Abbās I, the Great (c. 1571-1629)

Shah of Persia from 1587. He expanded Persian territory by conquest, defeating the Uzbeks near Herat in 1597 and also the Turks. At his death his empire reached from the River Tigris to the Indus River. He was a patron of the arts.

At the time of his succession Persia was threatened by internal revolt and external attack by the Ottoman Turks and the Uzbeks. During his reign Persia's frontiers were secured against both these forces. Peace was made with Turkey in 1590, by the terms of which Persia lost various districts in Azerbaijan and Georgia. Abbās then reduced the rebels in the south, and in 1597 recovered Khorasan from the Uzbeks. In 1601 the Turkish war was renewed and Persia regained the provinces which had been lost under Abbās's predecessors. Kandahar was recovered in 1609. In 1622 a joint Persian and British force evicted the Portuguese from Hormuz.

During his reign Abbās encouraged commerce, granted immunities and privileges to European merchants, set up a strong central administration, and gave encouragement to the building of Esfahan, which he made the capital of his kingdom. He was succeeded by his grandson, Shah Safi.