[1][2] Due to influx of Shi'i Arab tribes invited by the Safavids to act as a bulwark against the Ottoman Empire, the western part of Khuzestan became known as Arabestan.

The town gave the Ottomans access to the Persian Gulf, and also served as an entrepôt for trade between the Indian Ocean and the Fertile Crescent through Iraq and Syria.

[11] In 1508, the Safavid shah (king) Ismail I (r. 1501–1524), who claimed to be the only legitimate Shi'i ruler, put an end to Mosha'sha' rule in Khuzestan.

[4] The Safavids allowed the Mosha'sha' to continue to their rule in the western part of Khuzestan (Arabestan)—on the other side of the Karun River—where Hoveyzeh was also located.

These hostages were either raised at the Safavid court or in a province, such as Sayyed Nasr, who eventually became the governor of Ray and a close friend of the grand vizier, Hatem Beg Ordubadi.

[4] Safavid governors of Ahvaz first appear in chronicles in the second half of the 17th century, which suggests that this part of Arabestan was no longer under the direct administration of the Mosha'sha'.

Following the transformation of Fars into khasseh (crown land) in 1632, Arabestan, Shushtar and Dezful came under the jurisdiction of the governor of Kuhgiluyeh for military purposes.

Their involvement in the politics of southern Iraq resulted in a conflict with the Ottoman Empire, who in the 1570s briefly occupied Arabestan, until they were forced to withdraw.

[14] Sayyed Mansur was the last vali of Hoveyzeh to challenge Safavid rule, refusing to carry out direct orders from Shah Abbas I in 1620, who as a result had him removed.

His inability to control the Arab tribes culminated in a revolt, which was eventually suppressed by Manuchehr Khan, the governor of Lorestan.

[15] In 1736, Safavid rule over Iran was abolished and replaced by the Afsharid dynasty, established by the powerful Iranian commander Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747) of the Turkoman Afshar tribe.

[11] The Banu Ka'b, who had lived in the environs of Hoveyzeh and Kakha since the start of Safavid rule, expelled the Afshars from their lands following the death of Shah Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576).