Tahmasp's Capital Moves to Qazvin

1539

After Ottoman incursions made Tabriz unsafe, the Safavid shah Tahmasp shifted his capital east to Qazvin and poured royal patronage into a new school of Persian miniature painting. Carpets, bookbinding, and illuminated manuscripts flowered while Shia clerics deepened their grip on Iranian public life. The Qazvin school produced some of the most refined Persian miniatures, combining poetic sensibility with technical virtuosity.