A Review of Implications of King Succession in the Safavid Era

In the history of Iran, king succession is marked as an important issue with strong impacts upon all sociopolitical and economic affairs. Possibly, it could be enumerated as an element of identification of a government’s political stability. In the Safavid era, the issue of king succession came with economic and political consequences that left significant implications in the Safavid governance and dignity of king, leading to debilitation of Safavid government. Ineffectual succession mechanisms and dearth of a codified law caused different forces, including women and military forces, to engage in succession processes. These forces made their utmost attempts to influence the king and derail him toward their own interests. Elapsing most of their lifetime in king courts, Safavid princes were ignorant of governance policies. They, accordingly, were much easy to get magnetized by these currents. Making use of a descriptive-analytical methodology, this study makes attempts to provide replies to the question how power leverages embedded in the pyramid of governance caused disputes in the issue of king succession. According to the findings of this research, disturbed internal situations, invasion of neighbors to borders, and faltered king's position as an absolute guide were the most significant consequences of the crisis in the issue of king's succession.