Battle of Chaldiran
The Safavid dynasty was founded in March 1501 by Ismail I, a 15-year-old descendant of the Safavid family from Azerbaijan, Iran. The Safavids were hostile to the Ottoman Empire, which was Sunni, as their state religion was Shi'a. Furthermore, the Safavids became a threat to the Ottoman Empire because of the growing support among the Turkic nomads of eastern Anatolia.