Table of Contents

List of Illustration vii

Preface ix

Introduction xi

1 Shah Abbas's Inheritance: The Birth of a Shi'i State 1

2 A Turbulent Childhood and the Seizure of Power 15

3 Abbas Takes Control 31

4 The Recovery of Khurasan from the Uzbeks 47

5 English Adventurers at the Service of Shah Abbas 53

6 Maintaining the Offensive: Khurasan, the Persian Gulf and a Challenge to the Ottomans 65

7 Abbas Expels the Ottomans 75

8 The Search for European Allies 85

9 Pressure on the Gulf, Mass Deportations and the Murder of a Son 99

10 An Anglo-Iranian Victory: the Capture of Hormuz 113

11 Final Triumphs: the Capture of Qandahar and Baghdad 131

12 A Conflict of Envoys 137

13 The English Embassy and the Death of Abbas 143

14 Abbas, the Man and the King 155

15 The Court of Shah Abbas 165

16 The Throne and Mosque Alliance 181

17 The City that was Half the World 193

18 The Merchant King 209

19 Shah Abbas and the Arts 217

20 The Later Safavids 227

Conclusion 239

Notes 243

Select Bibliography 259

Index 269