The safavid religion was mostly straightforward. The old Safavid leader Shah Ismail declared early on that the Safavid religion would be a form of Islam called Shi’ism. However, this did not go over quite so easily. This old leader created a program of people to help convert a mostly Sunni population either by persuasion, or by force. During this time there was a council of religious leaders, the Sunni ulama. The members either submitted and left or were forcefully removed. To help move this change along, the Shah sent in other religious scholars from other Shi’ite countries and gave them positions of power to be used by the government.
The Shah did other things to spread Shi’ism of course. One of the most important things they did was through
The Shah did other things to spread Shi’ism of course. One of the most important things they did was through