Golden Era of Shah Abbases Reign
Shah Abbas began his reign in 1587 and he was on the throne till 1629. His era can be considered as the first time that Iran saw peace after the Arab attack a thousand years earlier. Abbas, unlike his father, wasa strong and tough person. He was quick in decision making, and stubborn in carying out his commands. One of the first thing that he did when he sat on the throne was to move the capital from Ghazvin to Esphahan, a move important in two ways. One was the fact that Ephahan was located in the central iran and it was far from the possible attacks of both Ottomans and Uzbeks, and the other that it was far from Ardebil, the centre of sufism and Ghezelbaash forces. Abbas wanted to rule ina different way than his ancestors. He disbanded the Ghezelbaash's and re-created a force from all of the best soldiers and called them Shaahsavans(servants of the king). He trained these froces to become the best and strongest soldiers in the country, much alike the Javidan(immortal) forces of Achaemenid kings!
Other than being a strong military commander and a great statesman, Shah Abbas was a patron of arts, especially architecture. He transformed the city of Esphahan to one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The palaces, streets, mosques, bridges, and fountaines that he built made Esphahan so beautiful that it got the nick name of 'Nesf-e-Jahan' (half of the world!). He had his royal painters painting the walls of Alli Ghapou palace with the most beautiful of Iranian miniature works. It was during his time that the Iranian art began to grow after a thousandyears of decline. Painters like Reza Abbasi, Agha Mirak, Kamal al-Din Behzad,...Also great caligraphers like Mir Emad or Alireza Abbasi. Shah Abbas also ordered the architects to build roads in the whole country, and he ordered Inns to be erected in these roads to make it easier for the travelers to travel through the country. Some of these roads and inns are masterpieces of architecture that are still standing today, and are signs of Abbas' glorious reign.
Shah Abbas was a patron of science and scientific achievements as well as of arts. Some of the greatest philosophers of Iran were living under his rule, Mollasadra, Mirdamad, or Moghaddas Ardebili. There also was Sheikh Baha al-Din Ameli, or Sheikh Bahai who was a great philosopher and scientist. He created a system of heating in a public bath that would provide enough warm water for people to bathe with the power of a single candle! he also wrote several books in philosophy, logic, stories, and general subjects. Also in the time of Shah Abbas there were several craftsmen that started new factories, mainly to produce weapons. Only one of them has left his name in history, and he was called Hassan-Moussa and he was a producer of a very good and reliable kind of gun that became famouse for their length and precision.
In general, time of Shah Abbas was an era of peace and blessing for Iran, although not with some problems of course. At the last few years of his reign, Shah Abbas grew suspicious of his courtians and even his own family, this suspicious grew to the extend that he executed his oldest son, Safi Mirza, for the wrong acusation of treason. Finnaly Shah Abbas died while leaving the country to Safi Mirza's son, Saam Mirza.