Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism

The Safavids were a powerful family who ruled over Iran from the early 1500s until the 1700s. During this time, they changed the religion of the country from Sunni Islam (the largest and oldest branch of Islam, followed by most Muslim people) to Shia Islam (the second-largest and oldest branch of Islam, followed by only some Muslim people). In other words, the Safavids changed Iran from being a majority Sunni country to a majority Shia country. To do this, they made laws that said all people in Iran had to be Shia Muslims and that non-Muslims had to pay a special tax. This made it difficult for people to practice their old religion, so many were forced to switch to Shia Islam.