The Memoirs of Shah Tahmasp I: Safavid Ruler of Iran
Translated by A.C.S Peacock
I.B. Tauris
ISBN: 978 -0-7556-5355-3
This is an account written by a 16th-century ruler where he describes many events and wars of his reign. It aims to both justify his decisions and offer advice to his descendants on how to rule.
Excerpt:
Originally composed in 1562, the Memoirs of Shah Tahmasp (1514-1576, r.1524-76), second ruler of the Safavid dynasty of Iran (1501-1722), represent an important source for the history of the sixteenth-century Middle East, in particular the Safavid’s wars with their neighbours, the Ottoman Empire (c.1300-1922. As such, the Memoirs have been regularly cited in modern scholarship, although not previously translated into English. The text’’s importance derives from the fact that it is a rare first-person narrative by a key participant in these events, showing how Tahmasp wished his previous four decades of rule to be perceived, especially his conduct of wars against the Ottomans, and offering insights into the development of an ideology that justified his reign. The memoirs, then, are a public document, rather than a product of introspection, nor do they reveal much of their author’s personal life beyond his religious faith, with their repeated references to aspects of Shiite doctrine. The Memoirs were also the source for later Persian chronicles, and represent one of the earliest Safavid prose histories to discuss reign in detail. Yet the Memoirs are a complex text in which Tahmasp obscures as much as he tells.
Who is this book for?
While this book is mainly aimed at historians of Safavid Iran, those studying the Ottoman Empire will find it a useful source as well. Medievalists more broadly might be interested in this translation as we have very few first-person accounts from rulers.
The translator:
Andrew Peacock is a professor of history at the University of St. Andrews, where he focuses on the medieval Middle East. Click here to view his Academia.edu page.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website
You can also buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
The Memoirs of Shah Tahmasp I: Safavid Ruler of Iran
Translated by A.C.S Peacock
I.B. Tauris
ISBN: 978 -0-7556-5355-3
This is an account written by a 16th-century ruler where he describes many events and wars of his reign. It aims to both justify his decisions and offer advice to his descendants on how to rule.
Excerpt:
Originally composed in 1562, the Memoirs of Shah Tahmasp (1514-1576, r.1524-76), second ruler of the Safavid dynasty of Iran (1501-1722), represent an important source for the history of the sixteenth-century Middle East, in particular the Safavid’s wars with their neighbours, the Ottoman Empire (c.1300-1922. As such, the Memoirs have been regularly cited in modern scholarship, although not previously translated into English. The text’’s importance derives from the fact that it is a rare first-person narrative by a key participant in these events, showing how Tahmasp wished his previous four decades of rule to be perceived, especially his conduct of wars against the Ottomans, and offering insights into the development of an ideology that justified his reign. The memoirs, then, are a public document, rather than a product of introspection, nor do they reveal much of their author’s personal life beyond his religious faith, with their repeated references to aspects of Shiite doctrine. The Memoirs were also the source for later Persian chronicles, and represent one of the earliest Safavid prose histories to discuss reign in detail. Yet the Memoirs are a complex text in which Tahmasp obscures as much as he tells.
Who is this book for?
While this book is mainly aimed at historians of Safavid Iran, those studying the Ottoman Empire will find it a useful source as well. Medievalists more broadly might be interested in this translation as we have very few first-person accounts from rulers.
The translator:
Andrew Peacock is a professor of history at the University of St. Andrews, where he focuses on the medieval Middle East. Click here to view his Academia.edu page.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website
You can also buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
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