Lebanese are known to have been migrating to contemporary Iran since the time of the Safavids (1501-1736). Nur-al-Din Karaki Ameli, a principal Lebanese Shia scholar, played a pivotal role at the Safavid court in opening a new way in the relations between secular rulers and Shi'ite clerics. Karaki furthermore played a crucial role in inaugurating a movement of emigration of Lebanese Shia scholars from Jabal Amel (then in Ottoman Syria) to Safavid Iran during the reign of the first two Safavid kings (shahs), namely Ismail I (r. 1501-24) and Tahmasp I (r. 1524-76), who were at pains to introduce Shi'ism on the state-level throughout their vast dominions. At the beginning of the Safavid era, Twelver Shi'ism was imported into Iran largely from Mount Lebanon and Syria.