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on January 27, 1571 Abbas was born in Herat. He was the third son of Mohammed Khodabanda and his wife, Khayr al-Nisa Begum. His father Mohammed was a royal prince.
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From 1578 to 1587 Abbas' father, Mohammed Khodabanda ruled as Shah of Iran. As a leader he was weak and incapable of preventing Iran's rivals from invading. The main rivals at this time was the Ottoman Empire and the Uzbeks.
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Murshid Qoli Khan, a leader of the Qizilbash that Abbas had come under the power of, overthrew Shah Mohammed. He rode to the Safavid capitan Qazvin with Abba and proclaimed him king. Mohammed handed the royal insignia over to his son on October 1, 1587. Abbas was 16 years old.
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Once ruler, Shah Abbas worked to re-establish order within Iran. First, in order to free himself of the power of Murshid, the 'kingmaker', he had him killed. This made it possible for him to rule Iran in his own right. Next, from 1589-1590 Shah Abbas made a humiliating peace treaty with the Ottomans. This gave them quite a bit of land and provinces.
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In 1598 Shah Abbas moved the capital from Qazvin to Isfahan. The new location was more central and in a more Persian area. He embelished the new capital with new mosques, baths, colleges, and other buildings. It became one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
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In April 1598, Shah Abbas went on attack against the Uzbeks.This was done by the new army that Abbas had created. The army was made up of ghulams, slaves that were soldiers that had no loyalty but to the shah. On August 9. 1589 there was an especially bloody battle and the Uzbek retreated and Shah Abbas got his land.
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In 1602 Abbas launched a war against the Ottoman Empire. He wanted his land back. In the end, Shah Abbas did gain a lot of the land and extended his empire.
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From 1620-1622 Abbas captued back the province of Kandahar from the Mughal. The Mughal Emporer Humayun had first taken it from Abbas' grandfather. Shah Abbas then catured in in 1622 in a lightining raid. To him, it was taking back what was rightly his.
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In 1622 with the help of 4 English ships. Abbas retook hormus in the Capture of Ormuz. He then made it into a trading center and new port: Bandar Abbas.
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Before his death, Abbas' sons were to succeed him. He killed the first one because he did not trust him, and blinded the other two also because he did not think they were trustworthy. This made them unable to become shah when he died so he chose his grandson to succeed him, Shah Safi. Abbas died January 19, 1629 of bad health.
