Iran and the World in the Safavid Age

by Floor, Willem; Herzig, Edmund

• ISBN13: 9781780769905
• ISBN10: 1780769903
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-12-31
• Publisher: INDEPENDENT PUB GROUP

Summary

The Safavid era is of special significance in the history of Iran. Under the Safavids - between the sixteenth and the mid-eighteenth century - Iran was transformed and a state emerged which was the forerunner of the Iran of today in several important ways.

The age is known for its wealth of contributions to Persian culture and to the arts of the Islamic world, its robust military encounters with its Ottoman and Mughal neighbours and growing contacts with Western Europe. But little is known about the social, cultural, commercial and diplomatic relations of the Safavids with the rest of the world.

Iran and the World in the Safavid Age presents the most recent research into Safavid Iran's foreign relations. It challenges the long-held notion that, with the adoption of Shi'ism, Iranians retreated into relative isolation, suggesting rather that they engaged with the world in unprecedented and exciting ways. With contributions from the leading authorities in the field, Iran and the World in the Safavid Age explores Iran's relations with other countries and cultures. Examining how Iran was itself perceived as well as how it viewed the outside world this ground-breaking book sheds new light on the history of Iran's relations with the world beyond its borders and expands our understanding of this pivotal period.

Author Biography

Willem Floor is an independent scholar specialising in the history of Iran in the Safavid and modern ages. His recent publications include A Fiscal History of Iran in the Safavid and Qajar Periods, 1500-1925, Safavid Government Institutions and Titles and Emoluments in Safavid Iran. He is a co-author of The Monetary History of Iran (I.B.Tauris).

Edmund Herzig is Masoumeh and Fereydoon Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies at the University of Oxford. He works on the history of Iran in the Safavid and contemporary periods and his research interests also include the history of the Caucasus and Central Asia. His recent publications include Early Islamic Iran (I.B.Tauris, co-edited with Sarah Stewart)
and a special issue of Central Asian Survey, 'Tajikistan: The Sources of Statehood' (co-edited with John Heathershaw).

Table of Contents

Introduction
PART I: THE SAFAVID EMPIRE IN THE EARLY MODERN WORLD
1. The Safavid Empire and the Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Political and Strategic Balance of Power within the World System, Bert Fragner
2. The Safavid Economy as Part of the World Economy, Rudi P. Matthee
PART II: DIPLOMACY AND WAR
3. The Political Relations of Shah Esma'il I with the Mamluk Government (1501-16/907-22), Rasool Jafarian
4. From Rhetoric of War to Realities of Peace: The Evolution of Ottoman-Iranian Diplomacy through the Safavid Era, Ernest Tucker
5. The Battle of Sufiyan, 1605: A Symptom of Ottoman Military Decline?, Colin Imber
6. An Infernal Triangle: The Contest between Mughals, Safavids and Portuguese, Sanjay Subrahmanyam
7. The Shaybanid Uzbeks, Moghuls and Safavids in Eastern Iran, Barat Dahmardeh
8. Safavid Persia and Its Diplomatic Relations with Venice, Giorgio Rota
9. The Embassy of Don García de Silva y Figueroa to Shah' Abbas I, Luis Gil
10. The Holy See, the Spanish Monarchy and Safavid Persia in the Sixteenth Century: Some Aspects of the Involvement of the Society of Jesus, Enrique García Hernán
PART III: COMMERCIAL CONNECTIONS
11. Arduous Travelling: The Qandahar-Isfahan Highway in the Seventeenth Century, Willem Floor
12. Trade between the Ottomans and Safavids: The Acem Tüccari and Others, Suraiya Faroqhi
13. Sweden, Russia and the Safavid Empire: A Mercantile Perspective, Stefan Troebst
14. The Armenian Colony in Amsterdam in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries: Armenian Merchants from Julfa before and after the Fall of the Safavid Empire, René Arthur Bekius
15. Sarhad's Account-Book as a Source for Studying the Commercial Activities of New Julfa Merchants in the Eighteenth Century, Shushanik Khachikyan
PART IV: CROSS-CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS AND EXCHANGE
16. Mapping the Regnum Sophorum: Adam Olearius's Representation of the Safavid Empire (1647), Elio Brancaforte
17. The French Presence in Safavid Persia: A Preliminary Study, Jean Calmard
18. The Presence of Ancient Secular and Religious Texts in Pietro della Valle's (1586-1652): Unpublished and Printed Writings, Sonja Brentjes
19. The Image of the Safavids in English and French Literature (1500-1800), Parvin Loloi
20. Farang, Frangi and Farangestan: Safavid Historiography and the West (907-1148/1501-1736), Mansur Sefatgol
21. The Augustinians in Hormuz (1573-1622), Carlos Alonso Vanes
22. European Catholic Missionary Propaganda among the Armenian Populations of Safavid Iran, Kristine Kostikyan
23. The Safavid Presence in the Indian Ocean: A Reappraisal of the Ship of Solayman, a Seventeenth-Century Travel Account to Siam, Christoph Marcinkowksi
24. The Safavid Potter at the Crossroads of Styles, Yolande Crowe
25. European Religious Iconography in Safavid Iran: Decoration and Patronage of Meydani Bet'ghehem (Bethlehem of the Maydan), Amy S. Landau
26. Borrowed Terminology and Shared Techniques in New Julfa Armenian Commercial Documents, Edmund Herzig
PART V: THE CAUCASUS: THE INTERNAL FRONTIER?
27. On the History of the Political Relations of Safavid Iran and Georgia: King Luarsab II and His Captivity in Iran, Grigol Beradze
28. Exploitation of the Frontier: The Caucasus Policy of Shah 'Abbas I, Hirotake Maeda
29. Iranian-Georgian Relations during the Reign of Rostom (1633-58), Nana Gelashvili
Index