A silver Abbasi coin issued by Safavid dynasty Shah Sultan Husayn I (reign 1694–1722). The obverse features a beaded circle inscribed with the Shiite Muslim declaration of faith: “No god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God, Ali is the chosen one of God.” The reverse presents a beaded circle identifying Husayn I as the “slave of the Lord of Guardianship,” referring to Ali, along with the coin’s date and mint, rendered in Farsi calligraphy and arranged in three lines against a background of a spiraling, flowering vine.

The Safavid dynasty (1501–1736) was a Persian empire founded by Shah Ismail I, who established Twelver Shi’a Islam as the dominant religion of Iran. Under rulers such as Shah Abbas I, the empire flourished culturally and economically, with Isfahan becoming a center of Persian art and architecture. At its height, the Safavid Empire controlled all of modern Iran and parts of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iraq, eastern Anatolia, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, though many of these regions were frequently contested by the Ottomans, Uzbeks, and Mughals.