And when you look at Isfahan, it is the most beautiful city in the world, and that is the Safavid city, the Safavid capital.

One of Süleyman's greatest rivals was to the east, the empire of the Persian Safavids.

The Safavid dynasty were Shi'ite Muslims, bitter rivals to the Sunni Ottomans.

The Safavid military was formidable but they were cultural rivals to the Ottomans as well.

Rival Muslim Safavids, and his own family, would bring the cruellest of sorrows to the Sultan.

language of the Safavid state. By the end of the sixteenth century, the capital of the Safavid state had been transferred to Isfahan and its shah now drew his support primarily from the Persian nobility.

In 1501, the Safavid state was formed in Azerbaijan, named after the ruling dynasty, with its capital at Tabriz.

The Safavids were also Turkic in their ethnic origins and indeed spoke Turkish as a language of daily life.

In Iran, the Shiites have been the staatsvolk since the beginning of the Safavid Dynasty in the 16th century, making up more than 80 percent of the population.

The territory of the Safavid state stretched from the Amu Darya river to the Euphrates, and from Derbent to the shores of the Persian Gulf.