analytical essay about Andrew Newman
Areej.K
safavid_iran_rebirth_of_a_persian2.docx10
Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire
NoraKain
ALMC
Introduction
The history of anthropoid life has been attested in particular times that powerful empires expanded at the heart of civilization. The emergence of the empire has also (the emergence of which empire?) seen a massive breakdown and collapse resulting in events that developed over time (insert time frame or date be precise) the period was in the path of sequential ups and downs; (in what context was the struggle?)Therefore, the life cycle of the empire and civilization. Persian Empire has the occurrence of many collapses in each interval time. (elaborate why did Persian had so many collaps)?
The theme of this book focuses on the spread of Safavid culture and society immersed in war and revolution which had its rule from the fifteenth to eighteenth century linking new Iran with the ancient Iran( more details on how the dynasty came about before jumping into the next senses). The dynasty of Safavid culture experienced a large span of many developments in religion, politics, warfare, architecture and philosophy. The Safavid dynasty manages (how did they managed?)to intensify the maturation of the longest lasting of Iran’s Islamic eras. The author of the book, Andrew Newman, offers an in-depth evaluation of Iran’s history and culture as they (they who? More context here) developed in history in an extraordinary flowering of the Safavid’s place.
What is distinct about the people of Iranian plateau have been the mediated product of the interaction of its peoples own traditions with historical, spiritual and cultural traditions of the peoples of the many other regions, near and far who have passed through and settled here[footnoteRef:1] [1: Newman, Andrew Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. London: Tauris and company publishers, 2006, 2]
The author appraises the extraordinary growth (give example on the extraordinary growth)in enduring the Islamic period of the Safavid before 1501 in history. During the apprehension of Tabriz by Ismail Shah(explain who were the Tabriz..), it led to the blooming realm of the Safavid with the establishment of faith in Shii’sm which considered as haram (give example on how was the shiism viewed as haram?). The Shah Abbas architecture and art patronage dominated in the sixteenth century and early seventeenth (1587-1629) which embraced the capital of Isfahan with the Safavid spirit. Thus, the culture has extended to the highest point of maturity (more elaboration) in Sultan Husayn (1694-1722).
Based on Iran’s modern and medieval history, Newman offers new insights and research on the subject. A new interpretation of the Safavid’s rise and their fall after the demise of Ismail in the eighteenth century.
In the fifth line, the writer states that the Safavid period, conventionally dated from Ismail’s capture of Tabriz in 1501 to the fall of Isfahan to the Afghans in 1722, stands between Iran’s medieval and modern history.The present work offers an understanding of the history of Iran under the Safavids the longest ruling dynasty in Iran’s history since its conquest by Muslim armies in the 640s.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Newman, Andrew Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. London: Tauris and company publishers, 2006, 4]
Abbas, Tahmasp’s grandson,(more detailon these people) controls temporarily (what did they control more context here)and seizure the delay (?), only to resume death ending in the capture of the capital of Isfahan by the Afghan marauder Nadir Shah(who was Nadir Shah, more detail). He checked Qizilbash strife and loss of territory to foreign invasions(which territory, more context). Shah Abbas is portrayed by the author as a visionary leader in the state building project (what do you mean here) and his approach to economic issues termed as European style mercantilist. The author portrays Shah Abbas as a great economic leader. He establishes trade between the outside world and Safavid realm. Sik (explain this what is Sik a landmark or a person more context) the major export commodity bringing focus from outside world to Iran. Shah Abbas reign fostered political and economic instability through military mean. He (who) set motions which his? successors were unable to change.
In the second paragraph, the writer states that Abbas successors are portrayed as more interested in debauchery or religion than in the affairs of the state.[footnoteRef:3] [3: Newman, Andrew Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. London: Tauris and company publishers, 2006, 5]
The story points out the rise of Ottomans who led to the weakening of Safavid economy under the influence of the reign of Ottoman Turks. This is contradicting as Safavid’s historians found themselves in a limited satisfying position than their Ottoman and Mughal compatriots who can dismiss the notion of dissolution(of what? Incomplete) because the regime persevered(in which way , more detail) . Although (more context) weakened (how), the Ottomans held on to their influence (of what) and even managed to revive their public trust during the reign(how were they able to do this , more context). In the case of the Mughals, the recess at the claim (awkward) of the author was accompanied by consolation on the provinces(more detail which Provence) . Resulting in permanent loss of what is now Iraq at a critical stage(how and when, more detail) . The author of the book based his analysis on the primary source of power for Ismail and his successors.(repetitive sentence, new context ) In the reign of Ismail, the military conquered surrounding nations (who were the nations or their surrounding neighbors , elaborate more) to increase the empire (increase in which way , more context) this was done through the cooperation of the native Persian-Tajik-bureaucrats, inherited from the country’s previous rulers (who was the previous rulers, name) with a fractious coalition of Turkic warlords.
Dating the onset of the second Safavid century is the continuation of the author's description through the socio-economic, cultural and ways of Safavids history that was inherent and continuously conflicting with Tajik and Qizilbash leaders. The author portrayed the main idea of the book showing the growth of dedicated religious orthodox between Khasa and Mamalik lands based on Shi’ism in the presence of weak rulers(give example).
The Shahs needed to balance Tajik’s interests against Turkic significance and shift from one Turkic clan to another, as one or another grew too powerful or too disruptive to conquer. This was a threat to the economy of the Safavid. Eventually, the Safavid rulers added more legs to this wobbly stool,(this is not an academic sentense, more detail with strong context) bringing in and favoring Armenian, Circassian, and Jewish merchants(how, give example). The balancing act was never comfortable, and the empire's stability became remarkable(how did they became remarkable, gove eample). A major problem (elaborate, what kind of problem) has to do with religious issues.
Ismail who was the shah of Persia started his campaign in his religious militant order, extending his status as the leader of a Shia/Sufi sect. Thus, he gained power which made Shi'ism the national religion (how was he successful at making this religion national? more context), despite the fact that, at this time, Persia was majority Sunni. (That apparently changed fairly quickly.) (Instead of this sentence give example) His (insert name of the person) claim to legitimacy rested on a partial identification of the Shah with the Twelfth Imam. Both him and his successors drew into religious controversies which arose among their Shi'ite subjects(give more detail).
The Safavid shahs were also naturally allied with Sufi leaders; however, the individualistic tendencies of Sufism led to the conflicting religious views against Shii’ sm that was dangerous threat to the Safavid’s dynasty as it would separate opinions based on religious ideas. All too often, one or another Sufi would challenge the shah's legitimacy to crush such a threat required allying (more context needed), for a time, with more orthodox brands of Islam (incomplete thought). Such an alliance?? Be specific could not be permanent, of course, without casting a shadow (what do you mean more detail). Economically, the Safavids faced a chronic balance of trade problems; one they shared with the Turks and Europeans to their West: namely, the continuing appetite for luxury goods and quality manufacturers from India and China, which resulted in an ongoing flow of precious metals eastward (so what was the problem again? you’ve presented information on one of the problems however, more details are required in order to link the concept to the next sentence).
Persia had no abundance of such metals, and so trade with the west for gold, coming in from Africa, and later for American silver, was a necessity. The most natural trade route ran straight to the eastern Mediterranean. That is, Ottoman territory that caused war endemic between Sunni Turkey and Shia Persia which disrupted the path consistently. When European merchants began planting trading posts on the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, the Safavids at first supported them, seeing in them a way around their neighbors and enemies, but the Portuguese and the Dutch interests proved unsatisfactory, and ultimately that project was abandoned.( elaborate on the word project)?
Newman agrees that the Ottoman conquest of Mesopotamia was a critical event. He claims that it redounded to the benefit of the Persians; once a permanent peace was in place on the western front, the direct trade route to the Mediterranean reopened, and a period of prosperity followed, rather than the decay perceived by earlier historians.
Newman argues his ideas on the Persian rebirth from different sources to come up with conclusions of his findings. Persian-language chronicles produced during the period in published form and diplomatic and religious correspondence documents to indicate how the western travelers were willing to pay any price for their trading privileges. He used records of contemporary dictionaries which are biographical in nature. All are available published and produced in different linguistic forms.
The aftermath of the revolution growth in the period of West backed by powerful navies, whose (?) might was at times invoked in Safavid Iran. This was clearly depicted in the availability of sources, which are non-textual including buildings, inscriptions, monuments, paintings, and manuscripts. monuments dedication, pottery, and single page illustrations. On the field of Savafid economy and military scholarly output; he (he who , be consistent with names) constituted in using research on family and women (explain why ) , history writing and court sponsored literary expressions which were popular.(weak sentence)
It is evident in the second paragraph ?where before 1978 study of the period focused mainly on the period’s political history, the field’s scholarly output includes studies on the Savafid economy, military, on the political relations between Safavid Iran and its neighbors as well as of Safavid socio-cultural history.[footnoteRef:4] [4: Newman, Andrew Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. London: Tauris and company publishers, 2006, 8,9]
The author does not spend much focus on such traditional topics as war and diplomacy, being more interested in social and economic events. Each chapter covers a particular span of time, discussing first the political developments, then backtracking, successively, religious, economic, and artistic trends. The author is confusing,(weak context) as previous events sometimes are described after later ones.( awkward grammar) story is a rich one, and even a passing familiarity with events elsewhere in Eurasia at this time ??/ makes it an illuminating one.(entire sentence is not academic )
There are so many repetitions in the book in describing and explaining the fall (not academic, weak )Of Savafid in detail than explaining in detail the events. The author instead of extensively evaluating the second century regarding Savafid fall,(this is repitative) he lists several events that took place repeatedly. The book while reading it led to a very quick introduction to the topic. (?) What is exciting about the book is the text written at the period,(?) the artwork, vast mention of the architecture, ceramics, miniature paintings talking about original sources. Unfortunately, referring to without any illustrations some pictures and drawings would have been helpful in enticing the reader to appreciate the artwork of the previous century.
What creates interest in the book is how the author portrays the ?? Archaemian Empire stretching from modern day Libya in the west to the Central Asia to the west. How it featured the administrative bureaucracy by the use of political marriages and grants of land to key administrative and military figures and the employment of non-Persian in the administration. It portrays how the future is moderately related to the present as wealth creates and collapses the dynasty.
The author clearly describes economic chaos and weak leadership at the center of the regime and the suggestion that at the end of Savafid dynasty was the inevitable result of an increasingly dysfunctional society’s ability to suffer from internal and external challenges.[footnoteRef:5] [5: Newman, Andrew Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. London: Tauris and company publishers, 2006, 10]
How the writer portrays the post-revolution growth as a result of the West influence in trade and support of one religious view Shii’sm which Ismail’s dynasty considered as haram is liased (reword, this is repitative) . The author’s negativity in the influence of the West as a result of trade in silk in Safavid’s dynasty seems as a weakness of the book, the author goes ahead (not academic standard) to describe his intention to challenge the individual aspects mutually conflicting the real story behind Savafid’s fall. These are intended to highlight the manner in which the west interests were intertwined heterogeneously supporting the Shah.
These are meant to underline the way in which from the very first different, and potentially mutually conflicting interests and agendas which were intertwined with each other and with the fortunes of the Safavid.[footnoteRef:6] [6: Newman, Andrew Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. London: Tauris and company publishers, 2006, 13]
How the Islamic revolution shows its growth in the book details shows great reclaimed ideas supporting the growth of Islam caliphate. The history of Iran is the story of challenges of a nation for survival and excellence; a country with various languages, different cultures, but a relatively common background exposing numerous attacks from the Isfahan in territorial growth disputes, and for times inclined toward extinction and overturning but for some reasons has been able to find its identity and reconstruct itself.
The writer concludes that according to the model of original Iranian Revolution it serves to underline the manner in which potentially political interests and self agendas in the fortunes of the Safavid house led by the shah are conflicting. Newman creates the argument that observing justice has had so many ups and downs in Safavid reign;(this is a repitative sentense ??) so, a general statement cannot be made in this regard(why not please give more context). However, it is evident that Shah Ismail I (the founder of Safavid), in comparison to other Safavid kings relatively were more bound to justice and respect for humans.(give example)
Despotism and self-interest were the characteristics of most Safavid rulers, especially the courtly training of kings after Shah Abbas, had institutionalized oppression and narcissism in his successors. Meanwhile, according to historical reports(which historical reports be precisise), it is very hard to find any evidence related to answerability of one of Safavid rulers to people. Religious conflict in the Safavid’s dynasty grew as a result of self-interest (??), where the author purports??That during the reign of the shah, Ismail he invites large numbers of Shi’i clerics from Arabic lands (more context). This was to help in the promulgation of the faith’s practices and doctrines against the distinction to the Suniism of the Ottomans to the west to portray himself as the direct descendant of Shi’i Imams and new chief defender. After the defeat of Safavid at Chaldiran Ismail’s confidence shatters withdrawing himself.
It seems that centralism and despotism of Safavid period resulted in the suffocating and frightening atmosphere; therefore, no chance for the opening for public involvement with the connection between rulers and nations. Therefore, the continuation of pride, despotism, and self-interest enhanced the weak points of kings and gradually eliminated their good qualities. Finally, Shah Sultan Husayn as a despotic, cowardly, and dishonest person ended the powerful state of Safavid in front of some Afghans. Husayn is the last Safavid shah was busy with ostentatious (weak context)building projects that the state was unable to monitor the socio-economic and political crises by the Afghans from the East. The Afghan capture of Isfahan in 1722 signaling end of the dynasty.
Bibliography
Newman, Andrew Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. London: Tauris and company publishers, 2006
Rudolph, Mathee The Politics of Trade in Safavid Iran: Cambridge publishers, 1999
Dear Nora
I hope my feedback with the red is helpful.
