Early Modern
Si-o-se-pol: The Allahverdi Khan Bridge in Safavid Isfahan
Isfahan gained a monumental bridge linking the Chahar Bagh avenue to the south bank, still one of the city's landmarks.
Region
Middle East
Early Modern
New Julfa: Shah Abbas and the Armenians of Isfahan (1605)
Deported Armenians built a prosperous merchant suburb in Isfahan that became the hub of a worldwide trading network.
Early Modern
Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque): Istanbul's Ottoman Icon
The last great imperial mosque of the Ottoman classical age, still an active mosque and one of Istanbul's most famous landmarks.
Early Modern
Capture of Ormuz (1622): Persia and England Oust Portugal
The Portuguese garrison surrendered Hormuz; Safavid Iran took the island and the English East India Company gained trading privileges at Bandar Abbas.
Early Modern
Kösem Sultan: The Ottoman Valide Who Ruled for Decades
Kösem governed as regent for two child sultans and dominated Ottoman court politics until she was killed in a palace coup in 1651.
Early Modern
Siege of Baghdad (1638): Murad IV Retakes the City from Persia
Ottoman victory; Baghdad returned to Ottoman rule, where it remained until the First World War.
Early Modern
Treaty of Zuhab (1639): The Ottoman-Persian Frontier Fixed
Peace between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran: Iraq went to the Ottomans, Yerevan and the eastern Caucasus to Iran.
Early Modern
Evliya Çelebi: The Ottoman Traveller and His Seyahatname
Evliya produced the Seyahatname, the longest and most detailed travel account of the Ottoman world.
Early Modern
Koprulu Era (1656-1703): Grand Viziers Revive the Ottomans
The Ottoman state recovered from a deep crisis and reached its greatest extent in Europe, before the defeat at Vienna in 1683 opened a long war of losses.
Early Modern
Siege of Fort Jesus (1696-1698): Oman Takes Mombasa from Portugal
Omani forces captured Fort Jesus after a 33-month siege, ending Portuguese rule on the Swahili coast north of Mozambique.
Early Modern
Tulip Period (1718-1730): Ottoman Culture and Elite Leisure
A period of relative peace and courtly cultural activity in Istanbul that ended with the Patrona Halil revolt of 1730.
Early Modern
Smallpox Inoculation in England (1721): Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Inoculation, or variolation, was adopted by the British royal family and spread across Britain and Europe, reducing smallpox deaths until vaccination replaced it.