On the margins of minority life: Zoroastrians and the state in Safavid Iran

This article looks at the treatment of the Zoroastrians by central and provincial authorities in early modern Yazd, Kirman and Isfahan, emphasizing the institutional weaknesses of the central or khāsṣạ protection they were supposed to benefit from under the Safavids (907–1135/1501– 1722). It is argued that the maltreatment the Zoroastrians endured under the Safavids had little to do with religious bigotry. Rather, it arose from rivalries between the central and the provincial services of the Safavid bureaucracy, putting Zoroastrians in Yazd, Kirman, Sistan and Isfahan at risk of over-taxation, extortion, forced labour and religious persecution. The argument developed in this article pivots on the material interest of the central and the provincial agents of the Safavid bureaucracy in the revenue and labour potentials of the Zoroastrians, and the way in which the conflict of interest between these two sectors led to such acts of persecution as over-taxation, forced labour, extortion and violenc

[Ḥāshiyat al-Khiṭāʼī ʻalá al-Mukhtaṣar ... etc., 1076, i.e. 1665].

Clear (though incomplete, ending abruptly) copy of a collection of glosses on the Mukhtaṣar or shorter commentary by Masʻūd ibn ʻUmar al-Taftazānī on Talkhīṣ al-Miftāḥ by Jalāl al-Dīn al-Qazwīnī (d.1338), itself an abridgment of part 3 of Miftāḥ al-ʻulūm by al-Sakkākī (d.1229), on rhetoric (al-maʻānī wa-al-bayān). Opens with al-Khiṭāʼī's glosses, followed by the superglosses of ʻAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Yazdī (d.1606 or 7) and Mīrzā Jān (d. 1586?) upon al-Khiṭāʼī's glosses.Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 148Origin: As appears in colophons on p.99 and p.209, and in 'title page' inscriptions on p.11, p.103, and p.219, copied by al-Sayyid al-Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Muṣṭafá al-Izmīrī. As appears in colophon on p.99, transcription of Ḥāshiyat al-Khiṭāʼī completed in Istanbul (Qusṭanṭīnīyah) 22 Jumādá I 1076 [ca. 30 November 1665]. As appears in colophon on p.209, transcription of Ḥāshiyat ʻAbd Allāh al-Yazdī ʻalá al-Khiṭāʼī, completed in Istanbul (bi-Dār al-Salṭanah al-ʻāliyah) 25 Muḥarram 1076 [ca. 8 August 1665].Former shelfmark: British Museum, London "No. 13. Glosses on al-Khatai on the Mukhtasar & of Mirza Jan on the former ." ; on tailedge of textblock "٤۱۷".Binding: Pasteboards (semi-limp) covered in marbled paper (red, yellow, blue) with dark brown leather over spine and edges/turn-ins ; Type III binding (without flap) ; board linings in yellow-tinted paper ; sewn in brownish pink thread, two stations ; only traces of endbands remain ; overall in poor condition with abrasion, staining, some lifting of paper and leather, moisture damage, upper cover detaching at spine, label affixed to upper cover, etc. repairs to spine in tan leather.Support: European laid paper mainly with 10 laid lines per cm. (vertical), chain lines spaced 28 mm. apart, and paschal lamb in four-lobed circle watermark (see p.34, 38, 208, 214, 336, etc.) with 'G A' or 'G M' below trefoil countermark (see p.326, 332, etc. and compare Piccard No. 86801) ; a few leaves at opening in laid paper with crown-star-crescent watermark (see p.16 etc.) and 'G T' below trefoil countermark (see p.18, 22, 46, etc.) ; other opening and closing leaves in still a different laid paper with three fleurs-de-lis and fleur-de-lis above scrollwork watermarks ; all well-sized and burnished.Decoration: Keywords and abbreviations symbols rubricated.Script: Naskh-nastaʻlīq (talik) ; virtually serifless ; mainly closed counters ; effect of tilt to the right and of words descending to baseline (occasionally more exaggerated) ; final nūn reversed (re-curved) ; kāf mashkūlah (mashqūqah) preferred.Layout: Written in 21 and 23 lines per page ; frame-ruled.Collation: III+1 (7), 4 V(47), III (53), 5 V(103), IV (111), 5 V(161), IV+1 (170) ; chiefly quinions ; opening quire left mainly blank ; several leaves between each work left blank ; final three quires left blank (incomplete) ; catchwords present ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization (skips first two leaves).Explicit: "ولو سلم ان لها جزءا بناء على كونها مركبة من القدرة على هذا التعبير"Incipit: "نحمدك اللهم على ما اعطتنا من سوابغ النعم وبوالغ الحكم ونصلي على نبيك الهادي للعرب والعجم على وجه اكمل واتم قوله ..."Title supplied by cataloguer from inscription on 'title page' (p.11).Ms. codex.10. p.271-p.336 : [blank].9. p.220-p.270 : Ḥāshiyat Mīrzā Jān ʻalá al-Ḥāshiyah al-Khiṭāʼīyah ʻalá al-Mukhtaṣar / Ḥabīb Allāh Mīrzā Jān al-Shīrāzī.8. p.210-p.219 : [blank].7. p.104-p.209 : Ḥāshiyat ʻAbd Allāh al-Yazdī ʻalá Ḥāshiyat al-Mukhtaṣar lil-Khiṭāʼī / ʻAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Yazdī.6. p.100-p.103 : [blank].5. p.12-p.99 : Ḥāshiyat al-Khiṭāʼī ʻalá al-Mukhtaṣar / ʻUthmān al-Khiṭāʼī Mawlānāzādah.4. p.11 : ['title page' for opening work with contents listing, excerpts, and ownership statements].3. p.2-p.10 : [blank].2. p.1 : [excerpt from Murūj al-dhahab of al-Masʻūdī].1. p.[]-p.[] : [blank].Brockelmann, C. GAL,Clear (though incomplete, ending abruptly) copy of a collection of glosses on the Mukhtaṣar or shorter commentary by Masʻūd ibn ʻUmar al-Taftazānī on Talkhīṣ al-Miftāḥ by Jalāl al-Dīn al-Qazwīnī (d.1338), itself an abridgment of part 3 of Miftāḥ al-ʻulūm by al-Sakkākī (d.1229), on rhetoric (al-maʻānī wa-al-bayān). Opens with al-Khiṭāʼī's glosses, followed by the superglosses of ʻAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Yazdī (d.1606 or 7) and Mīrzā Jān (d. 1586?) upon al-Khiṭāʼī's glosses.Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Bookplate of British Museum, London on upper cover, "British Museum, London. No. 13. Glosses on al-Khatai on the Mukhtasar & of Mirza Jan on the former." ; circular seal impression with figure of goat/gazelle in purple ink as well as inscription "176" in Western numerals on first of added leaves (or front flyleaf?) ; ownership statements on 'title page' (p.11) include statement "تشرف بتملكه العبد الفقير اليه سبحانه السيد ابراهيم مدرس بمدرسة ابي الفضل عفي عنه وغفر له" and statement "قد انتقل نوبة التصرف وانا الفقير الى بر ربه القدير اسماعيل بن علي غفر لهما الباري" accompanied by oval seal impression "عبده اسمعيل" ; circular waqf-seal impression in black ink also appears on ’title page’ (p.11) and several places throughout, reads: "هذا وقف الراجي فيض الصمدي الشيخ احمد ضيا الدين ابن مصطفى الخالدي فمن بدله بعد ما سمعه فانما اثمه على الذين يبدلونه" in name of Aḥmad Ḍiyāʼ al-Dīn ibn Muṣṭafá al-Khālidī (i.e. Ahmed Ziyâüddîn Gümüşhanevî, d. 1893 or 4) ; extensive marginal glosses ; occasional notabilia (sideheads) and marginal corrections

Dīvān-i Mawlānā Shāhī, [916, i.e. 1510].

Elegant copy of the Dīvān of Amīr Shāhī, Aq Malik ibn Amīr Jamāl al-Dīn Sabzavārī (d.1453).Shelfmark: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center, Isl. Ms. 323Origin: As appears in colophon on p.69, copied by Ibn ʻAli Quṭb al-Dīn al-Yazdī with transcription completed in the first part of Rajab 916 [October 1510].Former shelfmark: "406 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" inscribed in pencil on verso of front flyleaf.Binding: Pasteboards covered in dark red leather ; Type II binding (with flap) ; board linings in pink-tinted laid paper ; fore edge flap lined in green silk ; upper and lower covers carry stamped and gold-painted (on orange recessed inlays) rosette / mandorla (filled with vegetal composition vaguely reminiscent of Déroche class. OAi2 1) and cornerpieces along with tooled rosettes and gold-painted accents and border in a series of s-shaped stamps ; sewn in pink thread, two stations ; worked chevron endbands in pink and yellow, dirty, tailband damaged ; overall in fair condition with some abrasion, staining, lifting and losses of leather at spine and fore edge flap, minor pest damage, etc.Support: non-European (likely Persian or Indian) laid paper with 8 laid lines per cm. (vertical, faint and indistinct) and no chain lines clearly visible, well-burnished, beige in color ; staining and tidelines ; many bifolia guarded with recycled manuscript "waste" ; flyleaves in European laid paper.Decoration: Elegant (though damaged) illuminated headpiece (ʻunwān / sarlawḥ) at opening on p.2 consisting of large rectangular piece with gold cartouche carrying the title in white ("ديوان مولانا شاهي") surrounded by swirling vegetal decoration in black, cartouche surrounded by swirling floral vegetal designs in gold, yellow, red, white and pink on a field of blue with gold accents, surmounted by triangular piece or hasp with upper most pendant and vertical stalks (tīgh) continuing floral vegetal design on gold and lapis lazuli ; written area (and columns within) surrounded by a gold frame defined by black fillets and outermost blue rule ; centered panels of written area left blank.Script: Nastaʻlīq ; compact, elegant Persianate hand ; serifless, with effect of words descending to baseline, closed counters, and elongated horizontal strokes.Layout: Written in 12 lines per page with written area mainly divided to two columns ; frame-ruled.Collation: i, 2 III(12), II (16), III (22), V (32), II (36), i ; ternions, binions, and a quinion ; catchwords present ; pagination in black ink, Hindu-Arabic numerals through "٢٩" ; pagination in pencil, Western numerals, supplied during digitization.Colophon: "Scribal," rectangular, mainly in Arabic, reads "تم هذه الابيات العبد الفير الى الطاف الصمدى ابن على قطب الدين اليزدى غفر ذنوبه وستر عيوبه في اوائل رجب المرجب من شهور سنه ست عشر وتسعمائة الهجره النبويه المصطفويه عليه افضل الصلوات واكمل التسليمات"Explicit: "سخن تا چند گویم پیچ هر [در] پیچ ترا من دوست میدارم دگر هیچ "Incipit: "ای نقش بسته نام خطت با سرشت ما این حرف شد ز روز ازل سر نوشت ما ..."Title from illuminated headpiece at opening on p.2.Ms. codex.Rypka,Cat. Pers. MSS. Brit. Mus.,Elegant copy of the Dīvān of Amīr Shāhī, Aq Malik ibn Amīr Jamāl al-Dīn Sabzavārī (d.1453).Mode of access: Internet.Acquired by purchase (funds donated by Horace Rackham).Inscription in pencil on front flyleaf verso "406 T. De M. [i.e. Tammaro De Marinis]" ; inventory mark and basmalah on recto of front flyleaf ; various notes and excerpts (some effaced) on 'title page' (p.1) and final leaves (pp.70-72) ; marginal glosses

Status of women in Islam.

Met opdracht van dr. Mohammad Outad aan prof. dr. Vermeulen, d.d. 10/05/1994.Includes bibliographical references.Women, or, Half of the body of society / by M.T. Mesbah -- Islam and women's rights / by M.J. Bahonar -- Women in a Quranic society / by L. Lamya al-Faruqi.Vermeulen, Urbai