The Safavid State (1501–1736)

In 1501 the fourteen-year-old Ismail was proclaimed shah in Tabriz with the backing of the Qizilbash Turkic tribes — the Shamlu, Rumlu, Ustajlu, Takkalu, Afshar, Qajar and others. Within a few years Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Khorasan were united in one state.

Shah Ismail wrote fine poetry in Azerbaijani Turkic under the pen name "Khatai"; in his time the court, the army and diplomatic correspondence largely used Turkic. In 1514 he was defeated by the Ottoman sultan Selim I at Chaldiran. The capital later moved to Qazvin and, under Shah Abbas I, to Isfahan, whose famous square and mosques date from this period.

In 1736 Nader Shah Afshar took the throne and the Safavid dynasty ended. Yet Turkic dynasties continued to rule: after the Afsharids, the Qajars governed Iran until 1925. The Safavids created a golden age of Azerbaijani language and literature, carpet weaving and miniature painting.