Starting in the early sixteenth century,
the Safavid Dynasty made Shi’a Islam the official religion of
the state, gradually displacing the then-dominant Sunni tradition
and ushering in a period of power and influence. Yet
by the late 1700s, the country was in political decline, as the
military and cultural significance of the country led to entanglement
in the affairs of expanding European powers and
extended periods of domestic strife.