Tiflis — modern Tbilisi — functioned as a Safavid provincial mint intermittently throughout the seventeenth century, its output reflecting the city's contested status between the Persian and Ottoman empires. Safi I inherited a throne stabilized by his grandfather Abbas I, but his early reign saw mounting pressure on the Caucasian frontier. Coins struck at Tiflis during this narrow window document direct Persian administrative control over the city before subsequent Ottoman campaigns repeatedly disrupted the region's political order.
Tiflis — modern Tbilisi — functioned as a Safavid provincial mint intermittently throughout the seventeenth century, its output reflecting the city's contested status between the Persian and Ottoman empires. Safi I inherited a throne stabilized by his grandfather Abbas I, but his early reign saw mounting pressure on the Caucasian frontier. Coins struck at Tiflis during this narrow window document direct Persian administrative control over the city before subsequent Ottoman campaigns repeatedly disrupted the region's political order.