Isfahan, Also Isfahan, Sepahan, Isbahan

City

CityAlso Isfahan, Sepahan, Isbahan

Isfahanأصفهان

'Half the world': Seljuk capital and the jewel of Safavid Persia.

Taken by the Muslims in the 640s, it was a Seljuk capital, and its Friday Mosque holds work from many dynasties. Ibn Sina worked here for years. Shah Abbas I made it the Safavid capital in 1598 and built the vast Naqsh-e Jahan square; Persians said 'Isfahan is half the world'.

Everyone and everything in the timeline

People named in the Quran and the hadith, the Prophet's ﷺ family and Companions, scholars, rulers, the nations of the Quran, the world's empires and the places where it all happened. Where scholars differ, each entry says so.

Places