On the Classification and Formal Elements of Persian Documents of the Safavid Era
- Authors: Yastrebova O.M.1,2
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Affiliations:
- Russian National Library
- St. Petersburg State University
- Issue: Vol 19, No 3 (2022)
- Pages: 47-76
- Section: History and historiography
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/1811-8062/article/view/143605
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.55512/WMO106923
- ID: 143605
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Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of written sources covering the bureaucratic procedures of the Safavid era and containing practical instructions on the preparation of official documents. These are, first of all, two well-known manuals on the structure of the state apparatus and its management, Tazkirat al-muluk and Dastur al-muluk, as well as less studied, although extremely informative texts—a hand-written munsha’at manual housed in the Library and Museum of Malek, and a notebook (bayaz) of records about various features of the external design of decrees and letters sent to various persons, including the rulers of India, the Ottoman Empire, the states of Central Asia, the Pope and the monarchs of European states. With the help of these sources, the main types of documents issued by the Safavid divan and the characteristic features of the external design corresponding to each type are identified. They include elements such as the ‘unwan, the tugra and the seal. The types of documents identified on the basis of these sources correspond to the official records of Safavid diplomatics that have survived to this day. The information obtained is used for the analysis of recently identified and published original Persian documents from the RSAAA collections.
Keywords
About the authors
Olga M. Yastrebova
Russian National Library; St. Petersburg State University
Author for correspondence.
Email: yastolg@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3140-2139
SPIN-code: 5677-8870
Scopus Author ID: 56769776800
ResearcherId: I-7653-2013
Senior Research Fellow, National Library of Russia, Manuscript Department; St. Petersburg State University, Institute of History, Leading Research Fellow
Russian Federation, St. Petersburg; St. PetersburgReferences
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