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In the confusion left by the retreating Mongols of Tamerlane, the Shiite Safavid dynasty had taken power in Persia and established a strong independent state, although it was eventually forced to cede Baghdad and all of Iraq to the Ottoman Turks whose interests it interfered with. Shah Abbas (1571–1629) was the most renowned of the Safavid Shahs but he was followed by weaker rulers, which made Persia less of a threat to the Ottomans. A weak Persia became the focus of a struggle between the Russians and the British in the 19th century.