Critical Analysis of the Safavid's Interaction toward Religious Minorities

The Safavid era is the first reign of twelfth-Imam of Shia. On the other hand, it is the first reign which the Ulama came into the field of Politics seriously & had run their laws, decrees & political functions up to the last official Safavid king, Shah Sultan Hussein- in this era. Since Iran’s official religion had been declared twelfth-Imam of Shia, the rule confronted to two religious groups who were Sunni & non-Moslem religions. Historical sources reported different views & maybe contradictory one about this problem & they even had different approach towards a minority. In this paper, it will be studied that “how had been rulers’ interaction, approach, & the Safavid rule in three periods of times follows as foundation, stabilization & demise towards religious minorities? Had the way of the Safavid rule discriminated or been equal against non-Muslims? In the research, we will consider different factors which affected to interaction among five religious minorities including Christians, Zoroastrians, Jews and Indian founders. The result of the paper will identify & explain effective factors on interaction of minorities & compare partial position of minority in interacting with rule