Intellectual Movements during Timuri and Safavid Period (1500-1700 A.D.)

One of the subjects that is often dealt with, while considering the history of Iran after the Arab invasion is the social condition that prevailed under the Muslim rulers. During the period of their reign there sprung many political, social and religious movements against the ruling class by the common people. Some of them were the Mawwali movement, the rising of Abou Muslim Khorasani, Zaidis, Huroufids, Baktashids, Nourbakshids, Nuqtavids etc. These movements took place mostly in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries of the Christian Era after the devastating invasions of the Mongols and the Timurids and gained momentum after these invasions. All these movements were directed against the ruling class, for certain reasons. The Iranians against the Umayyads undertook for example the Mawwali movement or the Movement of the Slaves (Gholaman). Though the Iranians had adopted Islam, yet the Arabs treated and considered them as inferior. This sort of cultural discrimination caused hatred among the Iranians against the Arabs and led to the Mawwali movement. The Timurids in Persia thought that by crushing the Horoufids the movement would come to an end. But this movement became all the more serious and more widespread during the Safavid period. The Safavids made the same mistake as the Timurids. Though both the dynasties tried to crush these movements, they could not uproot them and they raised their heads whenever they found an opportunity/ When Shah Abbas crushed the Nuqtavids they moved to India during the reign of Akbar (963 – 1014 A.H./1556-1605 A.D.). This is also worth mentioning here, that all the immigrants were patronized by the Mughals and their nobles in India in such a great number that every one of them got engaged in developing his skill, contributed to the rapid growth and development of Persian art, literature and their age old rich culture.