Reasons for Interactions between Safavid Rulers and Shia Intellectuals and the Consequences

Jamshid Norouzi[1]

Shahram Ramazani[2]

Abstract

Establishment of Safavid government and a number of acts conducted by them like declaring Twelver Imam Shi’ism as the state religion of Iran and confronting neighboring Sunni rulers made some Shia jurists and intellectuals reconsider and negotiate the political legitimacy of this government, and if they were permitted to cooperate with it. During Safavid dynasty, there were mutual cooperation and convergence between the two institutes of politics and religion, and some jurists were appointed to administrative posts like supervising religious affairs and chancellorship—as the highest judicial and religious post. Considering such issues as well as the trend of formation and stabilization of Safavid dynasty and factors affecting that a number of questions could be posed.  The reasons for attention of Safavid rulers to Shia scholars and their vigorous attempts for having their cooperation and assistance; Shia scholars’ admission to cooperate upon the invitation of Safavid rulers and the consequences of mutual cooperation between the two institutes of politics and religion during Safavid era are the issues that could be investigated. Adopting historical and descriptive research methodology and through using primary sources and valid studies, the present study attempts to investigate the relation between Shia scholars and Safavid rulers; the reasons for mutual convergence between the two institutes of politics and religion during Safavid era and their consequences. It seems that factors like political attempts of Safavid rulers for gaining legitimacy and stabilizing the government, requirements made by expansion of the government territories, the necessity of paying attention to the interests of the influential communities particularly intellectuals, the mutual dependence of the two institutes of politics and religion on each other—concerning the time requirements and political conditions of the region—were all at work in affecting the mutual cooperation between Shia scholars and Safavid rulers.