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Lot Essay
The subjects of the miniatures are:
f.19r. The defeat of Farrukh-Yasar, King of Shirwan, near Gulistan
(AH 906/AD 1500)
f.47r. Shah Isma'il holding the first private audience after his
accession in Tabriz, assigning the principal government positions to Amir Zakaria (Wazir and Diwan), Qazi Shams ud-Din Jilani (Chief Justice and Chief of Endowments) and Husain Beg
Lala (Royal Wakil) AH 907/AD 1501
f.81r. The defeat Shaybani Khan Uzbek at Tahirabad, AH 915/AD 1510
f.113r. Shah Isma'il on qishlaq enjoying the distractions of hunting in Qum, AH 924/AD 1518
f.137r. Shah Isma'il warmly receiving Prince Tahmasp at a darbar held
during a royal progress in Azerbaijan, AH 928/AD 1522
A royal copy of the fourth Juz of Volume III of the Habib al-Siyar. This is the last chapter of Khwand Amir's general history which begins with the creation of the world, and is an account of the reign of Shah Isma'il Safavi up to Rabi' I, AH 930, a few months before Shah Isma'il's death.
Another section of volume 3, which has three miniatures, is in the Vever collection. It is of similar dimensions and format, with miniatures on one side and illumination on the other.(Lowry and Beach: An annotated checklist of the Vever collection, Washington, 1988, no. 210, pp.187-189)
Ghiyas al-Din ibn Humam al-Din, called Khwand Amir, was born circa AH 880/AD 1475 in Herat where he began his historical writings under the patronage of Mir Ali Shir Nawa'i. The Habib al-Siyar was undertaken at the request of Sayyid Ghuyas ud-Din Muhammad b. Yusuf ul-Husaini, appointed Qadi of Khurasan and civil administrator of Herat by Shah Isma'il, and completed under the patronage of Kasim ud-Din Khwajah Habib Ullah
There are a few complete copies of the work, although a number of single volumes exist, particularly the fourth Juz of volume III. The earliest version in the British Library is dated AH 1009/AD 1600 (Add. 26, 186). However, there appear to be no other known illustrated copies of the work.
The sumptuousness of the present manuscript strongly suggests that it was produced for a royal patron, quite possibly for Shah 'Abbas I himself. The calligraphy, with its sweeping open form and the almost ostentatious use of gold and red, and the style of the illumination, are characteristic of late sixteenth and early seventeenth century manuscripts. Furthermore, since the work is an account of the emergence of the Safavid kingdom, and 'establishes' both the political and religious legitimacy of the dynasty by tracing Shah Isma'il's descent from the Seventh Imam, it was an appropriate text to use 'as political propoganda during the troubled early years of Shah 'Abbas' reign.
The subjects illustrated depict the major events of Shah Isma'il's life - crucial battles in the expansion of his kingdom (ff.19r. and 81r.), the first darbar after his accession (f.47r.), the return of Prince Tahmasp (f.137r.) and his love of the chase (the qishlaq at Qum in AH 924). Perhaps because there was no established iconography, and in order to hasten the production of the manuscript, the project was not planned as a single unit in the traditional manner, but given separately to the calligrapher and the painter and hence the illustrations were interleaved rather than incorporated into the text. The quality of both the paper, and the pigments used for the illustration and the miniatures, appears identical, so that it seems highly unlikely, quite apart from stylistic arguments, that the two were produced at different periods.
Originally there were at least two further illustrations, probably removed when the manuscript was re-bound in the nineteenth century. Both of these are battle scenes representing Shah Isma'ils defeat of Alwand and the White Sheep Turkmans at Shurur, AH 907/AD 1501, and the victory over Sultan over Murad and the White Sheep at Alma Qulaghi, AH 908/AD 1503 (Sotheby's, London, December 1, 1969, lot 108, and April 8, 1975, lot 190). These battles, together with the two illustrated in the present manuscript, are mentioned in Ahsanu't-Tawarikh, one of the most important historical sources for the reigns of Shah Isma'il and Shah Tahmasp which was completed in 1577, as four of the five decisive battles of the reign. The fifth mentioned was the battle of Chaldiran, AH 920/AD 1514, when Shah Isma'il was routed by Sultan Salim and the Ottoman armies, but as a defeat it is unlikely to have merited an illustration.
Stylistically the miniatures are datable to the late sixteenth century, and are the product of the royal atelier either at Qazwin, or Isfahan after 1597 (B.W. Robinson). There is no evidence of an Ottoman provenance (Sotheby's). The drawings in gold on the verso are contemporary rather than circa 1550 (Martin). All the miniatures are by a single, very accomplished artist and show great attention to detail and texture, and original composition. The style is transitional, with certain Shirzi elements in the palette, horizon and various stylised motifs such as water channels and Qazwin in its observation of architecture and textiles; characterisation seems to be a mixture of the two; and the whole looks forward to the later Safavid style of Isfahan.
f.19r. The defeat of Farrukh-Yasar, King of Shirwan, near Gulistan
(AH 906/AD 1500)
f.47r. Shah Isma'il holding the first private audience after his
accession in Tabriz, assigning the principal government positions to Amir Zakaria (Wazir and Diwan), Qazi Shams ud-Din Jilani (Chief Justice and Chief of Endowments) and Husain Beg
Lala (Royal Wakil) AH 907/AD 1501
f.81r. The defeat Shaybani Khan Uzbek at Tahirabad, AH 915/AD 1510
f.113r. Shah Isma'il on qishlaq enjoying the distractions of hunting in Qum, AH 924/AD 1518
f.137r. Shah Isma'il warmly receiving Prince Tahmasp at a darbar held
during a royal progress in Azerbaijan, AH 928/AD 1522
A royal copy of the fourth Juz of Volume III of the Habib al-Siyar. This is the last chapter of Khwand Amir's general history which begins with the creation of the world, and is an account of the reign of Shah Isma'il Safavi up to Rabi' I, AH 930, a few months before Shah Isma'il's death.
Another section of volume 3, which has three miniatures, is in the Vever collection. It is of similar dimensions and format, with miniatures on one side and illumination on the other.(Lowry and Beach: An annotated checklist of the Vever collection, Washington, 1988, no. 210, pp.187-189)
Ghiyas al-Din ibn Humam al-Din, called Khwand Amir, was born circa AH 880/AD 1475 in Herat where he began his historical writings under the patronage of Mir Ali Shir Nawa'i. The Habib al-Siyar was undertaken at the request of Sayyid Ghuyas ud-Din Muhammad b. Yusuf ul-Husaini, appointed Qadi of Khurasan and civil administrator of Herat by Shah Isma'il, and completed under the patronage of Kasim ud-Din Khwajah Habib Ullah
There are a few complete copies of the work, although a number of single volumes exist, particularly the fourth Juz of volume III. The earliest version in the British Library is dated AH 1009/AD 1600 (Add. 26, 186). However, there appear to be no other known illustrated copies of the work.
The sumptuousness of the present manuscript strongly suggests that it was produced for a royal patron, quite possibly for Shah 'Abbas I himself. The calligraphy, with its sweeping open form and the almost ostentatious use of gold and red, and the style of the illumination, are characteristic of late sixteenth and early seventeenth century manuscripts. Furthermore, since the work is an account of the emergence of the Safavid kingdom, and 'establishes' both the political and religious legitimacy of the dynasty by tracing Shah Isma'il's descent from the Seventh Imam, it was an appropriate text to use 'as political propoganda during the troubled early years of Shah 'Abbas' reign.
The subjects illustrated depict the major events of Shah Isma'il's life - crucial battles in the expansion of his kingdom (ff.19r. and 81r.), the first darbar after his accession (f.47r.), the return of Prince Tahmasp (f.137r.) and his love of the chase (the qishlaq at Qum in AH 924). Perhaps because there was no established iconography, and in order to hasten the production of the manuscript, the project was not planned as a single unit in the traditional manner, but given separately to the calligrapher and the painter and hence the illustrations were interleaved rather than incorporated into the text. The quality of both the paper, and the pigments used for the illustration and the miniatures, appears identical, so that it seems highly unlikely, quite apart from stylistic arguments, that the two were produced at different periods.
Originally there were at least two further illustrations, probably removed when the manuscript was re-bound in the nineteenth century. Both of these are battle scenes representing Shah Isma'ils defeat of Alwand and the White Sheep Turkmans at Shurur, AH 907/AD 1501, and the victory over Sultan over Murad and the White Sheep at Alma Qulaghi, AH 908/AD 1503 (Sotheby's, London, December 1, 1969, lot 108, and April 8, 1975, lot 190). These battles, together with the two illustrated in the present manuscript, are mentioned in Ahsanu't-Tawarikh, one of the most important historical sources for the reigns of Shah Isma'il and Shah Tahmasp which was completed in 1577, as four of the five decisive battles of the reign. The fifth mentioned was the battle of Chaldiran, AH 920/AD 1514, when Shah Isma'il was routed by Sultan Salim and the Ottoman armies, but as a defeat it is unlikely to have merited an illustration.
Stylistically the miniatures are datable to the late sixteenth century, and are the product of the royal atelier either at Qazwin, or Isfahan after 1597 (B.W. Robinson). There is no evidence of an Ottoman provenance (Sotheby's). The drawings in gold on the verso are contemporary rather than circa 1550 (Martin). All the miniatures are by a single, very accomplished artist and show great attention to detail and texture, and original composition. The style is transitional, with certain Shirzi elements in the palette, horizon and various stylised motifs such as water channels and Qazwin in its observation of architecture and textiles; characterisation seems to be a mixture of the two; and the whole looks forward to the later Safavid style of Isfahan.