Tahmasp I

Tahmasp I طهماسب یکم
Shah Tahmasp I in the mountains (detail), by Farrukh Beg
Shah of Iran
Reign	23 May 1524 – 25 May 1576
Coronation	2 June 1524
Predecessor	Ismail I
Successor	Ismail II
Regent	See list Div Sultan Rumlu Kopek Sultan Chuha Sultan Hossein Khan
Born	(1514-02-22)22 February 1514 Shahabad, Isfahan, Safavid Iran
Died	25 May 1576(1576-05-25) (aged 62) Qazvin, Safavid Iran
Spouse	Many, among them: Sultanum Begum Sultan-Agha Khanum
Issue	See below
Names Abu'l-Fath Tahmasp (Persian: ابوالفتح تهماسب)
Dynasty	Safavid
Father	Ismail I
Mother	Tajlu Khanum
Religion	Twelver Shia Islam
Seal

Tahmasp I (Persian: طهماسب یکم, romanized: Ṭahmāsb or تهماسب یکم Tahmâsb; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum.

Tahmasp ascended the throne after the death of his father on 23 May 1524. The first years of Tahmasp's reign were marked by civil wars between the Qizilbash leaders until 1532, when he asserted his authority and began an absolute monarchy. He soon faced a long-lasting war with the Ottoman Empire, which was divided into three phases. The Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, tried to install his own candidates on the Safavid throne. The war ended with the Peace of Amasya in 1555, with the Ottomans gaining sovereignty over Iraq, much of Kurdistan, and western Georgia. Tahmasp also had conflicts with the Uzbeks of Bukhara over Khorasan, with them repeatedly raiding Herat. In 1528, at the age of fourteen, he defeated the Uzbeks in the Battle of Jam by using artillery.

Tahmasp was a patron of the arts and was an accomplished painter himself. He built a royal house of arts for painters, calligraphers and poets. Later in his reign, he came to despise poets, shunning many and exiling them to the Mughal court of India. Tahmasp is known for his religious piety and fervent zealotry for the Shia branch of Islam. He bestowed many privileges on the clergy and allowed them to participate in legal and administrative matters. In 1544 he demanded that the fugitive Mughal emperor Humayun convert to Shi'ism in return for military assistance to reclaim his throne in India. Nevertheless, Tahmasp still negotiated alliances with the Christian powers of the Republic of Venice and the Habsburg monarchy who were also rivals of the Ottoman Empire.

Tahmasp's succession faced disputes even before his death, and following his passing, a civil war erupted, resulting in the deaths of most of the royal family. His reign, spanning nearly fifty-two years, was the longest of any Safavid ruler. While contemporary Western accounts were critical of him, modern historians recognize Tahmasp as a courageous and capable commander who preserved and expanded his father's empire. His reign marked a pivotal shift in Safavid ideological policy: he ended the Turkoman Qizilbash tribes' veneration of his father as the Messiah and instead established himself as a pious and orthodox Shia king. Tahmasp also initiated a long-term process, later continued by his successors, to diminish Qizilbash influence in Safavid politics. This was achieved by introducing a "third force" composed of Islamized Georgians and Armenians.