Born and raised in the royal harem, Soltan Hoseyn ascended the throne with limited life experience and more or less no expertise in the affairs of the country.

He was installed on the throne through the efforts of powerful great-aunt, Maryam Begum, as well as the court eunuchs, who wanted to increase their authority by taking advantage of a weak and impressionable ruler.

Throughout his reign, Soltan Hoseyn became known for his extreme devotion, which had blended in with his superstition, impressionable personality, excessive pursuit of pleasure, debauchery, and wastefulness, all of which have been considered by both contemporary and later writers as elements that played a part in the decline of the country.

The latter's son and successor, Mahmud Hotak made an incursion into the country's centre, eventually reaching the capital Isfahan in 1722, which was put under siege.

[3] When Shah Solayman was on deathbed, he reportedly told his courters, that if they wanted fame for the royal family and the country, then they should choose the younger son Sultan Tahmasp (aged 23).

The French missionary priest Père Martin Gaudereau, who was in the capital of Isfahan during this period, reports that Shah Solayman was more inclined towards Sultan Tahmasp as his successor.

Nevertheless, Soltan Hoseyn's succession to the throne was secured by his powerful great-aunt, Maryam Begum, as well as the court eunuchs, who wanted to increase their authority by taking advantage of a weak and impressionable ruler.

[3] A decree was declared which prohibited all types of "unislamic" actions, such as the manufacture and drinking of alcohol, youngsters visiting coffeehouses, and women going out without male company.

[7] In 1702, Shirvan was described by the Dutch traveler Cornelis de Bruijn as one of the key provinces of the Safavid realm, admiring it for its fertility, high agricultural yield and cheap prices.

However, when de Bruijin returned to Shirvan in 1707, the province was in disarray due to the mismanagement of Allahverdi Khan's son and successor, who was more interested in women and wine.

[10] At Qandahar, Gorgin Khan soon competed against Mirwais Hotak, a chief of the Hotaki clan of the Afghan Ghilzai tribe, who also served as the kalantar (mayor) of the city.

They were said to have defiled Sunni mosques by bringing pigs and wine inside, as well as taking advantage of underaged girls and 9-10 year old boys, with some of them ending up being killed, and their corpses thrown in front of their parents' homes.

[17] Mirwais was given permission to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he convinced the religious authorities to declare a fatwa that gave the Afghans the right to become independent of Iranian control.

In October 1711, Khosrow Khan and his exhausted soldiers were forced to withdraw, due to the summer heat, illness, shortage of supplies, and attacks by the Baluchi, who had joined the Afghans.

[17] In late 1712, the qorchibashi (head of the mounted cavalry or royal guards[20]) Mohammad Zaman Khan was entrusted with the task of attacking the Afghans whilst assembling an army en route.

Rather than biding his time within the city and resisting a siege in which the small Afghan army was unlikely to succeed, Soltan Hoseyn marched out to meet Mahmud's force at Golnabad.

In the autumn of 1726, the Ottoman governor of Baghdad, Ahmad Pasha, advanced with his army on Isfahan, sending an insulting message to Ashraf saying that he was coming to restore the legitimate shah to the throne.

In response, Ashraf had Soltan Hoseyn's head cut off and sent it to the Ottoman with the message that "he expected to give Ahmad Pasha a fuller reply with the points of his sword and his lance".

He may not have been as intolerant as he commonly is described, as implied by his trust in the Sunni grand vizier Fath-Ali Khan Daghestani, his interest when visiting to the churches of New Jolfa, as well as the numerous decrees (farman) he declared, which protected the Christian population of Iran and allowed missionaries to perform their work.

These actions included the forced conversion of Zoroastrians, turning their temple in Isfahan into a mosque, exacting jizya (poll tax) from Jews and Christians, and making it illegal for non-Shi'ites to go outside during rain for fear that they might pollute Shi'ites.

Due to increased taxes and endangerment by a law that permitted the family member of an apostate to gain their belongings, several wealthy Armenians withdrew much of their financial assets and left for the Italian cities of Venice and Rome.

[3] During the reign of Soltan Hoseyn, the structure of the government remained unchanged, continuing the same multi-constitutional foundations (Turk, Tajik,[b] gholam) that had existed earlier.

Soltan Hoseyn's first grand vizier was the Tajik sayyid Mohammad Taher Vahid Qazvini,[33] who had held the office since 1691, during the reign of Shah Soleyman.

[34] Mohammad Taher Vahid, as well to a lesser degree the court steward (nazer) Najafqoli Khan, were the main counselors of Soltan Hoseyn during his early reign.

[3][33] The French consul Ange Garde considered Fath-Ali Khan Daghestani to be the "absolute ruler of the realm, who takes care of everything while the king has not the slightest knowledge of what goes on in the country.

[33] Due to the indecisiveness of Soltan Hoseyn the Royal Council gathered frequently to discuss important and state problems, but typically no meaningful choices were made.

[41] Throughout his reign, Soltan Hoseyn became known for his extreme devotion, which had blended in with his superstition, impressionable personality, excessive pursuit of pleasure, debauchery, and wastefulness, all of which have been considered by both contemporary and later writers as elements that played a part in the decline of the country.

[3] The meek aspect of Soltan Hoseyn is reported by all eyewitnesses, who displayed it as either benevolence and rightfulness, or as an absence of determination, which played a part in the collapse of the Safavid kingdom.

"[3] When asked to make a choice, Soltan Hoseyn usually supported the suggestion made by the last person he spoke to, often with the words yakhshi dir ("It is good" in Turkic).

According to John Malcolm, writing in 1815, Soltan Hoseyn did not possess the bloodshed and brutality of his father, but that his "bigotry proved more destructive to the country than the vices of Soleyman."