Safi II.

Shah Safi II and his court, Isfahan 1670. A painting by Ali Qoli Jabbador, now in the Institute for Oriental Studies in Saint Petersburg . The two Georgian figures on the left are striking.

Safi II. Or Sulaiman I (* 1647 ; † July 29, 1694 in Isfahan , buried in Qom ) was Shah of Persia from 1666 to 1694 .

Safi II. Son of Abbas II. And the Circassian Nikahat Khanum and thus a ruler from the dynasty of the Safavids . He succeeded his father on October 2, 1666 as Safi II on the throne. But his first year was overshadowed by many natural disasters. The astrologers at court came to the conclusion that Safi II had been crowned Shah too early and that this was the cause of the disaster. The coronation ceremony was repeated on March 20, 1668 under his new name Sulayman I.

Its full title read:

His Majesty Ẓillu'llāh 'Abū'l Muẓaffar Sulṭān Sulaimān Ṣafī Shāh II, Shahanshah of Persia

After his second enthronement, Safi II changed his previous policy. He reduced the strength of the army and the state apparatus in order to run the state more economically. Instead of his ministers and advisers, he founded a council made up of palace eunuchs . The power of this new council was so great that they even appointed Safis II's successor. Following the advice of the astrologers, the king withdrew from the public for weeks and months, so that the de facto power lay with the council and his mother. During his reign there were unrest in Georgia and Kurdistan and raids by the Uzbeks in Khorasan and the Baluch in Kerman . Safi II died on July 29, 1694 and was succeeded by his son Sultan Hosein .

Web links

• Rudi Matthee: Safavid Dynasty . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)