The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 6: The Timurid and Safavid Periods

Citation preview

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF IRAN IN SEVEN VOLUMES

Volume 6

THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF

IRAN Volume 6 THE TIMURID AND SAFAVID PERIODS edited by

PETER JACKSON Lecturer in History, University of Keele AND

the late LAURENCE LOCKHART

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 1986 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1986 Reprinted 1993, 1997, 2001, 2006 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 67-12845 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data The Cambridge history of Iran. Vol. 6: The Timurid and Safavid periods. 1. Iran-History I. Jackson, Peter n. Lockhart, Laurence 955 DS272 ISBN 0 521 20094 6

UP

BOARD OF EDITORS SIR HAROLD BAILEY {Chairman) Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit University of Cambridge BASIL GRAY {Vice-Chairman) Formerly Keeper of the Oriental Antiquities British Museum P.W.AVERY Lecturer in Persian University of Cambridge C.E.BOSWORTH Professor of Arabic Studies University of Manchester ILYA GERSHEVITCH Emeritus Reader in Iranian Studies University of Cambridge MAHMOUD SANA'I Emeritus Professor of Psychology University of Tehran H.S.G.DARKE {Editorial Secretary) Formerly Lecturer in Persian University of Cambridge

CONTENTS List of plates

page ix

List of text

figures

xvii

List of maps

xix

List of tables

xix

Preface

xxi

1

THE JALAYIRIDS, MUZAFFARIDS AND SARBADARS

I

by H.R.ROEMER, Emeritus Professor of Islamic History, University of Freiburg 2

TIMUR I N I R A N

42

by H.R.ROEMER 3

THE SUCCESSORS OF TIMUR

98

by H.R.ROEMER 4

THE TURKMEN DYNASTIES

147

by H.R.ROEMER 5

THE SAFAVID PERIOD

189

by H.R.ROEMER 6

THE SAFAVID ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM

3 51

by R.M.SAVORY, Professor in the Department of Middle East and Islamic Studies, Trinity College, University of Toronto 7

EUROPEAN CONTACTS WITH PERSIA,

1350— I 7 3 6

373

by the late LAURENCE LOCKHART

8

T R A D E FROM T H E M I D - I 4 T H

C E N T U R Y TO T H E E N D

OF T H E S A F A V I D P E R I O D

412

by RONALD FERRIER, Historian to the British Petroleum Company 9

SOCIAL A N D I N T E R N A L E C O N O M I C A F F A I R S

491

by BERT FRAGNER, Professor ofIranian Studies, Free University of Berlin 10

THE EXACT SCIENCES IN TIMURID IRAN

568

by E.s. KENNEDY, Professor of Mathematics, The American University of Beirut 11

P E R S I A N S C I E N C E I N S A F A V I D TIMES by H . J . J . W I N T E R , formerly Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Exeter

vii

5 81

Vlll 12

CONTENTS RELIGION IN THE TIMURID AND SAFAVID PERIODS

6lO

by B.S.AMORETTI, Institute ofIslamic Studies, University of Rome 13

SPIRITUAL MOVEMENTS, PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY IN THE SAFAVID PERIOD

656

by s. H.NASR, Professor of Islamics, Temple University, Philadelphia 14

CARPETS AND TEXTILES

698

by F.SPUHLER, Museum fur Islamische Kunst, Berlin IJ

{a) TIMURID ARCHITECTURE

728

by R.PINDER-WILSON

(b) SAFAVID ARCHITECTURE

759

by ROBERT HILLENBRAND, Reader in Fine Art, University of Edinburgh 16

(a) T H E PICTORIAL ARTS IN THE TIMURID PERIOD

843

by BASIL GRAY, formerly Keeper of the Oriental Antiquities, British Museum (b) THE ARTS IN THE SAFAVID PERIOD

877

by BASIL GRAY

17

{a) PERSIAN LITERATURE IN T H E TIMURID AND TURKMEN PERIODS

91 3

by Z.SAFA, Emeritus Professor of Persian Uterature, Tehran University (b)

HAFIZ AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES

929

by ANNEMARIE SCHIMMEL, Professor of Indo-Muslim Culture, Harvard University (c) PERSIAN LITERATURE IN THE SAFAVID PERIOD

948

by Z.SAFA

18

PERSIAN PERIODS

POETRY

IN THE

TIMURID

AND SAFAVID 965

by EHSAN YARSHATER, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies, Columbia University, New York

Bibliographies Index

995 1067

PLATES Between pages 744 and 745

1—2 An astrolabe made in 1127/1715 by 'Abd al-A'imma, the younger (Victoria and Albert Museum, London item no. 458—1888. Reproduced by courtesy of the Director). 3 Khusrau and Shlrin, ascribed to Bihzad, dated 1490 (From the Khamsa of NizamI, British Library, Add. 25,900, fol. 3. Reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees). 4 Woollen knotted carpet, Persia, first half of the 16th century (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, purchase 1910, Hewitt Fund). 5 Multiple woollen prayer rug, Persia, first half of the 16th century, (Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Museum fur Islamische Kunst, Berlin). 6

Woollen knotted carpet, the so-called Ardabll carpet, Persia, dated 1539-40 (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). 7 Woollen knotted carpet, Persia, dated 1522—3 (Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan). 8 Woollen knotted carpet, "north-west Persian medallion carpet", first half of the 16th century (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, McMullan Collection). 9 Woollen knotted carpet, "Herat carpet", 16th century (Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna). 10 Woollen knotted carpet, "Vase carpet", Persia, first half of the 17th century (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). 11 Woollen knotted carpet, "Portuguese carpet", Persia, first half of the 17th century (Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna). 12 Woollen knotted carpet, "Sanguszko group", Persia, second half of the 16th century (Musee des arts decoratifs, Paris). 13 Silk knotted carpet, "Hunting carpet", Persia, 16th century (Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna). 14 Silk tapestry-woven carpet, Kashan, latter half of the 16th century (Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna). ix

X

15

PLATES

(a) Silk knotted carpet, Persia, 16th century (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, bequest of Benjamin Altman). (b) Silk knotted carpet with gold and silver brocade, the so-called "Polonaise carpet", Isfahan, first quarter of the 17th century (Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesit2, Museum fur Islamische Kunst, Berlin).

16

Cope, knotted in silk with brocade, Isfahan, beginning of the 17th century (Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Reproduced by courtesy of the Director).

17

Velvet, enriched with metal thread, Persia, 16th century (The Keir Collection, London).

18

Satin, Persia, beginning of the 17th century (Musees Royaux d'art et d'histoire, Brussels).

19

{a) Yazd. Masjid-i Jami', portal (Photograph, Laurence Lockhart). (b) Yazd. Masjid-i Jami', view of court and sanctuary aivdn (Photograph, Laurence Lockhart).

20

Turbat-i Shaikh Jam. Masjid-i KirmanI, east wall, transverse vaults (Photograph, Lisa Golombek).

21

(a) Isfahan. Masjid-i Jami', mihrdb of the adjoining madrasa (Photograph, Lisa Golombek). (b) Samarqand. Shah-i Zinda. Detail of portal of the tomb of Terken Aqa (From Historical Monuments of Islam in the U.S.S.R. no. 25).

22

(a) Samarqand. Shah-i Zinda. Detail of fagade of the mausoleum of Tuman Aqa (From op. cit. no. 29). (b) Samarqand. Gur-i Mir, general view (From op. cit. no. 51).

23

Turkistan. Mausoleum of Ahmad Yasavl, south elevation of the "complex" containing mosque, mausoleum, khdnqdh and" library (From Hill and Grabar, Islamic Architecture and its Decoration, pi. 106).

24

(a) Mashhad. Gauhar Shad mosque, sanctuary aivdn (Photograph, Laurence Lockhart). (b) Mashhad. Gauhar Shad mosque, detail of foundation inscription (Photograph, Bernard O'Kane).

PLATES 25

xi

(a) Mashhad. Gauhar Shad mosque, southeast aivdn (From pi. 433).

SPA,

(b) Herat. Gauhar Shad Musalla. D o m e of the mausoleum of Gauhar Shad (Photograph, Derek Hill). 26

Herat. Gauhar Shad Musalla. Interior of the mausoleum of Gauhar Shad (Photograph, Josephine Powell).

27

Herat. Gauhar Shad Musalla. Inside of the dome of the mausoleum of Gauhar Shad (Photograph, Josephine Powell).

28

Khargird. Madrasa of Ghiyas al-Dln, interior of eastern domed room (Photograph, Lisa Golombek).

29

Herat, Gazur Gah. Detail of faience in sanctuary aivdn (Photograph, Lisa Golombek).

30

(a) Isfahan. Darb-i Wilson).

Imam, facade (Photograph,

(b) Isfahan. Darb-i Imam, R. Pinder-Wilson). 31

detail

of

faience

R.

Pinder-

(Photograph,

{a) Tabriz. Blue mosque, main sanctuary, northwest side (Photograph, Basil Gray). (b) Tabriz. Blue mosque, main sanctuary, northeast side (From

SPA, pi. 4)6). 3 2 (a) Tabriz. Blue mosque, detail of main portal (Photograph, Basil Gray). (b) Tabriz. Blue mosque, interior (Photograph, Josephine Powell). Between pages 808 and 809 33

Woollen knotted carpet, "Garden carpet" (Burrell Collection, Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum).

34

Velvet, metal thread ground, Persia (Museo Civico Correr, Venice).

35

Velvet, metal thread ground, Persia (Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe).

36

Khusrau at the palace of Shlrln. Tabriz, dated 1505. Miniature added to a manuscript of the Khamsa of NizamI (The Keir Collection, London).

xii

PLATES

37

The court of Gayumars, by Sultan Muhammad. From the Sbdb-ndma of Shah Tahmasp, folio 20b. Tabriz, c. 15 20-15 30. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Collection of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr).

38

Sam and Zal are welcomed into Kabul; Rudaba on the balcony. From the Shdh-ndma of Shah Tahmasp, folio 89b. Tabriz, c. 15 20-15 30 (Private collection).

39

Isfahan, Chihil Sutun. Wall-painting in a niche in the room P4. Girl seated by a stream. Attributed to Muhammad Qasim, c. 1647 (Colour photograph by Cecilia Gray).

40

Isfahan, Chihil Sutun. Wall-painting in a niche in the room P4. Court picnic in the country. Attributed to Muhammad Qasim, c. 1647 (Colour photograph by Cecilia Gray).

Between pages 872 and 873 41

Na'In. Vault in palatial building (Photograph, Bernard O'Kane).

42

Mahan. Vaults in shrine of Shah Ni'mat-Allah Vail (Photograph, Bernard O'Kane).

43

(a) Isfahan. Masjid-i Shaikh Lutf-Allah, exterior (Photograph, Laurence Lockhart). (b) Isfahan. Masjid-i Shaikh Lutf-Allah, interior (From S.P. and H.C. Seher-Thoss, Design and Color in Islamic Architecture)

44

[a) Isfahan. Khaju bridge, lower side (Photograph, Laurence Lockhart). (b) Isfahan. Caravansarai and madrasa of Shah Sultan Husain (Photograph, Laurence Lockhart).

45

(a) Isfahan. Madrasa of Shah Sultan Husain, courtyard wing (Photograph, Laurence Lockhart). (b) Isfahan. Madrasa of Shah Sultan Husain, courtyard and dome (Photograph, Laurence Lockhart).

46

Gaz. Safavid caravansarai (Photograph, Robert Hillenbrand).

47

Divan of Khwaju-yi KirmanI, wedding celebrations of Prince Humal and Princess Humayun. Signed Junaid, Baghdad, 1396 (British Library, MS Add. 18,113, folio 45b).

PLATES

xiii

48

Khamsa of NizamI, arrival of Khusrau at the palace of Shlrln. Baghdad, 1386-8 (British Library, MS Or. 13,297, folio 80a).

49

(a) Iskandar-nama of NizamI, Iskandar sleeping. Shlraz, c. 1440 (British Library, MS Or. 13,529, folio 19). (b) Anthology of Iskandar Sultan, Iskandar visits a hermit. Shlraz, 1410-11 (British Library, MS Add. 27,261, folio 230a).

50

Anthology of Iskandar Sultan, illuminated frontispiece. Shlraz, 1410 (Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, LA 161, folio 3 b).

51

Shah-ndma of FirdausI, Isfandiyar slaying Arjasp in the Brazen Hold. Herat, 1430 (Gulistan Library, Tehran).

52

Shdh-ndma of FirdausI, Isfandiyar slaying Arjasp in the Brazen Hold. Herat, c. 1440. (Royal Asiatic Society, London, per British Library: folio 278b).

53

Ta'rikh al-rusul wa'l-muliik of Tabarl, Bahram Gur attacking a lion. Tabriz, 1470 (Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, MS 144, folio

54

Kalila va Dimna, The Fable of the Four Friends. Tabriz, 1450-60 (Gulistan Library, Tehran, folio 48a).

55

Khamsa of NizamI, the battle of the tribes of Laila and Majnun. Herat, c. 1490 (British Library, MS Add. 25,900, folio 121b).

56

Mantiq al-tair of 'Attar, funeral procession at the gate of a ha%jra. Herat, c. 1487 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, folio 35).

57

Shah u Darvish of Hatifl, Darvlsh conducting a school. Bukhara, dated 1542 (Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, MS 531, folio 13){a) Brass wine jar decorated with gold and silver, showing the dedication to Husain Balqara under the foot, with the date A.H. 903 (A.D. 1497) and signature of Muhammad b. Isma'Il Ghurl. Herat, 1497 (British Museum, reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees).

58

(b) Silver gilt tankard, chased and engraved with the name of Qasim b. 'AH. Date, c. 1400 (Hermitage Museum, Leningrad). 59

Jamdl u Jaldl of AsafI, Jalal before the turquoise dome. Tabriz, • 1504-5 (Uppsala University Library, folio 57b).

xiv

PLATES

60

Divan of Hafiz, the feast of 'Id. By Sultan Muhammad, dedicated to Sam Mlrza, Tabriz, c. 1530 (Private collection, Geneva).

61

Kbamsa of NizamI, King Nushlrvan and his vizier at a ruined village. By Mir Musavvir, Tabriz, 1539—43 (British Library, MS Or. 2265, folio 15b).

62

Tuhfat al-ahrar of JamI, East African with a mirror. Mashhad, 1556 (Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., folio 221b).

63

(a) Portrait of a chamberlain, by Mir Musavvir, Tabriz, c. 1535 - 4 0 (British Museum, Department of Oriental Antiquities, 1930-11-12-02). (b) Album of the Amir of Bukhara, a young falconer at the court. Attributed to Sadiql Beg, Qazvln, c. 15 90 (Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, MS 386).

64

Shdh-ndma of FirdausI, Blzhan drawn up from the well by Rustam. Isfahan, 1614 (New York Public Library, Spencer Collection, folio 432).

65

{a) A girl holding a fan, by Aqa Riza, Qazvln, c. 1595 (Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). (b) A girl holding a wine cup and flask, by Muhammad Yusuf, Isfahan, c. 1645 (Formerly Y. Dawud Collection, London).

66

Kbamsa of NizamI, Shlrln discovers the murder of her husband Khusrau, by Muhammad Zaman, Isfahan, dated 1675 (Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, MS 469, folio 128).

67

Lacquer-painted book-cover, Tabriz, c. 154° (Reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum. 1948-12-11027/28).

68

Tooled and gilt leather binding, Tabriz, c. 1550-60 (Ledermuseum, Offenbach-am-Main, Frankfurt, no. 78).

69

Panel of polychrome tiles in cuerda seca technique, from a pavilion in the Chahar Bagh, Isfahan, c. 1640 (Victoria and Albert Museum, London).

70

Steel helmet, with carved and gilt decoration: dedication to Shah 'Abbas I with the date 1625—6 (British Museum, Henderson Collection, 1878).

PLATES

XV

71

Shah-ndma of Firdausi, Rustam recovers Rakhsh. Herat style. From the Shah-ndma of Shah Tahmasp, folio 295a. Tabriz, c. 1520—1530 (Private collection).

72

Sbdh-ndma of Firdausi, Bahram Gur pins the coupling onagers. From the Shah-ndma of Shah Tahmasp, folio 568a. Tabriz, c. 15 20-15 30 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of Arthur A. Houghton, Jr, 1970).

TEXT FIGURES Chapter 10 Fig. i

page

A simplified representation of Jamshld's equatorium as set up to give a true longitude for the planet Mars.

5 77

Fig. 2 The meridian transit instrument at Ulugh Beg's Samarqand observatory (From Kary-Niyazov, Astronomicheskaya Shkola Ulugbeka (1950), facing p. 60).

579

Chapter 11

Fig. 1 Diagram of a wooden crane used by Persian builders in the 17th century (From the 1720 English edition of Sir John Chardin's travels, facing p. 288. Reproduced by courtesy of the Librarian, Royal Geographical Society).

601

Chapter 15 (a)

Fig. 1 Turkistan. Plan of Ahmad Yasavl complex (From Ratiya, Mechet' Bibi-Khanym, p. 12,fig.4). Fig. 2 Samarqand. Plan of the mosque of Blbl Khanum (From op. cit., p. 83,fig.73).

739 742

Fig. 3 Khargird. Plan of the madrasa of Ghiyas al-Dln (From O'Kane, "The madrasa al-Ghiyasiyya at Khargird", p. 80,fig.1). 750 Fig. 4 Khargird, madrasa. Plan and section of the eastern dome chamber (From Diez, Churasanische Baudenkmaler i, 74,fig.34)75i Fig. 5 Tabriz. Ground plan of the Blue Mosque (From SPA., p. ii3i,fig. 405). 757 Chapter 15 (b)

Fig. 1 Kalkhuran. Tomb of Shaikh Jibra'Tl, isometric section (After Foroughi et al., Masterpieces of Iranian Architecture).

Fig. 2 Ardabll. Shrine complex, plan (After M.E. Weaver, in Iran xn (1974), 48-9). Fig. 3 Isfahan under Shah 'Abbas, plan (After Ardalan and Bakhtiyar, The Sense of Unity).

xvii

767

768 776

xviii TEXT FIGURES Fig. 4 Isfahan. View of the Chahar Bagh in the 17th century (From de Bruyn, Voyages).

778

Fig. 5 Isfahan. Maidan area, plan (After Ardalan and Bakhtiyar, op. cit.).

780

Fig. 6 Isfahan. Maidan area, isometric view (After M. D. Willis in Welch, Shah 'Abbas and the Arts of Isfahan).

781

Fig. 7 Isfahan. 'All Qapu, section (After Zander, Travaux de

Fig. 8 Fig. 9

Kestauration de Monuments Historiques en Iran, p. 157, %• IO)-

783

Mashhad. Shrine complex, plan (From SPA, fig. 424).

790

p. 1204,

Kirman. Complex of Ganj 'All Khan, plan (Courtesy of Sazman-i Milll-yi Hifazat-i Asar-i BastanI).

794

Fig. 10 (a, b) Isfahan. Chihil Sutun, section and plan (After 79&~9 Foroughi et al., op. cit.). Fig. 11 {a) Isfahan. Drawing ("Planographia") of the royal precinct (From Kaempfer, Amoenitatum exoticarum).

800

(b) E. Galdieri's interpretation of Kaempfer's "Planographia", in a simplified drawing by H. Gaube (From Iran x v n (1979), 75).

801

Fig. 12 Isfahan, Khaju bridge, section and plans (After Anon.,

Isfahan, City of Light). Fig. 13 (a) Isfahan, Hasht Bihisht, section and plans (After Anon., Isfahan, City of Light). (b) Isfahan, Hasht Bihisht, interior (From Coste, Monuments modernes).

802 806 807

Fig. 14 Isfahan. Madrasa, caravansarai and bazaar of Shah Sultan Husain, plan (From Pope, Persian Architecture, p. 234, fig. 316). 809 Fig. 15 (a, b) Blsitun. Safavid caravansarai, plan, section and elevation (After W. Kleiss in AMI in (1970), 289-308). 814-5 Fig. 16 Royal reception at the garden pavilion at Asadabad, adjoining the Chahar Bagh (From Kaempfer, Amoenitatum).

836

MAPS page 1.

Iran at the advent of Tlmiir

40-1

2.

Timur's campaigns

84—5

3. 4.

Eastern Iran and Central Asia in the later Timurid era Eastern Anatolia, the Caucasus and Azarbaijan in the Turkmen period

128—9 170-1

5.

The empire of Uzun Hasan

18 5

6.

Iran under the Safavids

348—9

7.

The commercial links of Iran

410— 1

TABLES I.

The Jalayirids

10

2.

The Muzaffarids

10

3-

The Timurids

146

4-

The Qara Quyiinlu

186

56.

The Aq Quyiinlu

187

The Safavids

35°

XIX

PREFACE The period of Iranian history from the death of the last important Il-Khan, Abu Sa'Id, in 1335 down to the mid 18th century has scarcely received adequate notice from western historians. Since this volume was first conceived, the void has been filled partially by two works in English, The Aqquyunlu by J. E. Woods (1976) and R. M. Savory's Iran under the Safavids (1980). But there is as yet no authoritative monograph on Tlmur or the Timurids (with the qualified exception of Barthold's work on Ulugh Beg and on the court of Husain Balqara); and the standard work on the Qara Quyunlu is in Turkish. It is not the least merit of Professor Roemer's first four chapters, therefore, to make the pre-Safavid era as a whole accessible and intelligible to the Western reader. The relative neglect from which late medieval and early modern Iran has suffered is all the more remarkable when it is borne in mind that this period witnessed the first emergence of Iran as a "national" state enjoying a recognisable continuity with the present day. To a large extent this was of course fortuitous rather than a matter of conscious policy on the part of the Safavid rulers. The defeat at Chaldiran ensured that the Safavids would not extend their power into Anatolia, just as the simultaneous rise of the Uzbeks and of the Mughal empire curtailed attempts to enter into the Timurid political legacy in the east. Yet the fact remains that under the Safavid dynasty, which contrived to last longer than any of its predecessors since the Islamic conquest, Iran came to constitute a single political entity roughly within its present-day boundaries. The part played in this process by the adoption of Shl'a Islam as the state religion; the reshaping of the Persian monarchic ideal; the need to resolve the conflicts inherent in Iranian society, as for instance between tribal and non-tribal elements — all these are problems which merit detailed investigation. The period has other fascinations for Western Europe. If diplomatic contact between Iran and the West had begun under the Tl-Khans, it had nevertheless been shortlived. Not until the late 15 th century, in the time of the Aq Quyunlu, did such exchanges become a regular phenomenon, fortified under both Uzun Hasan and his Safavid heirs by the common hostility of the parties concerned towards the Ottoman empire. These contacts, and the growing attractiveness of Iran also to Western merchants in search of manufactures and raw materials, xxi

XX11

PREFACE

endow the Safavid period especially with a wealth of European travellers' reports which are among our principal sources for the country's political, economic and social history. This volume was first planned in 1961, when Laurence Lockhart was appointed editor, and invitations to most of the contributors had been sent out by the end of 1963. Several chapters were as yet unfinished or awaited translation into English at the time of Lockhart's death in 1976. Professor J. A. Boyle, who had produced the fifth volume in this series, then took over the editorship of volume 6, but had been able to do very little when he in turn died two years later. It has fallen to me, as editor since the autumn of 1979, to receive the chapters still outstanding, to edit and prepare the entire manuscript for the press. Some of the contributors - Professor Savory, Dr Hillenbrand and Mr Gray - have revised their chapters within the last few years; and we are indebted to Professor Schimmel and Professor Yarshater for adding, at somewhat short notice, two valuable chapters to the literature section of the volume. The remaining chapters were drafted earlier, and consequently the most recent research has not been taken into account. For this, of course, the authors themselves are not to blame. It should also be mentioned that the maps and genealogical tables were drafted by me and not by the authors of the chapters within which they are located. Every effort has been made to achieve a high degree of standardisation throughout the volume. I have adhered, on the whole, to the system of transliteration followed in volume 4 and to the practice adopted there of using italics only for the first appearance of technical terms, and roman characters thereafter, within each chapter. A major difficulty has arisen from the fact that, even in the period covered by this volume, Arabic names and terms are by no means totally eclipsed by Persian ones, and that it is necessary to employ different transcriptions (Arabic th, dh, d, and w for Persian /, £, % and v). The results may occasionally seem startling, as when the convention is applied to the titles of books written by the same author but in different languages; or in the case of the Islamic months and of religious and philosophical terminology, which have been given in their Arabic form (thus qadt rather than qa^t, except where part of a proper name, as in QazI Burhan al-Dln). The ligature used in previous volumes, indicating that the roman letters concerned represent a single consonant in the AraboPersian alphabet, has been discarded. Diacritical marks are also omit-

PREFACE

XX111

ted, for example, in the names of dynasties where these are anglicised (thus Safaviyya, but Safavids) and in such titles as shah unless an integral part of a proper name (thus Jahan Shah, Shah Jahan; but Shah 'Abbas). For Turkish and Mongol words and names I have slightly modified the system of transcription found in volume 5; and in any case those dynasties which held extensive sway over Iranian territory, as did the later Qara Quyunlu and Aq Quyunlu rulers, have been treated as if they were Persian. It is hoped that the adoption of these admittedly complex principles will have proved more vexatious to the editor than to the reader. It remains to thank those who contributed to the completion of this volume. Hubert Darke, the Editorial Secretary for the Cambridge History of Iran, has been of considerable assistance with the bibliography, plates and figures. I have benefited also from the help of Iain White, who sub-edited the manuscript. My colleagues and friends at Keele have had to live with me while I wrestled with editorial tasks; I should like finally to thank them for their patience and good humour. The Publishers and the Editorial Board of The Cambridge History of Iran are grateful for a generous donation from The Yarshater Fund, Columbia University. PETER JACKSON

Keele, April

I$8J

CHAPTER I

THE JALAYIRIDS, MUZAFFARIDS AND SARBADARS THE LAST CHINGIZIDS

The end of the Il-Khanid empire resulted in Persia, if not in the creation of a vacuum, at any rate in a dilution of power, which worked in favour of various forces contending for authority in the state. The rivals involved in the struggles which now began fall into three categories. The most obvious of these were princes from several lines of the dynasty of Chingiz Khan, who looked to a restoration of centralised Mongol rule. They set about their task partly on their own initiative and partly as mere figureheads put up by legitimist groupings in the background. A second group was the representatives of local dynasties or highly placed families, who had served the Tl-Khans as generals or senior servants of the state, and also the leaders of powerful tribal associations. And there were,finally,other groups for whom what mattered was not dynastic or aristocratic considerations but religious adherence to Shl'I or extremist movements. The power struggles that went on within or between these groups lasted for half a century. Though one or other of the rivals might for a time contrive to establish a certain measure of political and economic stability in his area of effective control, none had any lasting success, and there was no question of their unifying the country alone and unaided. Whatever the hardships Persia suffered as a result of divisions and chaotic conditions, even greater sacrifices were demanded of the people when, at the beginning of the eighties of the 8th/14th century, reunification was finally achieved: imposed, in fact, from outside by the conqueror Tlmur. Pressing forward from Central Asia, he soon swept aside the contending parties or merely allowed them to fade into insignificance. It is typical of Persia that in spite of the troubles of the decades between the end of the Il-Khanid empire and the appearance on the scene of TTmur, Persian culture was not submerged, as one might have expected, but achieved, in its intellectual life, for example in the sphere of poetry, a distinction hardly equalled in any other period. The flowering of poetry which reached its highest point in the unique figure of

JALAYIRIDS, MUZAFFARIDS AND SARBADARS

Hafiz of Shlraz is a striking phenomenon in the cultural history of 8th/14th century Persia. In marked contrast, public life and political affairs were throughout most of this period in a sorry state. Political confusion, the tyranny of petty princes, bloody conflicts between local powers, and devastating invasions were a constant menace, not only to the general well-being but to people's very existence, even when they managed to save their skins in the apocalyptic horrors which now descended on their homeland, depopulating many towns and laying waste entire areas. The collapse of the Mongol empire of Iran, struggles for the Mongol inheritance and the horrors of another conquest and occupation of the country at the hands of Tlmur made up the fate of the luckless inhabitants of Iran in this century; a fate which was all the more keenly felt as the memory of the halcyon days under the last of the Tl-Khans was no doubt still widely treasured. Strangely enough, the very time at which - with the death of the Tl-Khan Abu Sa'Id and the passing of Hvilegii's dynasty - the end of their empire became imminent, was the year in which Tlmur was born, the man who a few decades later incorporated Persia into an empire destined eventually to extend from the Jaxartes to Asia Minor. Though he himself was actually of Turkish origin, throughout his life, and even when he had become the most powerful man on earth, he set the greatest store by his Mongol family connections — a plain indication of the high regard in which Chingiz Khan and his descendants were held even long after the fall of the Il-Khanid empire. Of course, the extinction of the line of Hiilegu need not necessarily have implied the end of the Persian Mongol empire, and there is no doubt that many people in Persia at this time were convinced that Mongol rule would survive, for there was plainly no lack of influential Mongol leaders and politicians, nor of princes belonging to the most diverse lines of descent from Chingiz Khan who could theoretically have provided for the continuation of the empire. Abu Sa'id's successor Arpa Ke'iin, for instance, belonged to the family of Tolui. He was a competent prince, who might have been able to secure Mongol control of Persia had he not met his end a few months after his accession as a result of a conflict with a general who was seeking to put another Chingizid in power. But he was the last of the princes who emerged, or were thrust forward in these struggles for power, to show any competence, at least in terms of their success in re-establishing a united Iranian empire. Not one of them was able to assert control, nor could

THE LAST CHINGIZIDS

any of their military or nomadic backers. The disappearance of centralised authority not only opened the way for Mongol princes and influential military leaders or tribal chieftains to engage in political adventures; it was also the signal to local rulers who had hitherto been submissive to Mongol power to make a bid for independence. The Chingizids' control of Iran was at an end by half way through the 8th/14th century. This is true whether one chooses to take as critical the year 740/1340, in which Hasan-i Buzurg, the founder of the house of the Jalayirids, took power personally in Baghdad in place of his figurehead Jahan Temiir, a descendant of the Il-Khan Gaikhatu (690—4/1291 —5), or whether one prefers the year 754/135 3, in which an equally insignificant Chobanid caused the last coins to be minted bearing the name of the puppet khan Anushlrvan and, in addition, the last Chingizid, Togha Temiir, was murdered by a Sarbadar. From then on until Timur's invasion of the country, Iran was under the rule of various rival petty princes of whom henceforth only the Jalayirids could claim Mongol, though not Chingizid, descent. They ruled from Baghdad and were later significantly involved in the history of the country with the conquest of Azarbaljan. In the east, especially in the Khurasanian city of Sabzavar, the Sarbadars increased in power, while in Fars and Isfahan members of the house of Tnjii sought to assert themselves over the Muzaffarids. In the south-east, princes of the Kart (or Kurt) dynasty at Herat were active on the political scene, just as they had been under the Tl-Khans. Later, Turkmen confederations appeared, thrusting forward from eastern Anatolia towards the Iranian highlands. These were the Qara Quyunlu and the Aq Quyunlu, of whom the former were already beginning to influence the fortunes of Persia in the 8th/14th century. It is necessary to discuss the political scene at this time, grim and unedifying though it is, because it forms the background to a significant epoch in Iranian intellectual life; and also because it shows up in clear colours the negative reasons for Timur's successes on Iranian soil. Before tracing the main lines of this development, which extended over some fifty years, it will be as well to try to clarify the situation of the time by means of a table setting out the most important political forces which began to operate after the fall of the Il-Khanid empire. Although the plan which follows is not exhaustive, it does demonstrate the fragmentation of the country. It is evident from the dates given, which in many cases can only be tentative, that various of these

JALAYIRIDS, MUZAFFARIDS AND SARBADARS

regimes survived the conquest by Tlmur or in some cases even the entire Timurid era: The Chobanids in 'Iraq-i 'Ajam, Azarbaljan and Armenia, until 744/1343; The Jalayirids in 'Iraq-i 'Arab and later also in the territory of the Chobanids, until 835/1432; The Qara Quyunlu in Azarbaljan, and later with further extensions of influence to Firs and Khurasan, till 873/1468-9; The "Tl-Khan" Togha Temiir in western Khurasan and Gurgan, until 754/1353; The Sarbadars in western Khurasan, until 783/1381; The Sayyids of Mazandaran, until 794/1392, and Gllan down to The Karkiya in Lahijan, until 1060/1650; The Kartids (Kurtids) of Herat in eastern Khurasan and Afghanistan, with influence extending into Slstan and Kirman, until 791/1389; The Injuids in Fars and Isfahan, until 758/1357; The Muzaffarids in Kirman and Yazd, and later also in the former territory of the Injuids, until 795/1393; The maliks of Shabankara in the area lying between Fars and Kirman on the Persian Gulf, until 756/1355; The governors (hukkam) of Lar, until 983/1575; The maliks of Hurmuz, until 1031/1622; The atabegs of Greater Luristan (Lur-i Buzurg), until 828/1425; The atabegs of Lesser Luristan (Lur-i Kuchak), until 1006/1597. A number of these princely houses and their representatives such as Togha Temiir, the Chobanids, and particularly the conflict of the "two Hasans", i.e. the Chobanid Shaikh Hasan-i Kuchak and Shaikh Hasan-i Buzurg of the Jalayir tribe, have been treated elsewhere,1 and the Qara Quyunlu will be dealt with later; others are of such minor significance in the history of Iran, in this period at least, that no more than a brief reference can be made to them here. We shall therefore summarise the most important events in three brief sections on the Jalayirids, on the Tnjii family and the Muzaffarids, and on the Sarbadars and their rivals. 1 On the Chobanids, see Boyle, in CHI v, 373-416; for Togha Temiir, ibid., 413-16, and Minorsky, "Tugha Tlmur", El1; for the racial affinities of the Ja'un-i Qurban who supported him, Aubin, "L'ethnogenese", p. 67.

THE JALAYIRIDS THE JALAYIRIDS

The name Jalayir is derived from that of a large and important Mongol tribe.1 The dynasty of the same name, whose rule began in 740/1340 with Shaikh Hasan-i Buzurg's seizure of power in Baghdad and ended with the death of Husain II at the siege of al-Hilla, is also quite often referred to as the Ilka dynasty or the Ilkanids. The name originates with Shaikh Hasan's great-grandfather Ilge (