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-Shah Abbas I encouraged craft production.
-Exports were carried on trade with the Portuguese fleet.
-Leaders after Shah Abbas I weakened economy by overspending on lavish lifestyles and on military.

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-Safavids practiced Shia version of Islam.
-Abbas beautified the capital city of Isfahan by adding broader avenues, parks, mosques and schools.

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-The Safavid Empire was located on the Arabian sea, but had no real navy to defend themselves.
-Their territory lacked natural defenses, which ultimately led to the empire's demise.

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-The Safavid Empire's leadership was Turkic, but emerged from a Sufis religious order.
-Shahs forcibly imposed a Shia version of Islam as the official religion of the state, and gained control over this religion and government, forming a theocracy.
-This Shia empire faced political and religious conflict with the Ottomans, who practiced the Sunni version of Islam.
-Ottomans and Russians both took territory from the Safavid empire.
-Safavids learned the importance of firearms and became a gunpowder empire.

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- Women in the Safavid had rights provided by the Islamic law for inheritance and divorce. However, they had to be veiled and were restricted in their movements.
-In the Safavid empire, a shah was the equivalent of an emperor or king.