ABSTRACT
On Shah Ismail's death in 930/1524, his ten-year-old son ascended the throne as Tahmasp I. The young boy could not of course exercise effective personal rule, and ten years of crisis, both internal and external, ensued. Control of the central government became a prize to be grasped by contending factions of Qizilbash amirs, and Persia's foreign enemies, Ottoman and Ozbeg, did not fail to take advantage of the situation. It might have seemed that the dynasty was on the verge of collapse, but in fact Tahmasp's victory over the factions at the end of this period ushered in forty years of comparative stability. Tahmasp took care not to face Suleyman in a pitched battle: his prospects in such a situation were not good. The Ottoman problem was one of holding their conquests once they had withdrawn their troops back to Ottoman territory. At the end of 1535 the Sultan marched home.
