismail was a Turk of Iran

[ismettuptuk]

As a Turkish Qizilbash we still chant his poems in Azerbaijani Turkish in Cem ceremonies and my grandma still uses the name of 'Yavuz' Sultan Selim as an insult. Shah Ismail is the founder of Alevi subsect. And the keepers of our cultural and religious heritage, the 'Dede's (some sorta clergyman) have direct ancestry from Ardabili Turkoman cultists.

[byzansimp]

Ismail was definitely one of the most fascinating figures of the early modern world, I knew he was based, but not the fact that he conquered his Empire at the mere age of 14! You did an excellent job narrating his deeds, and I was was cheering for him all the way through (except for his epik trolling moments, must have learned those from Shah Khosrow I) and actually expected him to beat Selim... ah, what a plot twist, what a shame. I feel really bad for Ismail. Great video overall, would you do more videos on Safavid history?

[Alinosi]

5:35 just a little mistake, shia don't have their own Quran, it's the same book, but the Interpretation of the Quran is different.
Also Ismail didn't proclaim himself to be the 12 imam cause the 12 imam name is Mohammed bin Al-Hassan not Ismail, but maybe some of qizilbash proclaimed him as mahdi.
Great video and keep the good work 👏

[Team.Melli.Report]

Shah Ismael is the reunifier of Iran. What a legend!

He managed to finally get all of Iran and most of the E-stans under our control again in 1501.

[sandwich]

Ngl bro when i first saw the thumbnail i thought it was gonna be a dude explaining history with a broken mic but to my surprise this Video is actually Very Good. This is some "I was looking for iron but i found gold" moment.

[SmallDeemoAzeri]

Dude what a great video. You really took the time to read deeply into the 14 and 1500s iranian history for this. Your commentary and detail you put in is great. Thank you for exploring my peoples history and culture. 💗

[SerialCreamer]

Ismail 14 Y/O : Conquering Persia, caucasus, Mesopotamia, afganistan and creating an empire that would give an entire nation a new cultural identity.
17 y/o me : 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆

[pouya]

Great use of classic Persian music and fantastic drawings. Thank you for showing a part of our culture and history!

[nuriyev.cvx]

The palace language of the Safavids was Azerbaijani Turkish, and Shah İsmail was writing poems in Azerbaijan Turkish.


1)"Xətai də natiq oldı Türkistanïn piri oldı"


2)"Çün yetdi seba o yar katına Ol Türk-i vefa-güzar katına."


3)"Sen ey Türk-i peri peyker, ecaib sün-i Yezad'san Görenden berü ruh-sarun, sözüm, Allahu ekber'dir."


4)"Ey Hatâî! Şol Huten Türki saçınun şemmesi, Nafe-yi sehraya saldı belki misk ü enberi!?"


5)Yetdükce tükenür Arab'un kûy u meskeni, Bağdad her nece kim Türkman kopar"

These are the manuscripts written by Shah Ismail about his Turkishness 🇦🇿

Source : The Divan of Hatayi written by Shah Ismail with his own hands

Great historians such as Tufan Gündüz Celal Şengör Petrushki and V.V.Bartvold write "The Safavid dynasty was definitely Turkish


On the other hand, .V.V.Bartvold writes: The Safavids were certainly not Persians, but descended from the dynasty of the Azerbaijani Turkish sheikhs!


Shah Ismail was a Turkist leader, he saw himself as a Turkestan pir, he wrote in his letter to the Chinese emperor: If you are narrow-minded and go to Turkistan, I will cut off your head with my own hands.I will send it to the king of Portugal!

Source:
Alemara sahib and Alemara gratitude
Alemara (Sahib) p.384.
Alemara (Shukri) p.330-331
Namiq Musali Shah Ismail Domination P.180

[yaqubleis]

If Selim didn’t have artillery Shah Ismail was going to end the Ottoman Empire 100 out 100 times

[zgramzhnisk]

About your question in the beginning regarding Ismail's nationality, ethnic background wise he is a mix of three main groups. His maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother were Turkic people of the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty. His maternal grandmother was of Christian descent as she had both Georgian and Pontic Greek ancestors. His paternal grandfather on the other hand was of Kurdish descent, and was a leader of the Safavids when they were still a religious order and not a proper state. Determining Ismail's culture though is a bit more tricky as culture isn't something that's exactly quantifiable. The two main influences on his culture were Persian and Turkic, and he incorporated both elements into the state he built. On one hand he very frequently used Persian imagery and concepts, with him even going on to give most of his sons names from the medieval Persian epic Shahnama. On the other hand he wrote the vast majority of his poetry in Turkic, with around 1400 verses in Azerbaijani and only around 50 in Persian, although I will add that his Persian poetry wasn't preserved as well as his Azerbaijani poetry so there might have been more Persian ones that have been lost. In correspondence with foreign rulers he also preferred Turkic over Persian, which resulted in an ironic situation where Selim, the Sultan of the Ottoman Turks, was writing to Ismail in Persian while Ismail, the Shah of Iran, was responding to him in Turkic. This cultural synthesis isn't something limited to the Safavids actually and is called the Turco-Persian tradition in historiography. Overall I would say between his various ethnic and cultural elements the Turkic component is the foremost one however simply calling him a Turk with no further clarification would be a massive oversimplification that ignores his multi-ethnic and multi-cultural background.

[andreasalegatos]

Wow, i rrally love your narration. I am a great fan of Persia and hearing the biography of Ismail really make me happy 🎉

[amirfallah]

I see some people arguing if Ismail was Iranian or not.

first of all, what we know as Nation-State is a modern term.
Iran ( previously Eranshahr) has so many ethnic groups. Kurds, Turks, Lurs, Baloch, Arabs, Persians etc.
( btw that's why Reza Shah asked westerners to call us Iran not Persia!)

yes he was Turk( maybe with Kurdish roots) but in a larger scale he was an Iranian.

It's not strange that from time to time some ethnics has ruled Iran ( as you see later on with Zands)

[nuriyev.cvx]

British traveler and merchant Antony Jenkinson writes that during his meeting with Shah Tahmasib at the banquet table, Shah greeted him with the word "welcome" in Azerbaijani. Petra della Valle, an Italian traveler who traveled to the East in the first half of the 17th century, also wrote that when Shah Abbas received him, he asked if he knew the Turkish language, and after receiving a positive answer, he said, "You are welcome, you are welcome." they used expressions like "turn".

[nuriyev.cvx]

During his visit to the Safavid state in the 80s and 90s of the 17th century, the German traveler Engelbert Kempfer also encountered the fact that the Turkish language had a large sphere of influence in the country. He wrote in his memoirs:

"...The Turkish language spread from the palace to the homes of high-ranking and dignified persons, and as a result, everyone who wanted to gain the king's respect spoke this language. Now it has reached the point where it is considered a crime not to know the Turkish language for anyone whose head is worth more than his body. Turkish language is easier than all the eastern languages. The dignity and grandeur of the way Turkish is spoken has led to its being the only spoken language in the palace and the royal palace.

[Auxblanchesmains]

You explain in a very clear way awesome stuff!