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...