Fall of the Safavid Empire

Not only did recurrent enemies, such as the Ottomans and Uzbeks, cause the Safavid Empire to fall, new enemies during the 17th century began to rise. During this time frame Russian began to pose a threat to the Middle Eastern regions. Eastern empires, such as the Mughal dynasty, began to expand into Afghanistan; this inevitably caused the take over of Qandahar. Not only were foreign powers picking apart the Safavid Empire, trade began to shift. Overall, trade routes between the East and West had shifted away from Iran, causing a substantial loss of business and trade. This caused the Shah Abbas to switch his military system, due to lack of funds, to a ghulam-based military.
Even though the first two Shahs’ were great rulers during their reign, the Shahs preceding them were ineffectual. By the end of Shah Abba’s era in 1666, the Safavid Empire was plagued and marked by failure. Because of lavish lifestyles, of the Shahs, and “the finer things in life,” so they thought, they were blinded by the falling revenues and military threats imposed by the Europeans. As you can see the once great Safavid Empire fell victim to poor ruling, military failures, and economic turmoil, like the Ottoman Empire.