After coming into power, the Safavids had a very young ruler, Shah Ismail who was about 14 or 15 years old. By 1510 he controlled all of Iran. Shah had decided that the state's religion would be Shia Islam, which was not common in Iran. Therefore, he chose to use persuasion and force when attempting to convert this mostly Sunni population. In his attempt to fully convert these people, Shah hired scholars from Shi'ite countries to form a religious elite. These scholars ended up "tools" of the government.
The Safavids were not a very welcoming or tolerant society. They persecutes Sunnis as well as Shi'ites with different beliefs and many other religions.
The Safavids were definitely a theocracy; mixing religious and political powers. Most of the people within this empire were very content with their new religion and had many festivities. Although this empire had a lot of religious faith, they slowly became a more secular government.
Most importantly, the Safavids took advantage of their geographical positions, being located at the center of trade routes. They became more and more wealthy due to the trade between the Islamic world and europe.
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