History of Iran under the Safavid Dynasty from 1501 to 1736.

The Lords of Ardabīl --Theocratic state : the reign of Shāh Ismāʻīl I (1501-1524) -- Internal dissensions and external foes : the Safavid state from 1524 to 1588 -- The Safavid empire at the height of its power under Shah ʻAbbās the Great (1588-1629) -- Relations with the West during the Safavid period -- The flowering of the arts under the Safavids -- "Iṣfahān is half the world" -- Shah ʻAbbās's Iṣfahān -- The social and economic structure of the Safavid state -- Intellectual life under the Safavids -- Decline and fall of the Safavids.