Tadhkirat Al-Muluk: A Manual of Safavid Administration

ISBN-13: 9780906094129 / Angielski / Twarda / 1980 / 360 str.

Minorsky, V.

Opis

The Tadhkirat al-Muluk is based to some extent on similar works written under the Safavids but was composed for Ashraf, the Afghan ruler of Persia (1725-1729), a few years after the damage and deaths caused by the Afghan conquest had effectively destroyed the system by which Persia had been administered since the time of Shah 'Abbas (d. 1629). The greater part consists of lists of religious, military and civil officials with descriptions of their place in the system and their duties. There are also sections on the salaries and fees of the court officials and provincial troops and on the revenue and expenditure of the kingdom. While the MSS are anonymous, the work is now generally considered to be by the Safavid official Muhammad Sami' Isfahani. The British Library MS is reproduced in facsimile and Minorsky's translation and thorough commentary help to explain the intricacies of the text, with its abundance of bureaucratic terminology. Minorsky supplemented this with studies on aspects of the history of Safavid Persia which contribute to make his edition one of the fundamental works on Persia from the 16th to the 18th century.