This volume charts the history of Twelver Shi'ism and the processes underlying the development of its key distinctive doctrines and practices which ensured its survival in the face of repeated internal and external challenges.[...]
The Safavid dynasty, which reigned from the late fifteenth to the eighteenth century, links medieval with modern Iran. The Safavids witnessed wide-ranging developments in politics, warfare, science, philosophy, religion, art and architecture. But how did this dynasty manage to produce the longest la[...]