{[Islamic Art –] Late Arts [continued (9)]}[21st April 1991]

[Redbook9:178][19910421:1410iii]{[Islamic Art –] Late Arts [continued (9)]}[21st April 1991]

19910421:1410

[continued]

‘The Safavid state was by then [1674]* already in disarray and declining. Sulayman was succeeded in 1694** by Husayn, a weak man unable to rally the state, assailed on every side. In 1722 the Afghan adventurer Mahmud boldly crossed the desert and attacked the capital with a small force. In October the city surrendered and was sacked by the invaders. A man of obscure origin, Nadir Shah, drove out the Afghans in 1728 and by 1730 had deposed the last of the Safavids and ascended the throne. In spite of brilliant military successes and his seizure of Delhi with *** the Mughal Emperor Muhammed Shah in 1739, Nadir Shah emerged as a cruel tyrant and his assassination in 1747 plunged the country again into chaos. These events and the immense damage caused to the industrial basis of Iran brought a complete break in her cultural history. The land fell into the power of several tribal chiefs.

****

*[Square brackets per ms]

**{GR~1664[ce]}

***?=

****– ibid [Encyclopaedia of Visual Arts 3:] 465

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