<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Safavid dynasty (/ ˈsɑːfəvɪd /; Persian: دودمان صفوی ‎ Dudmān e Safavi) was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran, often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history . The Safavid shahs ruled over one of the Gunpowder Empires . They ruled one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th - century Muslim conquest of Iran, and established the Twelver school of Shia Islam as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in Muslim history . </P> <P> The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safaviyya Sufi order, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region . It was of mixed ancestry (Kurdish and Azerbaijani, which included intermarriages with Georgian, Circassian, and Pontic Greek dignitaries). From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sasanian Empire to establish a unified Iranian state . </P> <P> The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736) and, at their height, they controlled all of modern Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Georgia, parts of the North Caucasus, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan . </P>

Who is the founder of the safavid empire
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