Slaves of the Shah: New Elites of Safavid Iran - Sussan Babaie, Kathryn Babayan, Ina Baghdiantz-MacCabe, Mussumeh Farhad - Google Books

http://books.google.de/books?id=2BMVnw9JQh8C&pg=PA136&lpg=PA136&dq=Abolala+Soudavar&source=bl&ots=RnwBVNM7RA&sig=mBa5sayPcZ7HlWa

The Safavid dynasty represented the pinnacle of Iran's power and influence in its early modern history. The evidence of this - the creation of a nation state, military expansion and success, economic dynamism, and the exquisite art and architecture of the…