The effect of the promotion of Shiism in historiography and the emergence of new features in the Safavid era

Introduction

During the Safavid period, historiography encountered changes in content, where exclusive features emerged as a result of the changes in the historians’ attitude towards the motives in recording history. These changes evolved due to the spread of 12 Imam Shiism in Iran. The Safavid Kings resorted to religious policies of Shiism, the effects of which became evident in historiography, to name one realm. Historians of the Safavid era, empowered by Shiite teaching, began recording the events unconsciously or perhaps consciously leading to new features in historiography.

In this period, the consensus cooperation, and alignment of historians with the court on the path of spreading the Shi'ite religion is evident. The historiography of the Safavid period, the harmonious combination of the government and historians’ ideals, introduced changes and gained momentum, the effects of which became apparent later.

An attempt is made to explore the nature of Safavid historiography and introduce and highlight the features that emerged thereof subject to Shiism. These concealed features, in the view of many experts in the field of historiography and Safavid scholars, are identified and highlighted through subjective explorations. An attempt is made to introduce and explain the features of Safavid-era historiography that emerged based on the religious discourse then. The study structure is based on the intelligence topics related to Shiites in Iran.

The two primary questions of concern are: 1) What changed the historians of the Safavid period attitude compared to previous periods? 2) What are the features that emerged due to the historians' new attitude on historiography? Many independent and dependent variables are involved concerning this issue, among which state and scholars’ contributions to new developments in historiography are evident.

The main hypothesis in the author's mind indicates the very prominent contribution of the religious atmosphere prevailing in the Safavid period with its direct effect on the minds and pens of historians. Influential participants like the Safavid kings, scholars, and even the citizens, next to the beliefs of the Safavid historians, formed a new perspective on the objectives of historiography homogeneously and harmoniously, thus, a new way of thinking and initiating new features in the historiography.

The available 50-plus studies on Safavid historiography have not been reviewed or re-studied. One of the reasons for this indifference can be the prevalence of the opinion that historiography in the Safavid period encountered the period or at least, the decline of Iranian historiography and lack of enthusiasm for further assessments. Researcher (Fereydoun Adamit, 2015), viewed the historical books of the Safavid period superficially, and probably some researchers cited him with a low adaptation. Safavid historiography is full of appreciable aspects, which is considered a valuable addition to the historiography of Iran. The Shiite discourse consciously prevailed over the works of historians and conveyed a specific message to its audience, something different from previous historiographies.

To date, no specialized research is run on this issue, though there exist the book "The Historiographic Thought of the Safavid Era" written by (Mohammad Baqer Aram, 2007) and some articles on "Historiography of Safavid Era's Dispatches" by (Sholeh Quinn, 2009) "Analysis of Safavid Era History and Historiography" by (Roger Siori 2007), "The Quality of Representation of Iranshahri Thought in the Safavid Era's Historiographical Tradition" by (Mohammad Ali Hosseinizadeh and Amir Rezaei Panah, 2002), "The Influence Shiism of the Safavid era on the historiography of Arai Shah Tahmasb" by (Ali Akbar Jafari, Matin Sadat Islahi and Mahshid Sadat Islahi, 2016), "History writing in Iran during the Safavid era, stages and typology" by (Mansour Sefat Gol, 2008), Mahdovit in History of the Safavid Era" by (Hamidreza Motahari and Saeed Najafinejad, 1999) and "Analysis of the History and Historiography of the Safavid Era" by (Roger Siori, 2009).

The titles of most of these works though valuable in their way, are concerned with the historiography of this period in its holistic context, and some have focused on parts of the historiography of this period with a specific and detailed view. With due respect, they are different from what is focused on in this article. To understand the flow of Safavid historiography and the prevailing ruling discourse, it is necessary to assess the influential contributing factors. In this article, the contribution of Shiism to Safavid historiography is assessed.

Where does promoting Shiism stand in the Safavid historians’ view

Without considering the dominance of 12 Imam Shiism over the Safavid period government in the minds of historians, realizing the features of Safavid historiography will not have an appropriate outcome. In promoting Shiism, the Safavids applied many means, propaganda, historiography being one. The Safavid historians believed in Shiism and believed in the way that the Safavids had started.

All the historians of the subject period are known as religious in different degrees, thus as to religion, their historiography is considered religious historiography in terms of the predominant intellectual aspects; consequently, it can be assumed that all the historians then had extreme Shiite prejudices, the effects of which are evident in their books. The selection of many themes and topics in these books was influenced by the main factor, the objective of promoting Shiism. Initiation of many new features for them is the byproduct of this approach.

In this period, the historiography criteria went through a gradually evolution. The reflection of religious transformations appeared in the historiography, and the orientation to Shiism affected the minds and souls of the historians.

The historiographical vision of historians was influenced by the Shiite tendencies of the society, next to having a committed belief in Shiism and did not see the mission as merely limited to recording events, but believed in a more important responsibility in the name of explaining the status of the innocents, describing the value of being "Shia" set member next to popularizing Shiism. In this context, the conventional historiography style did not meet the historians’ expectations. They sought to fulfill the intentions of the Safavid kings and their religious dreams; consequently, the Safavid historiography was charged by narrating: 1) the Safavid kings, 2) the beliefs and transcendental nature of kings’ mission in the world of existence, 3) motivating the Safavids to stand against non-Shiites, 4) the dignity of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), 5) the relationship of the Safavid family with the Imams (peace be upon them), 6) cursedness of the enemies of the Shiites, and 7) explaining the cultural and social measures of the Safavid government to spread Shiism and topics centered on its promotion.

Historians' religious approach in writing historical works initiated almost a customized style of historiography, which unintentionally distinguished it from that of the previous periods. This difference did not occur in the superficial aspects of historiography but influenced the content of historians' works.

The themes and tone of promoting Shiism during the different periods of Safavid dynasty governance were accompanied by fluctuations in appearance, due to the conditions of the time and the personality of the ruling king then.

Considering these fluctuations in different periods of Safavid rule, the most essential features of historiography influenced by the Shiite atmosphere consist of:

1- Change in the topic and content of historical prefaces

The historical sources of this period begin with the same introduction after the emergence of Shiite culture. The written historical works begin with prefaces in praise of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) and the Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) in particular. One of the feasible differences between Safavid historiography and previous historiography is the increase in praises related to the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) in the form of verse and prose.

The prefaces of the Safavid era, subject to their ideological basis, actually represent the opinions of a writer who, at the very beginning, diverted from Sunni historiography by praising Hazrat Ali (peace be upon him) and other Imams (peace be upon them). By excluding the three caliphs from the group of praisers, as a manifesto, he specifies his direction and reveals the ideological alignment.

2- Special attention to the Safavid lineage

The genealogy of the Safavid family is another distinguishing feature of the historical books of the Safavid period. This genealogy, which usually comes after the prefaces, traces the lineage of the Safavids back to Imam Musa Kazem (peace be upon him) and reminds the reader of the supremacy of the Safavids at the very beginning of the work. The genealogy of the Safavids included in those sources as a supplement to prove the Shia religion and the rule of this family is one of the primary elements of many historical sources.

The Safavids' claim of sovereignty, promoting the 12 Imam Shiism, corresponded with that of the Imams, (peace be upon them), and formed a Shiite government that sat on the throne during the absence of the absent Imam, and upon the appearance of that Imam during the reign of these kings, they will hand over the government to him. Attribution to the family of the Prophet (PBUH) could have been a bridge that allowed Safavids to cross easily concerning the doubts of the people; consequently, historians emphasized this sovereignty on various occasions. They had a motivation beyond the usual motivation of a historian in introducing the Kings of their times.

3- The special stance of the Shah in Safavid historiography

In these works, the Safavid king has a stance well over being a ruler. A position that was not derived from the image of Zal Allahi Sultan in Iran. This image has existed among Iranians since the distant past, but the historian of the Safavid period encountered another dignity next to the traditional reading of the king's stance. The historian finds himself among the people who have an extraterrestrial conception of the king's existential nature. They have created a spiritual image of the king, and the historian himself agrees with these people, his focal point in this case is to draw the spiritual image of the king for everyone with his writings.

In the Safavid historiography, the king is known as the promoter of Shiism and its revival in the world. The Safavid historian followed almost the same path as his predecessors regarding the honoring of the worldly figures of the Safavid kings, while, this feature is not an exclusive feature for the writing style of Safavid historians compared to the previous periods.

The spiritual image of the Safavid King in the historiography of this period is different from the same of the pre-Safavi and post-Safavi Kings. As to spiritual governance of people none of the kings in the history of Iran since the initiation of Islam can compete with the Safavid kings. The extraordinary spiritual image of the Safavid Shah in the Iranian society of the Safavid era should be interpreted in the Safavid era society's perception of these rulers.

With the sainthood of the Safavid Kings and their religious and spiritual stance, any kind of naming and referring to the members of this dynasty required many royal titles and symbolic words; even the historians did not dare to name them with specific names. Many expressions used in addressing the Safavid kings can be assumed to be an aura of sanctification that surrounds the king. Notably, criticism of the deeds and behaviors of the king had no room in this historiography. How can a king who is an innocent person and rules over the Shiites at the discretion of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) be criticized? Neither public beliefs reflect the use of critical literature, nor the historian himself consents to doing such a thing.

The historians of the Ghaznavid, Buyhi, and Seljuk period praised the king of the era, to introduce him as a powerful and worthy person. But the Safavid historian, in addition to trying to show the image of Malik al-Raqabi, the Safavid king, sought to introduce a person with a supernatural image who is connected with the unseen world and is a descendant of the Prophet (PBUH). The Safavid king was no longer a ceremonial figure only in the words of God's shadow; he was a king whose orders were obeyed not as the ruler of the country, but as a representative of the Ahl al-Bayt, (peace be upon him), regardless of corruptions we know about them. Historians of the Safavid era have shown the representation of this situation in the 235-year-old Safavid drama, thus, the historian should always praise a King who, next to being the political ruler, is a spiritual ruler as well.

It seems that even the issue of a Safavid King’s stance in the universe is doubtful for the people who accepted them as "political leaders with an otherworldly image". Something greater than this happened and the Safavid king himself did not have a proper understanding of his stance and suffered from irrational self-belief due to reasons like sovereignty, representing the absent Imam to rule the people, and the theoretical belief and practical sacrifice of his passionate and numerous fans. The outcome of this belief in the Safavid King's capacity in the universe is the same dignity that the Safavid historian assigned him. This is why the Safavid historians considered a "legitimate autocracy" for the Safavids, either intentionally or unintentionally became the publishers of this mentality. In general, the historians had a feeling of empathy and a desire for synergy towards the Safavid Kings and recorded the history biasedly in the way of fulfilling their common desires.

4- Change in the historiography of the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them

Among the changes that occurred in Safavid historiography was the manipulation in the historiography of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) by some original historians of this period, who were influenced by the religious atmosphere of the society, began to introduce modifications in the classical division of public history.

That the historians of the first period of Safavid rule showed a greater tendency to write public chronicles is evident. Most of the general history books were written in the same period of the early kings’ rule. Following this, there exists no sufficient work of this type on historiography. In some cases when the general history was written, changes in the part of the first three caliphs are evident. More intriguing is the fact that some historians refused to mention this period of Islamic history altogether.

In Shah Tahmasb’s ruling period, between the epic of Shah Ismail the First and the glory of the reign of Shah Abbas the First, this resistance in historiography is evident, and in the Tahmasb period, by writing a few general histories, the stance of the Safavids is revealed which paved the way for dynastic writings, especially during the Shah Abbas the first ruling.

Before Shah Abbas the first, the prevailing type of history writing was writing the generalities. Out of the eight texts of this period, only Amir Mahmoud dedicated his book to reporting the events of the Safavid era, and perhaps he considered his book as a supplement to his father's general history. But on the contrary, out of the total seven texts, only the summary of al-Tawarikh, written at the beginning of this king's reign, complied by (Qazi Ahmad, 1964) beforehand considered general.

The historiography of the imams in general chronicles was not an innovation of Safavid historians but has been the result of religious developments caused by the rise of the Safavid dynasty, a continuation of an older tradition, and the result of general changes in belief among Muslims in previous centuries. The essential change that the Safavid historians made in this model was the change made in the chapters of the Imams (peace be upon them) to the three caliphs ratio, that is, ranking the three caliphs second to the Imams (peace be upon them). This transition embedded both the official religious beliefs and the political ideology of the Safavid kingdom. The superiority of the Rashidun caliphs over the Imams (peace be upon them) was the slightest limit contained in the time order, that Sunni historians could observe in preserving their sectorial identity.

The Safavid historians, by manipulating this order, sought to promote a Shiite identity in their narratives, although only Abdi Bey dared to date the history completely according to Shiite theological beliefs. The only cases of deviation from this order are the removal of the three caliphs, observable only in the history of Jahan Ara. Placing the events of the time under the history of the Imams (peace be upon them), was also done only in the Takmulah al-Akhbar.

5- Prophecies of the rise of the Safavids

Prophetic news of the formation of the Safavid rule is one of the exclusive features of historiography in this period. It seems that after the Mongol attack and the caused destructions in Iran, the citizens anticipated the emergence of the Safavids, as a resurrection. This expectation was given an ideal answer with the unveiling of a charismatic figure in the history of Islamic Iran named Shah Ismail.

Safavid historians have mentioned the mysterious reports of the rise of Shah Ismail and the formation of his government in their works. In one of these historical works, the story of tying Ismail's waist and giving him a sword by the Imam al-Zaman (peace be upon him) is in detail. The historians introduced young Ismail as a person who appeared from unseen worlds, someone who, according to his own words, was commissioned from the above to expand Shiism on earth, with no fear of the enemies and hardships that he would encounter from time to time (1715). All these cases were written with the flavor and aroma to please the Ahl al-Bayti and Shia.

Mentioning the prophecies for the rise of the Safavid government, the common aspect in many works of this period is one of the interesting features of the Safavid historiography, which has strengthened the credibility of the Safavids among the citizens.

6- Legitimatizing the rule of the Safavid dynasty as the Shiism revivalists

Historians identified the Safavid Kings as supporters and publishers of 12 Imam Shiism; consequently, the Safavids, as Shiite rulers, by having another legitimizing force did not have to base their affirmative options for government on the foundations that prevailed worldwide something evident in the Safavid historical books.

The promotion of Shiism in the tradition of Safavid historiography has an inseparable link with the support of the Safavid Kings. During this period, the historian's thoughts were influenced by the King’s will in promoting Shiism and they praised him for this holy will. The Safavid historians believed that the support of the king corresponded with the support of the Shia sect, and it seems that by believing in a dialectical process, they considered Shiism the causation of the Safavid government system. Farsai's pen is pleasant on this dualism.

The motive of this legitimacy was different from the historians of previous eras. The desired legitimacy of the Safavids, which was based on sovereignty, confirmation of sovereignty by the infallible Imam, and the relationship of Sufi disciples with the perfect mentor (in the first Safavid period), was stable in the historiography of this era. In many cases, the historian has pointed out the importance and value of the actions of the first two Kings of the Safavid dynasty among all the kings and rebels for the promotion of Shiism and the formation of a Shiite government in explanatory literature and historical references. The historian introduces them as the leaders of the Shiite world, which after nine centuries of marginalization, has brought the followers of this sect to their suppressed hopes.

Many of the statements in the works of historians are in a way legitimizing the government to which they believed. Among these identity statements, we can point to topics like giving nicknames and titles to the kings that indicate their adherence to the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them); emphasizing the connection of the Safavid government with the Mahdavi government; mentioning the genealogy of the Safavids at the beginning of the books; emphasizing the connection of the Safavid family, especially Shah Ismail and Shah Tahmasab with the Holy Prophets, peace be upon them through the vision, consecration and purification of the Safavid kings; mentioning their activities in honoring the name of the Ahl al-Bayt, and reliance of the twelfth-century sect; emphasizing on the help and support of the Bayt, etc.

In the Safavid historiography, there exist many expressions that have introduced the Safavid government as a legitimate government because it was approved by the Infallibles, (peace be upon them). In these cases, we are talking about the rule of Safavid kings on behalf of Hazrat Mahdi (AS). This single claim by the historians was enough to generate a wave of belief in the legitimacy of the Safavids among the people.

7- Limitation of local histories

Centralism in the Safavid period was not only focused on political and religious integrity but evident in different dimensions. Among the subjects that were affected by the emergence of national unity in the Safavid era was historiography, which, somehow was center-oriented. The two essential pillars overlapped and can be considered as a single set among most historians’ views, where the 12 Imam Shiism sect and its promoters are the Safavids.

Under these circumstances, most historians, who considered their main mission to mention the history of the Safavid Kings, sanctify and praise their works, and defend their favorite sect, were more interested in broader issues, but they were limited to the topics above. The attraction of writing biographies of the Safavid kings and the events surrounding them in the national-religious arena was so great that dissuaded historians from writing books on local history.

The geographical aspect of historiography was almost ignored. The functionality of the government switched from political, legal, and social chaos to centralization, unity, and cohesion. The limitation of local histories due to the disappearance of local governments is one of the examples of this.

The essential historical sources of the Safavid period emphasize a kind of unitarism that influenced the minds and spirits of historians. Books like Habib Al-Sir, Tarikh Jahan-Ara, Ahsan al-Tawarikh, Tarikh Alam-arai Abbasi, and Summary of al-Tawarikh are among the works that according to the author have focused on the consolidation of unity in its different dimensions and his writings are the interpretation of his holistic view.

There exist limited works like the History of Gilan, the History of Kerman, and Sharafnameh Badlisi, which are written with a local approach. The interesting thing about these works is the attention to state issues and the Shiite sect, which influenced the content of these works and somehow lowered the localism sense.

8- Differences in military reports

Some historians have narrated their observed incidents in the Safavid military campaigns. Some have provided valuable information by collecting the recorded news on wars. The reports of the Safavid wars were different from the reports of the same by the Kings and governors before the Safavids. In the pre-Asfawi period, historians generally presented the motivations of the rulers' wars as being religiously oriented and justified but encountered the stance against the war between the two Sunni Iran-Ottoman governments, full of contradictions in making the motivations of their followers religious in these battles. During the Safavid period, the situation changed; historians, both in the primitive civil wars of the Safavids for the establishment of the government and encountering the Ottomans and the Uzbeks, were freed from contradictions and considered all the wars of the Safavids sacred and used them for their propaganda. The path of Shiism was considered necessary and any group that stood against them was introduced as deviants from the path of truth and truth.

In addition to the fact that the purpose of all the wars and efforts of the kings was to elevate the Shia religion, the victories were also attributed to the supplications of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) and their acceptance of the infallible (peace be upon them) and assistance. Any defeat of the Safavid army was usually blamed on bad fate as the cause.

Safavid historians did not have much difficulty in justifying and explaining these failures, because the statistics on the wars reveal that their defeats were rare compared to their victories it can be said that the Safavid sources are the conquest letters where the historian describes the victories of the Shiites.

Because the historical books of this period were written subject to the religious prevailing mentality, the political and military events are still described in detail, while the religious topics, even comparatively limited compared to military-political issues, were extremely effective. The Safavid historiography considers these wars to make the Shiites proud and to raise the memory and name of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) in the world view and consider the wars as a holy jihad.

9- Illusion

Illusion in parallel to the mood of those days in Iran had its weight in Safavid historiography in this context. Though the Safavid historiography has not benefited from the influence of Safavid kings, citizens, and some historians have published illusion-based news about the promotion of Shiism and the connection of Safavid kings with the unseen world. Writing about these illusions, considering the intellectual and cultural conditions of the era, was considered a relatively solid and believable confirmation of the Safavid governance.

Such illusions, and the adaptation of traditions with the formation of the Safavid government, due to their paradoxical nature, could become public belief with more repetition and insistence, under certain conditions. Perhaps even now it is considered part of the writings of Safavid historians for fairy tale lovers, while the fact is that these transcendental reports were not doubted by anyone in that period.

This feature of Safavid historiography flourished due to the mystical conduct of the Safavid ancestors and the tacit approval of the kings of the first Safavid era, or at least their lack of opposition to this trend. During Shah Tahmasb's rule, although the illusions continued, due to the relative decline of Sufi culture and the gradual replacement of Shi'ism jurisprudent by Sufi Shi'ism, the emotional pen of historians became moderated. Readers of many Safavid historical books were sometimes faced with ambiguous wordings, containing a clear message, the sanctity of the Safavids, which emphasized their transcendental interactions with the Ahl al-Bayt, peace be upon them.

Of course, this feature is not reflected in all the books of the Safavid era in the same manner. In the works like these illusions "Tarikh Alam Arai Abbasi" and "Alam Arai Safavi" are in contradiction in this context. The book "Humayun's Conquests" is one of the best works that, according to the period and Abjad letters, connects the Safavid Kings with special elegance through concise equations from the world of numbers and figures to Ahl al-Bayt, (peace be upon them).

In "Tarikh Alam Arai Abbasi" the illusions and revelations are absent. This phenomenon as the eerie atmosphere had little effect on "From Sheikh Safi to Shah Safi", "Events of Al-Sunin and Al-Awam", "Rawzah Al-Anwar Abbasi" and even "Naqawa al-Athar fi Zikr al-Akhyar" books. This effectiveness almost becomes zero in the case of "Tarikh Alam Arai Abbasi" book.

10- Continuation of the Persian writing tradition

The Persian historians' writings reached their peak after the Mongol invasion because they could make a greater connection between the mass of people (who were not very familiar with the Arabic language) and the teachings of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).

The national historiography was formed in its true form during the Safavid era because Safavids had formed a powerful government not subject to Arabs or Mongols like other governments in the history of Islamic Iran. To establish their independent religious and sectorial, identity, the kings had to establish essential political, social, and cultural pillars under the national and religious foundations of Iran. The homeland of historians of this period was a single country named Iran with a centralized government named Safavid, so the historians wrote not in Arabic but in Persian. Writing in Persian was considered a form of literary branding vs. Sunni Arabic speakers, consequently, the national historiography based on religion and a single language was established in Safavid Iran.

11- Fading of Mythology

In the historiography of the Safavid period, not much attention was paid to the ancient and national heroism of Iran. Though there exist a few special titles of the Achaemenid and Sassanid kings and the famous generals and warriors in this period, the focus was only on Immams and famous Shiite personalities. The news of the axing and taunting of Amir al-Mu'minin's enemies has become very important. The theoretical basis of this dimming of myths was related to the nature of Shiism and the existence of imams (peace be upon them) as the chosen ones.

Historians of that period, while introducing the Safavid kings as the shadow of God on earth, did not mention any ancient terms such as "Farah Yazidi" and used Shiite keywords to show their connection to the unseen world.

12- News of the appearance of the promised Mahdi

One of the features of the historiography of the Safavid era, which emerged subject to the Shiite atmosphere influence of the society, was the proliferation of apocalyptic news. Mahdism was introduced as an indicator containing issues like the imminence of the time of the advent, the connection of the Safavid kings with the Imam of the time (AS) and the government on his behalf, and the connection of the Safavid government with the Mahdavi governance in the historiography of the Safavid era.

Historians, based on their personal beliefs and the knowledge of the ideological atmosphere of the society, announced the time of the advent to be close. Based on some evidence, the Safavid historians introduced the Safavid kings as the chosen to rule at that critical moment, who would present the reins of governance to the Prophet at the time of his appearance. In the mentioned books, the establishment of the government by the Safavids is considered proof of this time approximation. The idea of the nearness of the Hazrat Mahdi’s emergence is taken for granted in the early Safavid historiography sources, like the "Takmallah al-Akhbar" and "Tarikh Jahan Ara" books. Sometimes, with or without referring to signs, they wrote about the imminent emergence and connection to Mahdavi's government. The news of the nearness of this emergence and connection of the Safavid government to the Mahdavi government until the end of Shah Tahmasb's reign was strongly discussed in the works of historians, and followed a considerable silence, because according to the predictions, this emergence was supposed to have occurred in the period Shah Tahmasab ruling. After this period, connection theory becomes limited to prayer for connection.

After Shah Tahmasb's death, a wave of doubt about the imminence of the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (A.S.) overwhelmed the minds of the citizens, which diminished the reflection hopes for the nearness of the Prophet’s emergence.

As to the type and levels of correlations between the Safavid kings and Imam Zaman (AS), some established titles were seen in historical writings, which seem to be specific to the Safavid kings. Production rhetorical literature such as "Nasser Sahib al-Zaman", "Sabah Sahib al-Zaman", "Pishro Mahdi Akher Zaman", "Maghdama al-Jish Sahib al-Zaman", "Mahdi Sahib al-Zaman's Leader" are metaphorical terms widely used in Safavid historiography. Many Safavid historians have written materials in the form of prayer sentences to connect the Safavid government to the Mahdavi government. The basis of historians in this case is the emphasis on the ruling of the Safavid dynasty on behalf of Hazrat Mahdi (AS).

Result

The rise of the Safavids and the religious sectored developments at the social level simultaneously introduced changes in historiography. The main factor of this transition in the historiography was the widespread promotion of the Twelver Imam Shiism by the kings. Historians' approach, in correspondence with that of the king, was to help expand this sect.

In the historiography, discourse was predominant over event reporting; in the sense that the Shia discourse ruling over the pillars of historiography and historians, while writing news, influenced by their own beliefs and those of their compatriots, next to a biased display, aligned their strategic objectives of writing books with their religious beliefs.

Knowing the cause of the fanatical biases of Safavid historians is not very complicated. They sought to fulfill their common ideals with the Safavid dynasty for the promotion of Shiism; consequently, they added Shiite ideological concepts in their reports and conclusions obtained from the events. Safavid historiography can be referred to as religious historiography, unlike the secular historiography.

Historians' new vision in writing history in the Safavid period and presenting historical reports within a Shiite approach generated new features for historiography, which are assessed from the perspective of this study. The result of the narratives of these historians about the promotion of Shiism is evident in the form of features that can be extracted from their written works, and considering the historiography of this period in its details, including the newly introduced features. Because all the historians of the Safavid period agreed on the principle of defending Shiism, that is why these features can be seen more or less in all the works of that period.

In its phenomenological context, Safavid historiography is considered to be full of demonstrations of Shiism promotion in various forms. In its naturalistic context, the same holds with the difference in the form of introducing new features in historiography compared to the pre-Safavid eras.

Some Safavid historians, while reporting many events, have indirectly hidden the results of their writing, with the desire to expand and consolidate the foundations of Shiism, while in narration of events, they attacked the truth of Shiism and that that religion is the only way to salvation.

In this period, the issues to be discussed in historical books were many, with the tendency to become more fundamental, in establishing Shiism in the body of the society, by proposing materials that appeared in the form of the aforementioned features.

Historians of the Safavid period left a spiritual legacy for the future eras of historiography in terms of the Shiite discourse's high influence in historiography. They defined the Safavid hegemony as a subset of the hegemony of the Shiite sect as one of their principles in historiography.

The orientation toward the spirit of promoting Shi'ism in Safavid historiography gave it more depth and converted it from a mere linear report into ideological historiography. This statement by no means reveals that Safavid historiography ignored the standards without considering the common patterns of historiography, rather, changed the approaches in the meaning and content and revolutionized the spirit of historiography. Safavid historiography went beyond a "dynastic historiography" and it is unfair to merely name it "Safavi historiography" but a "religious-dynastic historiography".