Research Journal of Iran Local Histories

In collaboration with Payame Noor University and Iranian Society of History

Current Issue

By Issue

By Author

By Subject

Author Index

Keyword Index

About Journal

Aims and Scope

Editorial Board

Publication Ethics

Indexing and Abstracting

Related Links

FAQ

Peer Review Process

Journal Metrics

Studying the process and circumstances of spreading Shiism in Fars during the Safavid period

Document Type : pajoheshi

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of History, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of History, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

10.30473/lhst.2025.71850.2928

Abstract

The historical province of Fars was considered as one of the centers of Sunnis before the establishment of the Safavid government, and most of its people were Sunni Shafii but during the Safavid era, Shiism overcame Sunnism in that region, and only in some parts of the southern part of the current province of Fars and the coasts and islands of the Persian Gulf, Sunnis kept their religion. Having used historical-descriptive method, the paper is going to answer the question of how was the process of the expansion of Shiism in Fars during the Safavid era and what tools and strategies did the Safavid government use to promote Shiism. Research findings show that the conversion of Fars people to Shiism was gradual and combined with Taqiya (precautionary dissimulation). Shah Ismail I mainly resorted to negative and violent methods, but Shah Tahmasp took more advantage of positive and encouraging methods and consolidated the position of Shiism in Fars. However the events of the reign of Shah Ismail II and Shah Muhammad Khudabanda showed that a large part of the people of Fars have not yet been converted to Shiism, or that their conversion was not reliable. When Shah Abbas I took over, the situation changed in favor of Shiism, and until the end of the Safavid period, it experienced an expanding process, and if the Safavid government had continued a little longer, it was most likely that at least in the current Fars province, Sunnism gave way to Shiism..

Keywords

Main Subjects

References
Afushtah-i Natanzi, Mahmud b. Hidayat- Allah. (1373 SH/ 1994 AD). Neqavat al – Athar fi zekr al- Akhbar. Ihsan Ishraqi, (Ed.). (2 nd ed). Elmī va Farhangī. [In Persian]
Al-Muhebi, Muhammad Amin. (n.d.). Khulasat al- Athar Fi Ayan al-Qarn al-Hadi Ashar. Dar al- Sadir. Beirut. [In Arabic].
Fasayi, Mirza Hassan. (1378 SH/ 1999 AD). Fars Nama, (Ed.). Mansur Rastigar Fasayi. (2 nd) Amir Kabir. [In Persian].
Floor, Willem. (2020). German Sources on Safavid Persia. Mage Publishers.
Fotouhi, Rouh Allah Lari Shirazi. (1389 SH/ 2010 AD). Sharafnameh (Mokatebat-i Divani-yi Iyalat Fars va Laristan dar Daura-yi Safaviy-i). Muhammad Baqir Vosoqi., (Ed.). Kitabkhana Mouzeh va Markaz-i Asnad-i Majlis-i Shaura-yi Islami. [In Persian].
Haydari, Sayyid Ishaq. (1387 SH/ 2008 AD). Shajareh Tayibeh Imamzadigan Ostan Fars. Nashre Habib. [In Persian].
Haydari, Suliman. (1395 SH/ 2016 AD). A study of how Shiism entered and spread in Fars from the beginning to the end of the Al Injou rule [Parse], 16(27), 75-96. [In Persian].
Husaini, Muhammad Mirak. (1385 SH/ 2006 AD). Riaz al- Ferdos Khani. Iraj Afshar, (Ed.). Bunyad-i Mauqofat-i Dr. Mahmud Afshar Yazdi. [In Persian].
Ibn al- Athir. (1383 SH/ 2004 AD). Al-Kämil fi al-Tarikh. Translated by: Hamid Riza Ajir. Asatir. [In Persian].
Ibn Battuta. (1376 SH/ 1997 AD), Safarnamehy-i Ibn Battuta. Translated by: Muhammad Ali Muvahid. Agah. [In Persian].
Istakhri, Abu Ishaq. (1373 SH/ 1994 AD). Masalik al-Mamalik. Translated by: Muhammad ibn Asad Tustari. Iraj Afshar (Ed.). Bunyad-i Mauqofat-i Dr. Mahmud Afshar Yazdi. [In Persian].
Jafarian, Rasul. (1376 SH/ 1997 AD). The Thoughts of a Shii Scholar in the Safavid State (Ayat Allah Ali Naqi Kumarei). [Hikomat Islami]. 2(3), 108- 140. [In Persian].
Jahangosha-yi Khaghan. (1986 AD). Allah Deta Muzatar, (Ed.). Markaz-i Tahqiqat Farsi Iran va Pakistan. [In Persian].
Jazairi, Sayyid Nimat Allah. (1984 AD). Al-anvar al-Nuhmaniye. Manshorat Muasisa Al- alami l-Matbooat. [In Arabic].
Jihani, Abu al- Qasim. (1368 SH/ 1989 AD). Ashkal al- Alam. Translated by: Ali ibn Abd al- Salam Katib. Firouz Mansouri, (Ed.).  Shirkat Beh Nashr va Astan Quds Razavi. [In Persian].
Keramati, Muhammad Hadi. (1370 SH/ 1991 AD). Tarikh Delgoshay-i Evez. Muhammad Sharif Keramati, (Ed.). (2 nd.). Navid Shiraz. [In Persian].
Khurshah b.Qubad al- al-Ḥusaynī. (1376 SH/ 1997 AD).Tarikh-i Ilchi-yi Nizam Shah. Muḥammad Riḍā Naṣīrī & Kōichi Haneda, Eds Anjuman-i Asar va Mafakhir Farhangi. [In Persian].
Lari, Musleh al-Din. (1393 SH/ 2014 AD). Mirat al-Advar va Mirqat al- Akhbar. Sayyid Jalil Saghrovanian. (Ed.). Mirath Maktoob. [In Persian].
Lari, Sayyid Allah al-Din. (1371 SH/ 1994 AD). Tarikh Laristan. Muhammad Baqir Vosoqi(Ed.). Rahgosha. [In Persian].
Mahjori, Firouz va Zahra Aydi Pour. (1395 SH/ 2016 AD). Documentary study of the history of Shiism in Fars Province based on inscriptions on wooden artifacts from the Islamic era. [Shia Shinasi], 15(57) 159- 188. [In Persian].
Mir Muhammad Sadiqi, Said. (1400 SH/ 2021 AD). Tarikh Safaviy-i be Rivayat Sang Nebeshtiha. Bunyad-i Mauqofat-i Dr. Mahmud Afshar Yazdi va Sukhan. [In Persian].
Munajjim-i Yazdi, Mulla Jalal al-Din. (1366 SH / 1987 AD). Tarikh-i Abbasi. Seyf Allah Vahidniya, (Ed.). Vahid. [In Persian].
Muqaddasi, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad. (1385 SH/ 2006 AD). Ahsan al-taqsim. Translated by: Alinaqi Maunzavi. Komesh. [In Persian].
Mustaufi Qazvini, Hamd Allah. (1388 SH/ 2009 AD). Nuzhat-al-Qulüb. Sayyid Muhammad Dabir-Siyaqi, (Ed.). Hadith Imroz. [In Persian].
Nasrabadi, Muhammad Tahir. (1378 SH /1999 AD).Tazkira-yi Nasrabadi. Mohsin Naji, (Ed.). Asatir. [In Persian].
Navidi Shirazi, Zain al-Abidin Ali. (1369 SH/ 1990 AD). Takmilat-i al-Akhbar. Abd al- Husain Navai, (Ed.). Ney. [In Persian].
Qazvini, Mirza Sharaf. (1383 SH/ 2004 AD). Kulliyat Divan Sharafjahan Qazvini. Taqi Afshari, (Ed.). Hadith Imrouz. [In Persian].
Qummi, Qazi Ahmad. (1383 SH/ 2004 AD). Khulasat al- Tavarikh. Ihsan Ishraghi, (Ed.). (2nd) Danishgah-i Tehran. [In Persian].
Shushtari, Qazi Nur-Allah. (1365 SH/ 2008 AD). Majalis al-mu'mim. Sayyid Ahmad Abd Manafi, (Ed.). Kitabfroushiy-i Islamiye. [In Persian].
Turkaman Munshi, Iskandar Beg. (1387 SH/ 2008 AD). Tarikh-i Alam-ara-yi Abbasi. (4 nd). Amir Kabir. [In Persian].
Von Teufel, Hans. (1404 SH/ 2025 AD). «Safarnamehy-i Von Teufel». In Von Teufel & others. Safarnamehay-i Almaniha dar Iran. Translated by: Sasan Tahmasbi.(pp.23-57). Amir Kabir. [In Persian].
Research Journal of Iran Local Histories
Volume 13, Issue 2 - Serial Number 26
April 2026
Pages 1-10
Files
Share
How to cite
Statistics