User:Atabəy/Safavid Dynasty
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The Safavids (1501-1722) (Persian: صفوی, Azerbaijani: Səfəvi) were a Shiite dynasty which established a unified Iranian state for the first time since the Islamic conquest of Persia and asserted the contemporary Iranian Shiite identity. Originated in Ardabil in Iranian Azerbaijan, Safavids were a predominantly Turkic-speaking dynasty, whose court languages were Azerbaijani and Persian. [1][2] The Safavids ruled Iran from 1502 until 1722 (though several Safavid rulers were nominally reigning until 1736), [3], extending their empire well beyond the borders of modern Iran.