The Role of Inscriptions of Monuments in Promoting Religious Thoughts and Legitimacy of Safawid Rulers (Case Study of Buildings in Isfahan, Ardabil and Mashhad)

To gain legitimacy, Safawid rulers used three methods of ‘verbal propagation’, ‘behavioral propagation’ and ‘pictorial propagation’. The present article aims at explaining the function of architectural inscriptions in stating the principles of Shiism and their effect on legitimacy of Safawid rulers. The question is as follows: “how did Safawid kings use inscriptions to state their thoughts and achieve their political and religious goals? The method of gathering data was documentary and the research method was descriptive-analytical. The Safawid monuments in Isfahan, Ardabil and Mashhad compose the statistical population of the study. Isfahan as the main capital and Ardabil and Mashhad were chosen as the religious and spiritual centers and the frontiers of Safawid dynasty in confronting the Ottomans and the Sunnite Uzbeks. The findings of the study showed that political and religious willing and thoughts of the Safawid rulers are manifested in inscriptions with the names of God and the Prophet, Imams, hadiths such as hadith of Noah’s ship, supplications and prayers especially great salutation and the Shiite witness, the verse Ulul-Amr, the verse Tathir, the verse al-Kursi, phrases in describing the rulers’ following Imams, the phrase ‘the promoter of the Twelver Shiism’ for describing the first Shah Abbas, and the titles of ‘al-Musawi’ and ‘al-Husseini’ at the end of the names of the rulers. Using these themes in inscriptions cause the infusion of the following ideas: ‘Safawid rulers are the real promoters of religion’, ‘they enjoy high legitimacy due to their relation to Imams’, and ‘Safawid government is the promised government just before the appearance of Imam Mahdi, and its task is to prepare the ground for his appearance’.