New Perspectives on Safavid Iran: Empire and Society

by Mitchell; Colin P

• ISBN13: 9780415774628
• ISBN10: 0415774624
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-04-20
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Dedicated to the renowned Safavid historian Roger Savory, this book brings together a collection of studies on the Safavid state of Iran (1501-1722) from the perspectives of political, social, literary, and artistic history. Savory, a doyen of Safavid studies in the 1960s and 1970s, was responsible for expanding and popularizing the study of Iran in the 16thand 17thcentury. To celebrate this legacy, well-established scholars of medieval and early modern Iran have contributed specific studies reflecting an array of research interests and specializations, which include critical re-examinations of issues of gender, literature, art and architecture, cultural and linguistic currents, illustrated historical chronicles, and courtly and administrative practices under the Safavid dynasty. This unique compilation is indicative of a growing interest in Iran and Iranian studies in both the academic and public spheres, and as such contains a number of new perspectives which will serve to supplement and re-interpret the existing corpus of Safavid scholarly literature to date. It will be an important text for scholars of world history and Middle East studies, as well as to historians in general.

Table of Contents

Bibliography of Roger M. Savory Eleazar Birnbaum Section 1: Safavid Courtly Narrative and Politico-Cultural Practice The Binding Pledge (mochalga): A Chinggisid Practice in Safavid Iran Maria Subtelny. Stature, Appearances, and Adornments in the Letters of Safavid Kings Iraj Afshar. Am I My Brother's Keeper? Negotiating Corporate Sovereignty and Divine Absolutism in 16th-century Turco-Iranian Politics Colin P. Mitchell. Complex Goals of the Ottomans, Persians, and Muscovites in the Caucasus, 1578-1639 Max Kortepeter. Cultural Currents in the Turco-Persian World of Safavid and Post-Safavid Times John Perry. Ordinary Women as a Yardstick for the Evolution of the Role of Females in Safavid Iran Rudolph Matthee Section 2: Safavid Aesthetics Coordinates in Time and Space: Architectural Chronograms in Safavid Iran Paul Losensky. Seeing and being seen in Isfahan Renata Holod. A Safavid Bottle with Matchlock Hunt in the Royal Ontario Museum Lisa Golombek. The Illustration of History in Safavid Manuscript Painting Charles Melville