Legitimacy Foundations of the Safavid Government in the Historiographical References of this Dynasty’s Final Century

The purpose of the present study is to review the legitimacy foundations of the Safavid dynasty in the historiographical references of this dynasty’s final century. The research method is descriptive-analytic and the results indicate that the historians in the Safavid dynasty, in addition to reflecting political and intellectual events in that period and avoiding to present a merely political theory restricted to religious structure back then, were also attempting to justify the legitimacy of the Safavids and show that the government’s political framework was compatible with the religion of Islam. Combining religious themes with national symbols to legitimize the kingdom, the historian’s attention to Shi’ite genuine themes, and their relation to the political structure back then are quite common and evident in the works of this period. Therefore, giving legitimacy to the government and attempting to make it compatible with Shi’ite principles are among subjects which have attracted the attention of most of the historians.