Shah ʿAbbas:
The Remaking of Iran

The British Museum in association with the Iran heritage Foundation.

The National Museum of Iran
The Iranian Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization

The Azima Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Manucher Azmudeh, Balli Group plc, Bank Julius Baer, Ms. Bita Daryabari, Mr.& Mrs. Mahmoud Faghihi, Dr. Farhad Farjam, Mr. & Mrs. Mehdi Metghalchi, Dr. & Mrs. Ali Sattaripour, Mr. & Mrs. Majid Toutouni

Dr. Sheila Canby, The British Museum

Shah ʿAbbas was a key figure in the creation of modern Iran. He was an influential king who ruled between 1587-1629 AD and whose legacy continues to this day. He was a great military leader, ruling Iran at a time when it was renewing its new identity on the political stage and positioning itself as a world power.

Shah ʿAbbas came to the throne in 1587 as the fifth ruler of the Safavid Dynasty. He was a man with a strong sense of personal piety; though Shi'ism was declared the state religion of Iran in 1501, it was Shah `Abbas who consolidated its preeminence through the rule of law and the suppression of heterodox Shi'i sects and extremist dervish orders. The clerics in the circle of Shah ʿAbbas established the parameters of Shi'i orthodoxy and in so doing strengthened the role of the religious elite throughout Iran. Through trade, patronage and diplomacy Shah ʿAbbas fostered good relations with Europe and ushered in a golden period in the arts. He gave many wonderful gifts -exquisite carpets, stunning porcelain, illustrated manuscripts and beautiful silks - to key religious sites across Iran, and embarked on major building projects.

The exhibition structure will focus on four major religious monuments as a context in which to explore the themes of his reign.

Isfahan became Shah ʿAbbas' new capital in 1598, the main administrative city and the seat of his power. In Isfahan he completed an ambitious building programme, including the construction of his personal mosque (named after his father-in-law and spiritual advisor Shaykh Luft Allah) as well as new quarters for the Safavid elite and the Armenian merchant class which drove the Safavid international silk trade. It was also the site of the royal artists' workshop, led by the famous calligrapher 'Ali Riza ʿAbbasi. This section of the exhibition will include a contemporary portrait of Shah ʿAbbas, produced by a Mughal artist, rare examples of 'Ali Riza ʿAbbasi's calligraphy, Christian Armenian artefacts and luxurious gold-ground carpets.

Ardabil contains the tomb of Shaykh Safi, a fourteenth-century sufi mystic and ancestor of Shah ʿAbbas. The site contained a lodge for dervishes who followed the Shaykh's teaching and was the dynastic shrine of the Shah's family. Shah ʿAbbas renovated the shrine, gifting magnificent decorative objects, including precious Chinese porcelains, mosque lamps and important manuscripts.

Mashhad contains a holy shrine of huge significance. It is the burial site of Imam Riza, the only Shi'i imam, or infallible spiritual guide, who is buried in Iran. The Shah himself walked in pilgrimage to the shrine from Isfahan, a distance of 600 miles. It houses the Shah's collection of Qur'ans and Arabic scientific manuscripts, exquisite gold plaques that decorated the sarcophagus of the Imam, and other elegant furnishings for the many chambers of the shrine. Objects that are analogous to those in the shrine, which cannot be lent, will be shown in this section.

Qum is the shrine of Fatima Ma'suma, the sister of Imam Riza and a focus of Safavid female piety and spirituality. By the 17th century many religious colleges were associated with the shrine, a situation that continues to this day. At the very end of his reign Shah ʿAbbas took an interest in this shrine and after his death his successors donated exquisite silk brocades, calligraphy and manuscripts. Examples of silks with gold and silver thread, carpets and metalwork like those at the shrine will be shown in this section.

Many of the objects in the exhibition have never been seen outside Iran.

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