Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Safavid dynasty began in 1501 when Shah Ismail I declared Twelver Shia Islam as the state religion of the Persian Empire. The ruling period concluded with a final collapse in 1736 after a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736.
Historical manuscripts trace the Safavid lineage to Piruz Shah Zarrin-Kolah, a Kurdish dignitary from Sanjan who lived during the 14th century. The ruling family moved from Kurdistan to Iranian Azerbaijan and settled in Ardabil around the 11th century CE while maintaining their Iranian Kurdish origins.
Shaykh Safi al-Din established the spiritual movement that evolved into political power in the city of Ardabil during the 14th century. Shah Ismail I later declared Twelver Shia Islam as the state religion of the Persian Empire on the 1st of January 1501.
At their peak, the empire controlled all of modern Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Armenia, eastern Georgia, and parts of Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Military strategies involving firearms allowed them to maintain control over vast territories stretching from the North Caucasus to the Persian Gulf.
Shah Abbas I ruled from 1587 to 1629 and created a centralized bureaucratic state based on checks and balances to replace earlier fragmented governance structures. His policies helped transform Iran into a unified political entity while defending the country from external opponents and reducing the autonomy of outlying areas.