Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl (Tabriz, 1541)

Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl
Shah Ismail defeating the ruler of Shirvan in battle. Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl, 1541 (British Library, Add. 7784, folio 46b).[1]
Shāh Ismaʿīl in battle. Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl, 1541 (British Library, Add. 7784, folio 107v)

The Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl (Tabriz, 1541), Shahnama-yi Isma'il or Shahnama-i Qasimi (شاهنامهء شاه اسمعيل) is a panegyric historical epic of Shah Ismail, founder of the Safavid Empire, inspired by the more general format of the Shāhnāmeh, although not a Shanameh itself in the traditional sense.[2] The manuscript is located in the British Library, inventory code Add. 7784.[3]

Content

The manuscript was commissioned by Shah Ismail himself,[4] and written by Mirza Kazim of Junabad or Gunabad in Khurasan ("Qasimi", Qāsimī Gunābādī, Mīr Muḥammad Qāsim, d. 1574-5), and believed to have been completed in A.H. 948 (A.D. 1541). The manuscript was started at the time of Shah Isma’il (r. 1502–1529), but could only be finished after his death.[5][6][7]

The manuscript contains 13 miniatures, in whole-page style.[3] The manuscript covers historical events from the time of Sultan Haydar, to the conquest of Khorasan from the Uzbeks by Shah Ismail in A.H.914 (1508-09 CE).[3]

  • Folio 46b: Battle of Sharür. Shah Ismā'īl defeats the army of Alvand, leading to the conquest of Azerbayjan and the establishment of Shah Ismā'īl in Tabriz.[2]

Style

The manuscript offers some very interesting illustrations in lively style, which, stylistically, are witnesses to the persistence of the Turkoman element in the creations of Tabriz around 1541.[8][2] The motif of coloured clouds painted on the golden background of the sky is typical of Tabriz work.[2]

Another Shahnamah Shah Ismaʿil

Another Shāhnāmah Shāh Ismaʿīl (Bodleian Library, MS. Elliot 328) is also known from the same period (circa 1540, on circumstancial grounds). It is more provincial in style but also shows undisguised and rather gruesome scene of conquest, such as the time when a defender of Firuzkuh was roasted on a spit.[9][10]

See also

References

  1. ^ Titley, Norah M. (1984). Persian miniature painting and its influence on the art of Turkey and India : the British Library collections. Austin : University of Texas Press. p. 86, plate 12. ISBN 978-0-292-76484-2. the battle of Sharür (folio 46b) in which the army of Shah Ismā'īl defeated that of Alvand, an event which led to the conquest of Azerbayjan and the establishment of Shah Ismā'īl at Tabriz. Shah Ismā'īl is pursuing his enemy diagonally across the painting, forming, with the two horsemen in the foreground, an unusual zig-zag pattern (PLATE 12). The coloured clouds set against the gold sky are typical of Tabriz work, as are the plumes and red baton in Ismā'īl's turban.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  2. ^ a b c d Titley, Norah M. (1984). Persian miniature painting and its influence on the art of Turkey and India : the British Library collections. Austin : University of Texas Press. p. 86, plate 12. ISBN 978-0-292-76484-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  3. ^ a b c Rieu, Charles (1881). Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British museum. London: British Museum. pp. 660–661.
  4. ^ Wood, Barry D. (2004). "The "Tarikh-I Jahanara" in the Chester Beatty Library: An Illustrated Manuscript of the "Anonymous Histories of Shah Isma'I"". Iranian Studies. 37 (1): 101. doi:10.1080/0021086042000232956. ISSN 0021-0862. JSTOR 4311593. This panegyc historical epic written in emulation of the Shahnama of Firdawsi was commissioned by Isma'il himself and enjoyed a noteworthy popularity in the decades following his death.
  5. ^ Rieu, Charles (1881). Catalogue of the Persian manuscripts in the British museum. London: British Museum. pp. 660–661. The poem was commenced in the time of Shah Isma'il, who is addressed in the prologue as the reigning sovereign ; but it was not finished till after his death, which forms the subject of the last section.
  6. ^ Clark, Robin J. H.; Mirabaud, Sigrid (January 2006). "Identification of the pigments on a sixteenth century Persian book of poetry by Raman microscopy". Journal of Raman Spectroscopy. 37 (1–3): 235–239. Bibcode:2006JRSp...37..235C. doi:10.1002/jrs.1473.
  7. ^ King's Pote 238. Cambridge: King's College Library. An imitation of the Shāhnāmah of Firdawsī, describing the achievements of the founder of the Ṣafavid dynasty.
  8. ^ Wood, Barry D. (2004). "The "Tarikh-I Jahanara" in the Chester Beatty Library: An Illustrated Manuscript of the "Anonymous Histories of Shah Isma'I"". Iranian Studies. 37 (1): 101. doi:10.1080/0021086042000232956. ISSN 0021-0862. JSTOR 4311593. ...a copy in the British library dated 1541 (Add. 7784) is a particularly fine witness to the Turkoman element still very much present in Tabriz painting
  9. ^ Bashir, Shahzad (2006). "Shah Ismaʿil and the Qizilbash: Cannibalism in the Religious History of Early Safavid Iran". History of Religions. 45 (3): 242. doi:10.1086/503715. "Another copy in the Bodleian Library (Elliot 328), dated by B. W. Robinson to around 1540, is stylistically provincial but actually extremely interesting inasmuch as some of its paintings (such as one depicting the captured defenders of the fortress of Firuzkuh being roasted on a spit) are in fact more faithful to the details of Isma'il's career than are Qasimni's verses (which make no mention of this grim event)
  10. ^ Wood, Barry D. (2004). "The "Tarikh-I Jahanara" in the Chester Beatty Library: An Illustrated Manuscript of the "Anonymous Histories of Shah Isma'I"". Iranian Studies. 37 (1): 101.
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