Ismail (redirected from Ismail (name))

Ismail, sultan of Morocco

Ismail, 1646?–1727, sultan of Morocco (1672–1727). He organized corps of Sudanese to subdue the revolts that followed his accession. He attacked Christian strongholds in Morocco, regaining Larache and Arzila. Encouraging trade with Europe, Ismail signed a commercial treaty with France (1682) and corresponded with Louis XIV. At Meknes he built a lavish new capital.

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Ismail, shah of Persia

Ismail (ĭsmäēl`), 1486–1524, shah of Persia (1502–24), founder of the Safavid dynasty. He restored Persia to the position of a sovereign state for the first time since the Arab invasion of Persia. Ismail established the Shiite form of Islam as the state religion; this gained him the animosity of the Uzbeks and the Ottoman Turks, who were Sunni Muslims. He warred on the Uzbeks successfully in 1510, and Selim I attacked him in 1514, thus initiating a long series of border wars between the Ottoman Turks and the Persians.