ʿAbbās I, by the name ʿAbbās the Great (who was born on Jan. 27, 1571 and died on Jan. 19, 1629), was the shah of Persia from the period 1588 to 1629. He strengthened the Ṣafavid dynasty by removing Ottoman and Uzbek troops from the Persian soil and by forming a standing army. He also made Eṣfahān which is the capital of Persia and fostered commerce and the arts, so that Persian artistic attainment reached a high point in his reign.