The Safavids

Safavid Dynasty

• Came to power under Shah Esmail during early 1500's.
• Massacred Sunni Muslims of Baghdad in 1508

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Safavid Dynasty

• The Ottoman Sultan tried to stop Esmail, but couldn't hold onto the region.
• Attempted to focibly convert large amounts of Sunni Muslims .to Shia.
• The Ottomans pushed the Safavids back in 1580

Height and Decline

• At it's height, intellectual freedom was a major part.
• The empire declined as orthodoxy began to become a larger political force. In the early 18th century, Afghan people seized the capital of Esfahan and the Shah (king) fled.

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Life Under Safavids

• Shahs were very close to their subjects.
• Many goods travelled in caravans. Trade was not prosperous due to powerful neighbors
• Important elements of the culture were science, medicine, and mathmatics, as well as the arts

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American Muslims

• Organizations such as Muslim Advocates and Council on American-Islamic Relations seek to educate people by showing how they're not all jihadists who want to destroy everything non-Isamic
• It may be difficult for Muslim teens to maintain their identities due to the steryotyping of Muslims.

The Taj Mahal