"Caught in a Whirlwind:" Painting in Baghdad in the Late Sixteenth-Early Seventeenth Centuries

Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the province of Baghdad changed hands between the Aq Qoyunlu Turkmen tribal confederation, the Safavids and the Ottomans. From the last decade of the sixteenth to the first few years of the seventeenth centuries, there was a florescence of art production in Baghdad, at a time when the province was under Ottoman rule. This dissertation focuses on a period of rivalry and exchange between the Sunni Ottoman and the Shiʿite Safavid dynasties in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries and elucidates the appearance and disappearance of a lively, yet short-lived, art market in the frontier province of Baghdad. A close study of the corpus of over thirty illustrated manuscripts, often described as exhibiting an “eclectic” style, and produced in Baghdad within a decade, shows that there was a broadening base of patronage as well as an open market for the purchase of art. While scholarship on the art of the book in Baghdad considers the corpus of illustrated manuscripts solely from the perspective of an Ottoman “context,” this dissertation takes a broader, transregional perspective and studies the art market in Baghdad through the complex layers of Ottoman and Safavid relations. It questions notions of a “school” of painting and emphasizes movement and encounters instead. It also proposes that in the context of an early modern consolidation of imperial identity (represented purposefully distinctly through monumental architecture, painting, decoration, objects in the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires), Baghdad as a frontier province between the Ottomans and the Safavids challenges notions of cultural, ornamental and decorative idioms. Its hybridity is the very product of the “whirlwind” of affairs between the Ottomans and the Safavids. The dissertation begins with a study of Ottoman-Safavid relations from the last quarter of the sixteenth to the first quarter of the seventeenth centuries. Making use of an unpublished history of Baghdad along with other published and unpublished chronicles, it presents an overview of the complex relations between the two rival empires as well as between the center, Istanbul and the province, Baghdad. This sets the background to the following chapters. Chapter 2 concentrates on a group of single-page paintings produced in Baghdad, which have heretofore escaped scholarly attention. These paintings bespeak a broadening base of patronage as well as an increasing interest in collecting art. The following chapter concerns illustrated popular religious literature, which constitutes the majority of manuscripts produced in Baghdad. It raises questions on the use of models, repetition of compositions and production of illustrated manuscripts for the speculative market. The fourth chapter takes a different turn and concentrates on the patronage of one of the eminent governors of Baghdad, Sokolluzade Hasan Paşa (d. 1602). Focusing on the ambitious project of an illustrated universal history, which was composed for this governor by a Baghdadi author, this chapter deals with the conception of history in the province. The final chapter brings attention to a group of illustrated genealogies most likely produced for the open market. These Ottoman-Turkish genealogies place the Ottoman dynasty as the pinnacle of history. However, one early-seventeenth-century manuscript in Persian turns the genre on its head and presents a pro-Safavid view through text and image within a largely Ottoman genre. Alterations done to its text to then suit a possible Ottoman owner highlight the in-betweenness of Baghdad.History of Art and Architectur

Rum Seljuqs (473-641/1081-1243) : ideology, mentality and self-image

This thesis is a study of the ideology and 'mentality' of the Seljuqs of Rum 473-641/1081-1243. It focuses on this little-known branch of the Seljuqs, whose rule in Anatolia lasted considerably longer than the Great Seljuq state further east. This study uses the few available Rum Seljuq primary sources in Persian and Arabic, as well as contemporary oriental Christian chronicles; it also draws on the evidence of coins and monumental inscriptions, where possible. Chapter one discusses the background of the Great Seljuqs, how they came into the Islamic world, bringing with them their centuries-old nomadic lifestyle and modes of thinking. This Chapter also analyses the way in which these Turkish nomadic chiefs were presented as Muslim rulers by the Arabic and Persian religious scholars and bureaucrats who served them. Chapter two discusses how the earliest Seljuq leaders in Anatolia from 473-500/1081-1107 conformed to traditional patterns of nomadic rule, and the period of interregnum and transition (500-551/1107-1156) during which the Seljuqs in Anatolia were dominated by the rival Turkish Danishmendid principality. Chapter three shows how the Rum Seljuq principality in Anatolia was transformed by the beginning of the thirteenth century into the Rum Seljuq sultanate. In chapter four the discussion focuses on the apogee of the dynasty under the rule of Kay Kawfis I (608-616/1211-1220) and Kay Qubadh I (616-634/1220-1237) where it may be argued that these two Seljuq sultans could justifiably be viewed as model Perso-Islamic rulers, although elements from their Turkish nomadic past remained. The appendix contains an analysis of the crucial relationship between the Rum Seluqs and their Byzantine neighbours during the period (473-576/1081-1180), arguing that a pattern of friendly co-existence was established between the Seljuq sultans and the Comneni emperors during these years. The thesis shows how ideology rather than mere military success helped to shape this important dynasty into a fully-fledged sultanate

Samanid material culture and identity formation in Post-Soviet Tajikistan

This thesis investigates the Samanids (819-1005 CE), an Early Islamic, Central Asian dynasty, as subjects and objects of identity formation. It examines their complex material cultural heritage and the role this may have played in synthesising their pre-Islamic roots and new religion. Having invented their own traditions, today the Samanids are themselves invented traditions, functioning as foundation figures in contemporary post-Soviet Tajikistan, part of the new social order production through symbols of power. This thesis looks at how this past is referenced in museums, monuments and memorial culture, and how this points the way to Tajikistan’s future. Two of the chief means of state communication of power and legitimation, today, as in medieval times, are architecture and currency. It is this study ‘in the round’ of Samanid identity formation and exposition of the interplay of past and present that is this thesis’ unique contribution to knowledge. Analysing objects directly ascribed to the Samanids, including the Samanid Mausoleum, a portrait medallion and their coinage, suggests that they modified how they portrayed themselves dependent on audience. These objects produced at the Samanid centre are compared to those found at the Empire’s periphery, within the present borders of Tajikistan, such as the upper Zarafshan Valley minarets and the intricate and sophisticated carved wooden Iskodar Mihrab, columns and panels found in nearby mosques. Their anthropomorphic designs are unusual in an Islamic religious context. Comparison of centre and periphery demonstrates Central Asia’s complexity in 9-10th century; however, the Tajikistani government today is arguably trying to project back a desired monocultural present on a heterogeneous past. While the Samanids as national identity symbols have been discussed by political scientists, these have not focused on the architecture and materiality of the new state’s cultural creations and how this may (or may not) inculcate identity and produce social cohesion. The Somoni statue is centrally sited in Dushanbe, where Lenin once stood. An understanding of how the Soviet past continues to inform the present is key to current Tajik culture and identity formation. Tajik culture is seen as ‘socialist in form and national in content’, in the reversal of the famous maxim

Intellectuals in the Modern Islamic World

Incorporating a rich series of case-studies covering a range of geographical areas, this collection of essays examines the history of modern intellectuals in the Islamic world throughout the twentieth century. The contributors reassess the typology and history of various scholars, providing significant diachronic analysis of the different forms of communication, learning, and authority. While each chapter presents a separate regional case, with an historically and geographically different background, the volume discloses commonalities, similarities and intellectual echoes through its comparative approach. Consisting of two parts, the volume focuses first on al-Manar, the influential journal published between 1898 and 1935 that inspired much imagination and arguments among local intelligentsias all over the Islamic world. The second part discusses the formation, transmission and transformation of learning and authority, from the Middle East to Central and Southeast Asia. Constituting a milestone in comparative studies of the modern Islamic world, this book highlights the range of and transformation in the role of intellectuals in Islamic societies

The development of the early Safawid state under Isma'il and Tahmasp, as studied in the 16th century Persian sources.

The object of this thesis is, from a study of the contemporary Persian sources, to determine the broad outlines of the development of the early Safawid state, and in particular to describe the evolution of the principal offices of state. As the reforms of 'Abbais I (1587-1629) had a profound effect on the structure and organization of the Safawid state, the accession of 'Abbas I forms a convenient point at which to terminate this thesis, which therefore relates in the main to the reigns of Isma'il I (1501/2-1524) and Tahmasp I (1524-76). An attempt has been made to show how the fundamental dichotomy between Turk and Persian, the lack of any precise definition of the functions of the chief dignitaries, and the absence of any clear differentiation between the classes, affected the development of the Safawid state during this period. It should be noted that this thesis deals only with the most important offices of state, and does not purport to be in any way a complete description of the early Safawid administrative system. An attempt has also been made to determine the factors which enabled the Safawids to impose Shi'ism as the orthodox religion of the Safawid state. In writing the historical background to this thesis, I have endeavoured, on the one hand, to give the shortest account of events consonant with a proper understanding of the period, and, on the other hand, to give a rather fuller picture of events in Khurasan, 'Iraq-i 'Ajam and Fars, during the hundred years between the death of Timur and the accession of Isma'il, than is to be found elsewhere

The modernization of an Iranian city : the case study of Kermanshah

The notion of the Islamic city evoked in comparison with European cities and their modernization process and often criticized for its Eurocentric nature, acknowledges the characteristics’ existence that are shared by traditional cities across the extensive geography, where Islam is the predominant religion. It is not unusual, therefore, to attribute these peculiarities to the shared religious framework, although said framework officially didn’t experience serious modification until twenty centuries, despite the modernization of these cities. Consequently, this study suggests an indirect approach through the study of the modernization process of cities in the Islamic world. The emphasis, thus, no longer rests on specific religious qualities and falls instead on the urban practices and the cultural frameworks in which they are inscribed, resulting from the crystallization of practices and from environmental, social and cultural equilibria in the long-term. Before 1920, Iranian cities were characterized by a set of features which were common in other traditional Islamic cities in the world. As those traditional Islamic cities have been much more studied than the twentieth century changes that have transformed them, we need more holistic and integrated understanding about the changes derived from the modernization process. To explore the broad and wide-spread of their metamorphosis, it is more enlightening if we study second order cities, rather than studying the transformations of major capitals such as Cairo, Istanbul or Tehran, where interventions are more exceptional and more rhetorical. Therefore, this research examines the Kermanshah city, to understand the link between urban and social transformations due to the modernization process. Tracing city, historically, from its traditional form, as prototypical of the so-called Islamic city, to the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979) and after the Islamic revolution in 1979. We will focus, particularly, on studying the stages of urban transformation and changes of urban morphology as well as conflicts and differences between traditional urban features with the modern ones. In other words, we are interested in understanding how traditional morphology and structure of the city, like residential and commercial zone, are affected by symbols of development ambition in the each era, like the opening of new and wide boulevards, intensification of land use, disciplining space, embellishing the city and etc. Moreover, we want to trace how these changes influence social structure over the time.La noción de ciudad islámica evocada en comparación con las ciudades europeas y su proceso de modernización y, a menudo, criticada por su naturaleza eurocéntrica, reconoce la existencia de características que comparten las ciudades tradicionales a lo largo de la extensa geografía, donde el Islam es la religión predominante. No es inusual, por lo tanto, atribuir estas peculiaridades al marco religioso compartido, aunque dicho marco oficialmente no experimentó modificaciones serias hasta veinte siglos, a pesar de la modernización de estas ciudades. En consecuencia, este estudio sugiere un enfoque indirecto a través del estudio del proceso de modernización de las ciudades en el mundo islámico. El énfasis, por lo tanto, ya no se basa en cualidades religiosas específicas y cae en cambio en las prácticas urbanas y los marcos culturales en los que están inscritos, como resultado de la cristalización de las prácticas y de los equilibrios ambientales, sociales y culturales en el largo plazo. Antes de 1920, las ciudades iraníes se caracterizaban por un conjunto de características que eran comunes en otras ciudades islámicas tradicionales del mundo. Como esas ciudades islámicas tradicionales han sido mucho más estudiadas que los cambios del siglo XX que las han transformado, necesitamos una comprensión más integral e integrada de los cambios derivados del proceso de modernización. Para explorar la amplia y amplia difusión de su metamorfosis, es más esclarecedor si estudiamos ciudades de segundo orden, en lugar de estudiar las transformaciones de grandes capitales como El Cairo, Estambul o Teherán, donde las intervenciones son más excepcionales y más retóricas. Por lo tanto, esta investigación examina la ciudad de Kermanshah, para entender el vínculo entre las transformaciones urbanas y sociales debido al proceso de modernización. Trazando la ciudad, históricamente, desde su forma tradicional, como prototipo de la llamada ciudad islámica, hasta la dinastía Pahlavi (1925-1979) y después de la revolución islámica en 1979. Nos enfocaremos, particularmente, en estudiar las etapas de la transformación urbana y los cambios de la morfología urbana, así como los conflictos y diferencias entre las características urbanas tradicionales y las modernas. En otras palabras, nos interesa comprender cómo la morfología y la estructura tradicionales de la ciudad, como la zona residencial y comercial, se ven afectadas por símbolos de ambición de desarrollo en cada época, como la apertura de nuevos y amplios bulevares, la intensificación del uso de la tierra, disciplinar el espacio, embellecer la ciudad, etc. Además, queremos rastrear cómo estos cambios influyen en la estructura social a lo largo del tiempo

Turkologu u čast! Zbornik radova povodom 70. rođendana Ekrema Čauševića

Few professions are so closely associated with a specific individual. Few individuals are so attached to their vocations that it is impossible to observe them separately. In Croatia the word turkologist has become almost synonymous with Professor Ekrem Čaušević, a scholar known world-wide, who established the first university program in Turkish studies in the country—hence the title for the collection of essays dedicated to the Professor on the occasion of his 70th birthday. This volume contains twenty-five papers, mostly from the realm of Turkish studies, authored by the Professor’s colleagues, friends and associates. There are many links in it to the honoree—dedications, acknowledgments, and references to his works—eloquent reminders of the influence of his research accomplishments and longstanding successful collaboration with scholars in Turkish studies, Croatian studies, historians and linguists. Contributions authored by junior colleagues in Turkish studies are proof of the Professor’s determination to encourage the most competent students to engage in research. The diverse topics in this volume reflect the extensive research interests of Ekrem Čaušević. The first part, “Philology”, is focused on the area Čaušević contributed to the most. The second part, “History”, contains contributions that do not belong to the research interests of Ekrem Čaušević in the narrower sense. However, historiography still presents a relevant and valuable framework for his linguistic works which include a diachronic perspective as well.Malo je struka i zanimanja čiji spomen izaziva asocijacije na točno određenu osobu. Malo je i pojedinaca koji toliko srastu sa svojim životnim pozivom da ih je nemoguće odvojeno promatrati. U Hrvatskoj se riječ turkolog gotovo kao sinonim vezuje uz ime profesora Ekrema Čauševića, znanstvenika svjetskoga glasa i utemeljitelja prvog sveučilišnog studija turkologije u Hrvatskoj. Otud i naslov ovoga zbornika koji mu darujemo za 70. rođendan. Zbornik sadrži dvadeset pet većinom turkoloških radova profesorovih kolega, prijatelja i suradnika. Mnogo je u njemu poveznica sa slavljenikom – posveta, zahvala i pozivanja na njegove radove – rječitih podsjetnika na utjecaj njegovih znanstvenih postignuća i dugogodišnju uspješnu suradnju s turkolozima, kroatistima, povjesničarima, lingvistima i drugim istraživačima. Prilozi autora mlađega naraštaja hrvatskih turkologa potvrda su uspjeha profesorovih nastojanja da najvrsnije studente potakne na bavljenje znanošću. Tematska raznolikost ovdje okupljenih radova odražava obuhvatnost istraživačkih interesa Ekrema Čauševića. Prva cjelina, “Filologija“, posvećena je području u kojemu je dao najveći doprinos. Druga cjelina, „Povijest“, obuhvaća priloge koji ne pripadaju najužem istraživačkom polju Ekrema Čauševića, no historiografija je važan okvir njegovih jezikoslovnih radova s dijakronijskom dimenzijom

Turkologu u čast! Zbornik radova povodom 70. rođendana Ekrema Čauševića

Few professions are so closely associated with a specific individual. Few individuals are so attached to their vocations that it is impossible to observe them separately. In Croatia the word turkologist has become almost synonymous with Professor Ekrem Čaušević, a scholar known world-wide, who established the first university program in Turkish studies in the country—hence the title for the collection of essays dedicated to the Professor on the occasion of his 70th birthday. This volume contains twenty-five papers, mostly from the realm of Turkish studies, authored by the Professor’s colleagues, friends and associates. There are many links in it to the honoree—dedications, acknowledgments, and references to his works—eloquent reminders of the influence of his research accomplishments and longstanding successful collaboration with scholars in Turkish studies, Croatian studies, historians and linguists. Contributions authored by junior colleagues in Turkish studies are proof of the Professor’s determination to encourage the most competent students to engage in research. The diverse topics in this volume reflect the extensive research interests of Ekrem Čaušević. The first part, “Philology”, is focused on the area Čaušević contributed to the most. The second part, “History”, contains contributions that do not belong to the research interests of Ekrem Čaušević in the narrower sense. However, historiography still presents a relevant and valuable framework for his linguistic works which include a diachronic perspective as well.Malo je struka i zanimanja čiji spomen izaziva asocijacije na točno određenu osobu. Malo je i pojedinaca koji toliko srastu sa svojim životnim pozivom da ih je nemoguće odvojeno promatrati. U Hrvatskoj se riječ turkolog gotovo kao sinonim vezuje uz ime profesora Ekrema Čauševića, znanstvenika svjetskoga glasa i utemeljitelja prvog sveučilišnog studija turkologije u Hrvatskoj. Otud i naslov ovoga zbornika koji mu darujemo za 70. rođendan. Zbornik sadrži dvadeset pet većinom turkoloških radova profesorovih kolega, prijatelja i suradnika. Mnogo je u njemu poveznica sa slavljenikom – posveta, zahvala i pozivanja na njegove radove – rječitih podsjetnika na utjecaj njegovih znanstvenih postignuća i dugogodišnju uspješnu suradnju s turkolozima, kroatistima, povjesničarima, lingvistima i drugim istraživačima. Prilozi autora mlađega naraštaja hrvatskih turkologa potvrda su uspjeha profesorovih nastojanja da najvrsnije studente potakne na bavljenje znanošću. Tematska raznolikost ovdje okupljenih radova odražava obuhvatnost istraživačkih interesa Ekrema Čauševića. Prva cjelina, “Filologija“, posvećena je području u kojemu je dao najveći doprinos. Druga cjelina, „Povijest“, obuhvaća priloge koji ne pripadaju najužem istraživačkom polju Ekrema Čauševića, no historiografija je važan okvir njegovih jezikoslovnih radova s dijakronijskom dimenzijom

Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies : Round Tables

Following the 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies, the Organizing Committee decided to produce an online publication of Proceedings from the Round Tables. According to the official title of the congress, Byzantium - a World of Changes, AIEB together with the Organizing Committee, have decided to implement some changes to the concept of the Round Tables. The aim of these changes were to encourage discussion at the Round Tables by presenting preliminary papers at the website in advance. The idea was to introduce the topic and papers of the individual Round Tables that would be discussed, first between the participants, and then with the public present. Therefore, the conveners of the Round Tables were asked to create Round Tables with no more than 10 participants. They collected the papers, which were to be no longer than 18,000 characters in one of the official languages of the Congress and without footnotes or endnotes. Conveners provided a general statement on the goal of each roundtable and on the content of the papers. The present volume contains papers from 49 Round Tables carefully selected to cover a wide range of topics, developed over the last five years since the previous Congress. The topics show diversity within fields and subfields, ranging from history to art history, archeology, philosophy, literature, hagiography, and sigillography. The Round Tables displayed current advances in research, scholarly debates, as well as new methodologies and concerns germane to all aspects of international Byzantine studies. The papers presented in this volume were last sent to the congress organizers in the second week of August 2016 and represent the material that was on hand at that time and had been posted on the official website; no post-congress revisions have occurred. We present this volume in hope that it will be an initial step for further development of Round Tables into collections of articles and thematic books compiled and published following the Congress, in collaboration with other interested institutions and editors. With this volume, the organizers signal their appreciation of the efforts of more than 1600 participants who contributed, both to the Round Tables and to the Congress in general