Muqarnas: An Annual On The Visual Cultures of The Islamic World

Muqarnas
An Annual on the Visual Cultures

of the Islamic World
Editor
Gülru Necipoğlu
Managing Editor
Maria J. Metzler
volume 35
Sponsored by
The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
LEIDEN | BOSTON
2018
For use by the Author only | © 2018 Koninklijke Brill NV

Contents
Avinoam Shalem, In Memoriam: Eva Baer (1920–2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Julio Navarro, Fidel Garrido, and Íñigo Almela, The Agdal of Marrakesh (Twelfth to Twentieth
Centuries): An Agricultural Space for Caliphs and Sultans. Part II: Hydraulics, Architecture, and
Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Abbey Stockstill, A Tale of Two Mosques: Marrakesh’s Masjid al-Jamiʿ al-Kutubiyya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Yves Porter and Richard Castinel, Jahanpanah’s Jamiʿ Masjid (circa 1343): A Reassessment . . . . . . . 83
Laura E. Parodi, Shah Abuʾl-Maʿali, Mir Sayyid ʿAli, and the Sayyids of Tirmiz: Three Portraits
Challenge Akbari Historiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Melis Taner, An Illustrated Genealogy between the Ottomans and the Safavids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Maximilian Hartmuth, Mosque-Building on the Ottoman-Venetian Frontier, circa 1550–1650:

The Phenomenon of Square-Tower Minarets Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Nebahat Avcıoğlu, Immigrant Narratives: The Ottoman Sultans’ Portraits in Elisabeth Leitner’s
Family Photo Album, circa 1862–72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Saleem Al-Bahloly, History Regained: A Modern Artist in Baghdad Encounters a Lost Tradition of
Painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
NOTES AND SOURCES
Itamar Taxel, Ayala Lester, and Uzi ʿAd, Two Rare Early Abbasid Paint-Decorated Ceramic Bowls
from el-Khirba/Nes Ziyyona, Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Yves Porter, The Shahi ʿIdgah of 1312 at Rapri (Uttar Pradesh): A Landmark in Indian Glazed Tiles . . . . 281
Mehran Matin and Moujan Matin, A Preliminary Study of a Nineteenth-Century Persian

Manuscript on Porcelain Manufacture in the Sipahsalar Library, Tehran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Lynda S. Mulvin, An Unknown Collection of Preliminary Drawings and Extra Illustrations Prepared
for The Arabian Antiquities of Spain by James Cavanah Murphy in the Gennadius Library, Athens . . . . . . . 301

An Illustrated Genealogy between the Ottomans and the Safavids 145
Melis Taner
An Illustrated Genealogy between the Ottomans and the

Safavids
Writing of the years just before Baghdad fell to the Safa- a particularly Safavid tenor. I argue that, with its im-
vids in 1623, the seventeenth-century Baghdadi author mediate visual accessibility and claim to legitimacy
Şeyhoğlu notes that the province is “caught, desolate, through genealogy as a methodological tool, the Ankara
between two tribes: one is the shāh of ʿAjam; the other manuscript represents contested identities in the lim-
is the sultan of Rum…When the shāh of ʿAjam invades inal region of Baghdad.
it, he says ‘Oh, Abu Hanifa, the Sunni!’ And when the As a frontier province between the Ottomans and the
House of ʿOsman takes it, he says, ‘Oh, shāhsevan, Shiʿi Safavids, Baghdad stands out for its hybridity. In the
and heretic!’”1 Evliya Çelebi repeats this sentiment in his early modern period, the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mu-
travelogue, written after the re-conquest of Baghdad by ghals purposefully formulated their imperial identity
the Ottoman ruler Murad IV (r. 1624–40) in 1638, adding, through distinctive architecture, painting, decoration,
“the nation of Baghdad is like a person caught in a whirl- and objects. At a point when the three rival empires
wind” (Bu ḳavm-i Baġdād bir girdābda ḳalmış kişi gibi- were consolidating imperial idioms and cultural poli-
dir).2 Indeed, the province had changed hands rapidly tics, Baghdad appears to be caught between Ottoman
between the Aqqoyunlu, the Safavids, and the Ottomans and Safavid painting styles, much like Evliya Çelebi’s
throughout the sixteenth and the first half of the seven- characterization. His “whirlwind” simile captures the
teenth centuries. fluidity of fluctuation and confusion at the time: a whirl-
The reciprocal denigration noted by Şeyhoğlu and wind quickly moves, shuffles, uproots. The swirling as-
Evliya Çelebi gives a prima facie impression of difference pect of the whirlwind suggests a moment when
between two rival dynasties. It also hints at the complex- everything is blown together, while its aftermath points
ity of interactions between the “Rum” (Ottoman) and to a need for self-(re)definition. It is in the context of this
the “ʿAjam” (Iranian) inhabitants of the city. This essay charged environment, from the end of the Ottoman-
focuses on an early seventeenth-century illustrated ge- Safavid War of 1578–90 until the rekindling of animosity
nealogy at the Museum of Ethnography in Ankara (MS between the two powers in the early seventeenth cen-
8457), which is stylistically Baghdadi while iconographi- tury, that I examine the Ankara manuscript.
cally and textually pro-Safavid at a time when Baghdad
was under Ottoman rule. The Ankara genealogy hints at
recurrent tensions, whether pronounced sectarian dif- The Composition of Genealogies at the
ferences or political rivalries. However, it also indicates Ottoman Court
ease and flexibility in what seems at first glance to be an
insurmountable difference. As an illustrated genealogy, Literally meaning “chain” in Arabic, the term silsila de-
a form which first appeared in the post-Mongol Persian- notes a line of descent or lineage. Be it a certification of
ate world and became widespread in the Ottoman realm training, an affiliation to a particular master and Sufi
in the mid-sixteenth century, the Ankara manuscript order, or a confirmation of consanguinity, the genealogy
adapts the Ottoman genealogical tree tradition with (silsilanāma) in the form of a tabulated list, diagrammatic

146 Melis Taner
tree, or narrative text serves the purpose of constructing Following these Persian and Latin examples, it is only
an identity and tradition as well as providing a synopsis in the mid-sixteenth century that an Ottoman Turkish
of history. The compilation of genealogies further relates genealogy was composed or translated, and only in the
to certification or isnād, the practice of authentication late sixteenth century that illustrated versions of Otto-
through a chain of transmission commonly used in the man dynastic genealogies began to be produced. In the
study of hadith. The legitimating function of such chains late sixteenth century, particularly in the context of im-
of transmission underlies their use in genealogical reg- perial projects that sought to portray the Ottomans as
isters, whether of Sufi orders, dynasties, or in biographi- the culmination of universal history, the dynastic gene-
cal dictionaries. alogy tradition in the Ottoman realm was revived.
Like isnād, the geneological register is employed for In addition to the composition of universal histories at
a variety of purposes, from linking disciple and master the Ottoman court, the last two decades of the sixteenth
to showing dynastic or universal histories. Succinctly century saw a strong interest in royal portraiture. These
and palpably, genealogical registers legitimate and dis- two factors undoubtedly contributed to the appearance
tinguish individuals by virtue of linking them.3 Univer- of new genealogies in the form of illustrated portrait me-
sal and dynastic histories that run from Adam, the first dallions in Baghdad. There are close to a dozen extant il-
man, through a succession of biblical prophets and pre- lustrated copies of such genealogies that were produced
Islamic and Islamic rulers create a chain of transmission in Baghdad in the late sixteenth and the early seven-
that accords authenticity. The fact that universal histo- teenth centuries. Much smaller and with less grandeur
ries and genealogies are sometimes combined in a single than the official illustrated histories produced in Istan-
text demonstrates the malleability of the genre. Indeed,
bul, these Baghdadi silsilanāma manuscripts provide a
universal histories in prose share much in terms of con-
summary of universal history with short stories about
tent with schematic genealogies.
the lives and reigns of important figures. Between eigh-
While the genealogical register has a long history in
teen to thirty folios in length with simple brown leather
the Islamic context, with examples dating from the ear-
bindings, these smaller manuscripts are inexpensive
ly fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the earliest Otto-
productions that, I suggest, were produced for the spec-
man dynastic silsilanāmas—an unillustrated Persian
genealogy and two illustrated Latin genealogies—date ulative market in Baghdad. Of the dozen late-sixteenth-
from the reign of Bayezid II (r. 1481–1512). The composi- and early-seventeenth-century silsilanāma manuscripts
tion of the unillustrated Persian genealogy (Topkapı attributed to Baghdad, three bear colophons with the
Palace Museum Library, H. 1590) coincides with the re- date 1006 (1597–98) and the names of scribes who were
institution of the office of the naqīb al-ashrāf (marshal all residents of Baghdad.5
of the nobility) during the reign of Bayezid II after a brief That several of these illustrated genealogies were pro-
interim rescission during the reign of Mehmed II duced in the span of a few years (or even months), and
(r. 1451–81). Interestingly, it is also during the reign of that some of these end with well wishes to the reader,
Bayezid II that an illustrated genealogy of the Ottoman suggests that there was a market in Baghdad for brief,
dynasty was prepared in Latin. This genealogical scroll, affordable illustrated universal histories told through
Genealogia Turcorum Imperatorum, Lex Imperii Domi genealogical succession.6 Ottoman archival book regis-
militaeque habita, dedicate Principi Voladislauo Hunga- ters also point to the popularity of silsilanāmas.7 Most
rie Bohemie & C. Regi (The Genealogy of Turkish Emper- likely produced on speculation (rather than being com-
ors, the Laws of the Empire and the Military, Dedicated missioned), the illustrated silsilanāmas can be likened
to Prince Wladislaw of Hungary, and King of Bohemia to a similar popularization of the illustrated Majālis al-
and Croatia), was prepared by the advisor of Matthias ʿUshshāq (The Assemblies of the Lovers) that occured
Corvinus (r. 1458–90) and his successor Wladislas II, Fe- earlier in the century in Shiraz.8 While questions of read-
lix Petancius, who undertook diplomatic missions to the ership and the popularity of certain genres at a particu-
Ottoman empire and dedicated the illustrated scroll to lar time or place require further study, the high number
King Wladislas II of Hungary (r. 1490–1516).4 of illustrated silsilanāma manuscripts indicates that

these became popular in Baghdad at the turn of the sev- the author in its introductory section, I begin with this
enteenth century. Persian text and compare it with the two other Persian
genealogies and the ones in Ottoman Turkish. Of the
two Persian-language genealogies, one is an unillustrat-
The Texts and Their Translations ed scroll at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in
Vienna (Cod. Mixt. 487). The other is the illustrated
Scholars commonly attribute several authors to the manuscript preserved at the Museum of Ethnography in
Persian, Turkish, and Arabic versions of the dynas- Ankara, which is the focus of this paper.
tic genealogy variously known by the titles Subḥat al- The preface to the Metropolitan Museum of Art scroll
Aḫbār (The Rosary of World History), Subḥat al-Aḫyār begins with praise to God, who “with the hand of provi-
(The Rosary of the Good), Subḥat al-Aḫbār ve Ṭuhfat dence and compass of design…created Adam from clay
al-Aḫyār (The Rosary of World History and the Gift of over forty mornings.”14 It continues by noting the select
the Good), and Zübdetü’t-Tevārīḫ (The Quintessence nature of humanity and of the Prophet Muhammad. The
of Histories). It is assumed that the “original” was a author writes that he had wished to compose a work of
Persian text composed by either Darvish Muhammad history, but since many others had composed histories
bin Ramadhan or by Shafiʿi al-Sharif, who worked before him, he wanted instead to create a genealogical
during the reign of the Ottoman ruler Süleyman I (r. scroll. After noting the difficulties of such an endeavor
1520–66), and that a Turkish translation was prepared and the criticism of his enemies, a praise of Sultan Süley-
by Yusuf bin ʿAbdüllatif.9 This assumption stems from man follows. The sultan is eulogized as the “padishah of
the information given by the seventeenth-century caliphal essence, king of kings of clement disposition,
Ottoman scholar Katip Çelebi (d. 1657) in his biblio- Iskandar of Aristotle-mind, sun of the heavens, guardian
graphical dictionary, Keşfü’ẓ Ẓünūn (The Uncovering of the world, the purest substance of the house of Os-
of Ideas), in which he mentions a genealogical scroll man.”15 This is followed by an overview of the organiza-
composed by Darvish Muhammad bin Ramadhan.10 tion of the scroll and the diagrammatic genealogy: it
The same information is repeated by Franz Babinger features two red circles for prophets and one circle for
(d. 1967), who writes that Darvish Muhammad bin Ra- others, connected by lines; prophets in the middle of the
madhan’s universal history was translated into Ottoman page; and the sons of Gayumars, the Kayanians, and oth-
Turkish by Yusuf bin ʿAbdüllatif in 1545. The name of the ers at the top, all the way to the Ottomans at the bottom.
latter as translator is also provided in a mid-eighteenth- Next, the length of time from Adam to major prophets
century unillustrated genealogy.11 before and after the Deluge are noted. The scroll then
A close reading of illustrated and unillustrated genea- lists dynasties before and after the rise of Islam and pro-
logical manuscripts and scrolls shows that there are two vides a table of the twelve dynasties after the advent of
earlier Persian versions of this work from which stem Islam, ending with the Ottomans.
two Turkish versions (see table 1). What is left out or A comparison of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
added, both in text and in painting, demonstrates how scroll with the Vienna copy shows that, while the latter
the format of the genealogical tree can be manipulated starts directly with the praise of Sultan Süleyman as “the
to highlight a particular dynasty or lineage. The potency purest substance of the house of Osman,” the rest of the
of these registers is underscored by the fact that they preface is the same as that of the Metropolitan Museum
were occasionally fabricated to suit a specific political of Art scroll; it provides information on the organization
purpose.12 of the layout of the scroll, the length of rule of prophets
I have come across only one such work—a scroll— and kings, and a table of dynasties after the advent of
that names its author as Shafiʿi al-Sharif. This is an unil- Islam.16 In both scrolls, the text written next to and
lustrated scroll composed in Persian, with annotations around the medallions is in Turkish and in a different
around medallions in Turkish, which were most likely hand. It is possible that these texts were added later.
added at a later date.13 As this scroll, held at the Metro- Two other unillustrated works are Ottoman Turkish
politan Museum of Art (67.272), contains the name of translations of the Metropolitan and Vienna version of

148 Melis Taner
Table 1
the Persian text. One is currently at the Sakıp Sabancı Mehmed III (r. 1595–1603). The other Ottoman Turk-
Museum (190-0592). The preface of this work, in Turk- ish translation is an unillustrated genealogy dating to
ish, gives the name of the author as Sharif al-Shafiʿi. The the mid-eighteenth century, which was originally orga-
Sabancı Museum scroll highlights Sultan Süleyman, nized as a scroll but is presently in the form of a codex
whose name is written within a large medallion, half of (Topkapı Palace Museum Library, B. 193). It provides
which contains text regarding his reign and the other us with yet another name, the person who translated
half of which is subdivided into the seven climes and this work into Turkish: Yusuf bin ʿAbdüllatif.17 Both the
the lands he possesses. The scroll presently ends with Metropolitan scroll and the Topkapı manuscript refer to
an empty medallion, reserved for the Ottoman ruler the title of the work as Subḥat al-Aḫbār.

Fig. 1. Moses and his rod turned into a dragon (top right). From Zübdetü't Tevārīḫ, Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum Library,
H. 1624, fol. 7b.
The Persian-language preface found in the Ankara lation of the Ankara text, with only the verbs changed
manuscript is quite different from the one in the Metro- from Persian to Turkish.
politan and Vienna examples. Although the two ver- In these illustrated Ottoman Turkish copies from
sions of the preface share similar content and Qurʾanic Baghdad, a diagrammatic genealogical tree beginning
quotations, their wording is quite different, which sug- with Adam follows the preface. The figures in medal-
gests that the preface of the Ankara manuscript is likely lions are often depicted seated, either kneeling or
the work of another author. Whether the author is the cross-legged. Prophets have flaming haloes around
Darvish Muhammad bin Ramadhan mentioned by their heads. Some hold books or prayer beads in their
Katip Çelebi is not substantiated. However, it is this An- hands. Like the prophets, rulers are also depicted seated,
kara version of the Persian text, rather than the Metro- sometimes holding a cup. With a few exceptions, such
politan/Vienna preface, that forms the basis of the as the prophet Saleh (Salih) with his camel, or Moses
majority of late-sixteenth-century illustrated Ottoman (Musa) with his rod turned into a dragon (fig. 1), most
Turkish translations. The illustrated Ottoman Turkish of the paintings portray the prophets and kings in an
versions from Baghdad reflect an almost verbatim trans- iconic manner (fig. 2). Figures are placed on a pricked

150 Melis Taner
Fig. 2. Yāfes b. Nūḥ (top left on fol. 20b). From Zübdetü't Tevārīḫ, 1597, Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum Library, H. 1591,
fols. 20b–21a.
gold background. These illustrated genealogies can be two blank cartouches. Compositionally, this can be lik-
attributed to Baghdad on the basis of style. Furthermore, ened to the portraits of sultans found in the Ḳıyāfetüʾl
three illustrated genealogies have colophons giving the İnsāniyye fī Şemāʾiliʾl-ʿOsmāniyye (Human Physiognomy
name of the scribe, who was a “resident of Baghdad.” concerning the Personal Dispositions of the Ottomans),
In addition, one illustrated manuscript (BnF Supp. turc where two cartouches placed above the sultans contain
126) whose drawn illustrations may have been added a hemistich in each. These provide a summary of the
later, gives the date of 1604–5 and lists Baghdad as the ruler’s qualities or invite the reader to consider the at-
place of execution in its colophon. tributes of the sultan portrayed.
Another illustrated Ottoman Turkish copy of the The repetitive and iconic nature of the paintings in
work lacks a colophon but contains further evidence the illustrated Ottoman Turkish genealogies, as well as
of a connection to Baghdad. In addition to the stylistic the structure and format of manuscripts produced with-
affinity of the painted medallions to Baghdad paint- in several years of each other, hint at the use of models
ings, appended to this genealogy is a painting depict- in these short, popular universal histories. These paint-
ing Mehmed III on a throne (fig. 3). Above, there are ings also highlight how the Ankara manuscript, while

damaged and trimmed at the edges of the ruling and

have not been re-margined. In addition to the altera-
tions resulting from the rebinding process, some early
modifications to the text are evident, which will be dis-
cussed below.
The manuscript opens with an illuminated ʿunwān
(headpiece), which is predominantly gold and blue with
stylized maroon lotus flowers on the upper section. The
central lobed gold cartouche, which lacks the title of the
work, is outlined in orange, a color often found in
ʿunwans of illuminated manuscripts from Baghdad. The
text is composed in Persian and written in nastaʿlīq.
Qurʾanic quotations and Arabic phrases are written in
thuluth in blue ink. The opening two folios of text have
interlineal illumination in gold. The double-page of the
illustrated genealogical tree beginning with Adam and
Eve is decorated above with a floral design in gold and
below with an animal design (fig. 4). The rest of the fo-
lios are decorated with small floral designs in gold, ex-
cept for several sheets decorated with animal or tree
designs. There are 146 painted medallions depicting
prophets from the Hebrew Bible, the Prophet Muham-
mad, ʿAli ibn Abi Talib and the twelve imams, and the
Abbasid caliphs and various rulers throughout time,
ending with a larger painted medallion of the Safavid
prince Hamza Mirza (d. 1586) (fig. 5), the son of the Sa-
favid Shah Muhammad Khudabanda (r. 1578–87) and
the elder brother of the future Safavid Shah ʿAbbas I
(r. 1588–1629).
Fig. 3. Portrait of Mehmed III. From Silsilanāme, Karlsruhe, The text of the Ankara silsilanāma consists of two
Badische Landesbibliothek, Cod. Rastatt 201, fol. 15b. parts: a short introduction in prose and the illustrated
genealogical tree, which includes short biographical in-
formation written around the medallions. The prose
stylistically similar to the illustrated Ottoman Turkish introduction begins by praising God as the creator of the
genealogies, is iconographically more elaborate and pro- universe and attributes existence to God. Above all,
Safavid in text and image. Adam is distinguished as God’s choice creation because
of his purity. After voicing gratitude to the creator, the
author writes that the universe and all existence are but
The Ankara Silsilanāma one drop in the sea of God’s generosity.19 Interspersed
with quotations from the Qurʾan that emphasize cre-
The Ankara silsilanāma is a relatively small manuscript, ation and the elect nature of mankind, the introduction
measuring 250 × 145 mm. It has 18 folios. The manuscript likens creation to the act of writing. After noting Adam’s
has not retained its original binding and presently has a pristine nature, the author moves on to praise the
black checkered board binding. In the re-binding pro- prophets and saints, who are honorable and special on
cess, some folios were misplaced.18 The folios have been account of their divine blessing (karāmat). Here, too,

152 Melis Taner
Fig. 4. Adam, Gayumars, Cain, and Abel. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Museum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 3b. (Photo:
Melis Taner)

sessor of good fortune, undaunted against the enemy

with the sword of the prophet, lover of the four ca-
liphs.”22 The altered text continues with a call for vic-
tory against the Safavid Qizilbash:
May the tent ropes of felicity and happiness, the curtains
founded on the firmament, and the heavenly tent of that
magnanimous sultan forever be strong. And may his sword
never be lacking from the necks of the redheads (surkhsarān)
and may he be forever victorious against that enemy. May
the pillars of his reign and the days of his fortune be ever
present on his realms and the sun of his benevolence for-
ever shine on his subjects, all the way from the fish to the
moon, until the day of Judgment.23
The rest of the encomiastic section of the introduction

is original; it ends with the author naming the work as
Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ (Collection of History).
A timeline from Adam to the Prophet Muhammad
follows, along with a discussion of variances in dating
and the number of years from each major prophet to
Muhammad. Historical events and rulers are catego-
rized into two groups: those that came before the advent
of Islam (the jāhilīyya), and those that came after (the
Islāmīyya). These are further classified according to
their respective dynasty, with information provided on
Fig. 5. Hamza Mirza hunting, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, An- the number of rulers and the number of years each dy-
kara, Museum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 18a. (Photo: nasty was in power. Emphasis is placed on the Safavids
Melis Taner) in this text. After naming the post-Mongol dynasties
(the inclusive breadth of which also sets this manuscript
appropriate Qurʾanic verses and hadiths are chosen to apart from other genealogies), the text briefly mentions
highlight the nature of prophets. Muhammad is distin- “and the other: the Ottomans—they are fourteen [rul-
guished as the lord of the prophets. The author quotes a ers]—who ruled to this day, the year 1015 [1606–7], for
Qurʾanic verse which points out the role of Prophet Mu- 315 years.”24 This date corresponds to the reign of Ahmed
hammad as a messenger among other messengers I, the fourteenth Ottoman sultan, the ruler whose name
(3:144). The florid encomium ends with blessings on the has been added to the aforementioned introduction.
Prophet and on ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, his deputy. The prose preface ends on folio 3a with blessings on the
The next section of the introduction following this Safavid dynasty: “By mentioning the kings of the Safavid
“divine encomium, and [having established] the funda- dynasty, the emblem of the guardianship of the imamate
mentals of the guidance of prophecy”20 shows evidence and of supreme guidance—may God protect them with
of textual modification. Two lines in the middle of folio sublime holy lights and eternal rule!—the purpose of
2a have been replaced (figs. 6–7). Upon examining the this description is also [to provide] a sample of their di-
manuscript, a different calligraphic hand as well as dif- vine characteristics and their glorious feats.”25
ferent paper can be observed.21 The revised line praises The diagrammatic genealogical tree begins on folio
the Ottoman ruler Ahmed I (r. 1603–17): “Shah Ahmed, 3b with Adam and his offspring. The portraits or names
the ruler of the auspicious conjunction of the time of prophets and rulers are represented in variously sized
(ṣāḥib-qirān-i zamān), the outcome of the world, pos- medallions, with cursory stories related to prophets and

154 Melis Taner
Fig. 6. Introduction, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Mu-

seum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 2a. (Photo: Melis Taner)
rulers added around the painted medallions. Individuals

are divided according to their respective dynasties by
vertical lines. Contemporary rulers or prophets appear
next to each other on the same page. This format per-
mits a synchronic and a diachronic synopsis of universal
Fig. 7. Introduction, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Mu-
history. seum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 2b. (Photo: Melis Taner)
A large painted medallion portrays the Archangel Ga-
briel presenting Adam with a tablet; on the right is Eve
holding two sons, presumably Cain and Abel (fig. 8). (Ibrahim) and Aaron (Harun) are identified in this man-
Abel’s name is written in a medallion that branches off ner, whereas Nimrod (Nimrud), who had cast Abraham
to the right, and his murder by Cain is depicted in a into fire according to this text,26 is identified with a red
larger medallion below (fig. 9). From the descendants of medallion, linked by a red line to Ham. Among rulers,
Adam’s third son Seth (Shith)—Enosh (Anush), Kenan and particularly the post-Timurid dynasts, the Safavids
(Kanʿan), Mahalalel (Mahlaʿil), and Jared (Bared)—a are distinguished by their central placement and a con-
line branches off to the left where the line of the ancient tinuous line representing their dynasty; contemporary
Persian kings begins. neighboring rulers, by contrast, are placed on either
At this point, the sons of Noah (Nuh) appear, with side, almost floating on the page.
Japheth (Yafes) on the left-hand side, Shem (Sam) in the Thus the color coding, the size of each medallion and
middle, and Ham on the right. The descendants of Ja- its placement on the folio, and the inclusion of a paint-
pheth and Shem are represented in red ink within a blue ing serve as markers of relative importance and provide
medallion, and those of Ham, who was unfavored, in both a legible summary of universal and dynastic his-
blue ink within a red medallion. The color coding of blue tory as well as a quickly-graspable display of legitimacy.
ink for the names and red ink for the medallions is fol- The manuscript currently ends with a large portrait me-
lowed for some of the pre-Islamic Iranian kings as well. dallion of the Safavid prince Hamza Mirza on folio 18a
The names of many of the biblical prophets are written (fig. 5). The text begins by relating how valiantly Hamza
in red ink in blue medallions. For example, Abraham Mirza fought the ranks of the Ottomans, and that among

Fig. 8. Adam and Eve with Cain and Abel and the Archangel
Gabriel, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Museum of Eth-
nography, MS 8457, fol. 3b. (Photo: Melis Taner)
Fig. 9. Cain and Abel, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara,
Museum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 3b. (Photo: Melis
the Ottomans he was known as “Koç Kapan” (Ram Seiz- Taner)
er). Hamza Mirza is often mentioned in sixteenth-cen-
tury Ottoman chronicles because of his role in the toman ears at the peak of war highlights the volatility of
Ottoman-Safavid War of 1578–90 during Murad III’s rule in the Safavid lands. Hamza Mirza had been de-
reign. Hamza Mirza is further highlighted in Ottoman clared crown prince by a Takkalu-Mawsillu-Turkmen
sources, especially the Şecāʿatnāme (Book of Courage) alliance.29 However, a Shamlu-Ustajlu alliance declared
of Asafi Dal Mehmed Çelebi (d. 1597–98), who includes Muhammad Khudabanda’s younger son, ʿAbbas Mirza,
several portraits of the young prince in his illustrated as the heir apparent although he was only eight years old
account of the war.27 Interestingly, Hamza Mirza and at the time. In the end, it would be ʿAbbas Mirza who
Muhammad Khudabanda do not appear in Safavid il- replaced Muhammad Khudabanda as Shah ʿAbbas in
lustrated manuscripts. 1587 after Hamza Mirza mysteriously died in 1586.30
While Shah Muhammad Khudabanda managed to The text in the Ankara manuscript regarding Hamza
remain in control of the affairs of state until 1587, sev- Mirza ends with the verse: “Undaunted against the en-
eral Ottoman authors report challenges to his reign dur- emy with a sword like a diamond / Slave of ʿAli-yi Vali,
ing the Ottoman-Safavid War; some advocated for Shah ʿAbbas.”31 The remark on Shah ʿAbbas, right where
Hamza Mirza, some for Tahmasp Mirza, and others for the manuscript presently ends, suggests that the geneal-
Ebu Talib Mirza.28 That news of such affairs reached Ot- ogy may have continued with an account of Shah ʿAbbas

156 Melis Taner
I (r. 1588–1629). This would correspond with the date

1606/7 given in the preface, as also mentioned by Ren-
da.32 It is probable that the manuscript is unfinished or,
more likely, that it is missing several folios at the end. In
all likelihood, the manuscript did not make it to its in-
tended owner, thus going back on the speculative mar-
ket.
In addition to the prominence of Safavid rulers in
both the preface and paintings, the texts surrounding
the portrait medallions also present a pro-Safavid
stance. The brief accounts of the reigns of Shah Tahmasp
and Shah Muhammad Khudabanda voice praise of the
former’s support of Twelver Shiʿism and his destruction
of the works of the ahl al-sunna (people of the prophet-
ic practice) in that land,33 and express a desire for Shah
Muhammad Khudabanda’s success against the Otto-
mans: “God willing, with the help of God, the rest [of the
Ottomans] will be captured.”34 The texts concerning
Shah Ismaʿil I and Shah Tahmasp I are taken from the
Mirʾāt al-Adwār wa Mirqāt al-Aḫbār (Mirror of Periods
and Staircase of Accounts) of Muslih al-Din Lari (d.
1572), who composed a universal history in Persian,
among other works.35
It appears that whoever altered the preface either
failed to thoroughly review the entire text or intention- Fig. 10. The Prophet and his deputy and son-in-law ʿAli to-
ally left conflicting accounts. On the one hand, the in- gether with the Archangel Gabriel, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ,
troduction expresses a hope for success against the Ankara, Museum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 7b. (Photo:
Safavids; on the other hand, the brief narratives sur- Melis Taner)
rounding the portrait medallion of Shah Muhammad
Khudabanda voice hope for success against the Otto-
mans. The sudden change in the introduction was per- batim from the version attested in the Ankara manu-
haps aimed to suit a possible Ottoman audience. When script, with only the verbs changed from Persian to
juxtaposed with the unaltered texts in the rest of the Turkish. The introduction in the Ottoman Turkish texts,
manuscript, the altered introduction may further em- however, lacks any mention of Imam ʿAli as the deputy
phasize the Ottoman attempt to dominate the Safavids. of the prophet. This is not surprising, as the genealogies
With its curious provenance and confused text, the An- in Ottoman Turkish highlight the Sunni Ottoman dy-
kara manuscript exemplifies the liminality and tensions nasty. In the Ankara manuscript, ʿAli is given further
of artistic output in Baghdad between the Ottomans and distinction by his placement alongside the Prophet Mu-
Safavids. hammad and Archangel Gabriel (fig. 10). Furthermore,
A comparison of the text of the Ankara manuscript the portraits of the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs are
with the illustrated Ottoman Turkish genealogies shows missing in the Ankara manuscript, whereas in most of
that the latter are close translations of the Persian the illustrated Ottoman Turkish genealogies the Proph-
silsilanāma found in the former. As mentioned above, et Muhammad is portrayed together with the four ca-
the introductory prose section and the biographies of liphs (fig. 11a–e).
biblical prophets surrounding the portrait medallions in Remarkably, however, none of the Ottoman Turkish
the Ottoman Turkish genealogies are taken almost ver- silsilanāmas include the invocation of success against

Fig. 11a. The Prophet with the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs. Fig. 11b. The Prophet with the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs.
From LACMA M85–237–38, fol. 6b. 1597, from CBL T. MS 423, fol. 21b. (Photo: ©The Trustees of
the Chester Beatty Library)
the Safavids that is present in the Ankara manuscript. In simply continues to wish that the “basis of the ruler’s
the Ottoman Turkish copies, the encomiastic title “the reign and the days of his rule remain forever over the
ruler of the auspicious conjunction of the time, the prod- scope of his realm, and that the light of his generosity
uct of the world, undaunted against the enemy of the shine all the way from the moon to the fish in the sea.”36
sword of the prophet” is reserved for Süleyman I, the The addition of the name of Shah Ahmed, his descrip-
“glory of the house of Osman,” during whose reign the tion as the “friend of the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs”
Ottoman Turkish translation was made. The appeal that (muḥibb-i Chahār Yār), as well as the invocation of vic-
the ruler be victorious over the Qizilbash (surkhsarān) tory against the Qizilbash, are potent modifications in
is missing in all of the Turkish translations, and the text an otherwise pro-Safavid manuscript. It is most likely

158 Melis Taner
Fig. 11c. The Prophet with the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs. 1597, from TPML H. 1591, fol. 23b.
Fig. 11d. The Prophet with the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs. 1597, from TPML H. 1324, fol. 23b.

Fig. 11e. The Prophet with the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs. From TPML A. 3110, fol. 8b.
that this alteration was made early in the life of the man- O God, bless him with long life like the Prophet Hızr!
uscript during the reign of the Ottoman ruler Ahmed I. Make the all-knowing saint the companion of that Sultan!
A similar appeal for success against the Qizilbash ap- Overwhelm his enemies with torment and subjucation!
O Irresistible One, give not importance to his enemies!
pears in contemporary Ottoman texts, reflecting recur- Let the Shah of the Heretics be perpetually powerless before
rent tensions between the two rival neighbors in the him!
early seventeenth century. One example can be found Let the infidels groan under the blows of his [Ahmed
in the Bahāriyye (Spring Ode) of Caʿfer Efendi (d. after Khan’s] sword!
1623), the biographer of the architect Mehmed Ağa. The Let him be triumphant and victorious, and a vanquisher
qasīda praising the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed is embed- and a taker of spoils.38
ded in the text of Caʿfer Efendi’s Risāle-i Miʿmāriyye Similar wording is used in Mustafa Saʿi’s rendering of the
(Treatise on Architecture), an early-seventeenth-centu- chief architect Sinan’s (d. 1588) autobiography. In prais-
ry architectural treatise that also provides the biography ing the reigning sultan Murad III (r. 1574–95), Mustafa
of the architect. The treatise was written in 1614/15, when Saʿi concentrates on the sultan’s eastern conquests and
the dome of the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed was complet- his victories against the Safavids; he writes:
ed. The qasīda provides an ekphrastic description of the
mosque, likening parts of the mosque to spring flowers [He] imprisoned him in his square and checkmated him.
One of his army columns conquered the domains of Shirvan.
and vegetation. Finally, the qasīda praises “the victori-
The lion cut Van off from the enemy.
ous shah and sovereign sultan, Ahmed Khan,”37 and [The shah] suffered the blow of the Rumi.
ends with an invocation of success against the “Shah of He deemed it the claw of an iron dog.
the Heretics,” saying: Think not that he lost [but] Kars and Yerevan!

160 Melis Taner
He lost his goods. He lost his life.

While [the shah] was sovereign of the world, alas,
They [the Ottomans] made his crown too tight for his head.
Those who blaspheme the Friends are hypocrites.
[They] deserve whatever suffering is inflicted on them.
Long live the sultan, refuge of the world!
May the celestial sphere be to him an imperial tent!39
These wishes for success against the Safavid shah hint at

the prevalent mood in Baghdad. Slightly over a decade
after the peace of 1590, hostilities between the Ottomans
and Safavids broke out anew, especially between 1603
and 1607 and then again after 1612. The date of 1606/7
corresponds to the precarious aftermath of these con-
flicts, when the Celali rebels occupied Baghdad.
The Ankara Manuscript and Its Paintings
In addition to its curious provenance, the Ankara manu-

script is remarkable in terms of its composition and ico-
nography. Whereas most silsilanāmas provide portraits
of the prophet or ruler in question, the compositions
in the Ankara genealogy interact with the text more
closely; they also relate to other illustrated works such
as the Qiṣaṣ al-Anbīyā (Stories of the Prophets) or the
Shāhnāma (The Book of Kings).40 The Ankara genealogy
begins with Adam, who is normally depicted with the
archangel Gabriel in other manuscripts. In the Ankara Fig. 12. Gayumars, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Mu-
manuscript, Adam is depicted not only with Gabriel but seum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 3b. (Photo: Melis Taner)
also with Eve, who has two infants on her lap (fig. 8). On
the lower right, Cain, dressed in an animal-skin garment, Blessed), or the Shāhnāma. Sharing the same page as
lifts a rock to strike Abel, who has already fallen (fig. 9). Adam and his sons is a painting of Gayumars, the leg-
In the distance, two goats watch the scene behind green endary first king of Iran, and the first earthly ruler. Ga-
hills. The reason for Abel’s murder is jealousy, as implied yumars is frequently portrayed in illustrated Shāhnāmas
in the laconic account given in the text: “Fire took Abel’s dressed in animal skin. Here too he is dressed in animal
sacrifice and Cain struck Abel in the head with a rock.”41 skin, but unlike the iconic images of Gayumars found
The text continues: “Eve parted herself from Cain. Abel in other illustrated genealogies, the Ankara silsilanāma
had many sons. They resided in Yemen and Aden and portrays Gayumars with a flock of animals and with
built fire-houses/temples. And Idris [Enoch] fought with other people who are likewise dressed in animal skin
them. The offspring of Cain reached forty thousand.”42 (fig. 12).
The cursory text assumes a familiarity with the sto- The narrative nature of the images is also evident in
ries of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Similarly, the the depiction of Iraj—one of the sons of the Iranian
narrative nature of the images hints at visual links be- mythical king Faridun—who is murdered by his broth-
tween this silsilanāma and other illustrated works such ers, Salm and Tur (fig. 13). In the painted medallion, Tur
as the Qiṣaṣ al-Anbīyā, Ḥadīḳatüʾs Süʿedā (Garden of the can be seen grasping Iraj by the hair and slitting his

Fig. 13. Murder of Iraj, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara,

Museum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 4b. (Photo: Melis
Taner)
Fig. 15. Bahram Gur, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Mu-
page, the story of the prophet Eber (Hud) is related. The

painted medallion shows the prophet standing on the
right, with hands clasped before him, while the tribe of
ʿAd has been stricken with a thunderous storm. Bahram
Gur, the Sasanid king whose fame is immortalized in the
Haft Paykar (Seven Beauties) of Nizami (d. 1209) and in
Fig. 14. Saleh and the camel, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, An-
the Shāhnāma of Firdawsi, is shown seated on a throne
kara, Museum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 4b. (Photo: Me- flanked by two lions (fig. 15). One of the stories in the
lis Taner) Shāhnāma tells how Bahram Gur slayed two lions to
gain his crown. The Ankara silsilanāma does not depict
this moment of battle but shows an awareness of the
throat, while Salm seems to be pinning him down. On story in featuring the two lions on either side of the
the same page as Iraj is a painting depicting the prophet throne.
Saleh and the camel that he caused to appear from the In addition to visual references from the Shāhnāma
rocks (fig. 14). While several illustrated genealogies also or the Qiṣaṣ al-Anbīyā such as Cain killing Abel, Noah
show Saleh with his camel, here the camel is grazing and his ark, the sacrifice of Ishmael, or the prophet Saleh
while her calf is suckling. Further down on the same and the camel, some of the paintings show a closer

162 Melis Taner
Fig. 16. Virgin Mary with the Infant Christ and Joseph (?), Fig. 17. Ishmael praying in front of the Kaʿba, detail. From
detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Museum of Ethnography, Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Museum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol.
MS 8457, fol. 5b. (Photo: Melis Taner) 5b. (Photo: Melis Taner)
r elationship to the text itself. For example, while it is European-style hat in his hands, is Joseph. Indeed, many
common to depict the Infant Christ on the lap of Mary, of the paintings from late-sixteenth-century Baghdad
the Ankara silsilanāma includes a bearded man kneeling include images of contemporary Europeans, anachro-
next to the Virgin Mary and the Infant Christ (fig. 16). nisms that also point to possible Western visual sources
Renda suggests that this is the man who was crucified and interaction with Europeans through diplomacy and
instead of Jesus.43 Around the painting it is written that: trade.
Some of the Jews rejected him and tried to kill him. God Another painting that shows the close relationship
placed his likeness (ṣurat) on a Jew, and they crucified him. between text and image is that of Ishmael (Ismaʿil) pray-
At the age of thirty-three, by the order of God, Jesus as- ing in front of the Kaʿba (fig. 17). The grave of his father
cended to the fourth heaven. And at the end of time, he will Abraham is also marked on the painting. The text notes
return to earth, kill the Deccal, and pray with Imam Mu- that Ishmael went to Mecca after the death of his father
hammad al-Mahdi.44
and visited his grave, and the painting shows this mo-
Given the close relationship between text and image, ment. The text around the painting also adds that Ish-
the kneeling man may indeed be the man who was cru- mael was given prophethood and invited to Islam people
cified instead of Jesus, but iconographically the image is who were idolaters, some of whom converted.
reminiscent of the paintings of the Holy Family. Thus it In addition to biblical prophets and visual links to
is also likely that the bearded, kneeling man, with his other textual genres, the way some of the rulers are

Fig. 18. Atabeg Qutluq Khan and Shaykh Saʿdi, detail. From Fig. 19. Mehmed II, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Mu-
Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Museum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. seum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 9b. (Photo: Melis Taner)
10b. (Photo: Melis Taner)
d epicted is also worth noting. The Abbasid caliphs and

the post-Mongol dynasties are first introduced by text,
which is followed by portrait medallions; individual de-
scriptions of the rulers surround the medallions. Rather
than appearing in single portraits within medallions,
however, some rulers are depicted in the company of
their retinue or an audience. For example, the Muzaf-
farid ruler Shah Mansur (d. 1393) is represented on a
dappled grey horse, looking back at a woman who is ad-
dressing him. His contemporary, Khwaja ʿAli al-
Muʿayyad (d. 1386), the last ruler of the Sarbadars who
ruled in Khurasan in the mid-fourteenth century, is
shown seated outside while an attendant holds his
horse. Qutluq Khan Abu Bakr ibn Saʿd ibn Zangi (r. 1226–
59), the Salghurid atabeg, is portrayed as a young ruler
Fig. 20. Plato, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Museum of seated on a throne, while a bearded man identified as
Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 12b. (Photo: Melis Taner) Saʿdi kneels before him, presenting a book to him (fig.

164 Melis Taner
18). It is noted that Qutluq Khan was a just ruler and that by their red turbans wrapped around a baton, as noted
his fairness was known all around the world; that he sup- in the text above. The founder of the dynasty is distin-
ported shaykhs and men of knowledge of Shiraz, and guished by the fact that this large rectangular painting
greatly cultivated and built Shiraz; and that Saʿdi of Shi- is devoted to him rather than a smaller portrait medal-
raz dedicated the Gulistān (Rosegarden) to him.45 As per lion. Above, on the upper left of the page, there is a por-
the text, the atabeg is depicted together with Saʿdi. The trait medallion depicting a seated ruler with a youth
ruler, identified as ʿOsmāniyān’dan Sulṭān Meḥmed Fātīḥ facing him. The youth is identified as Sultan ʿAli Safavi,
(Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror from among the Otto- brother of Shah Ismaʿil. A cryptic inscription below the
mans), is depicted together with a white-bearded man, medallion notes: “the brother of Shah Ismaʿil was Hay-
most likely a member of the ulema, holding a book (fig. dar-i Husayni; martyred in Shirvan.”47 It is possible that
19).46 In addition to the biblical prophets and kings, this the figure on the left facing the youth portrays Shaykh
manuscript also includes representations of Plato (fig. Haydar, the father of Ismaʿil I, who was killed in Shirvan
20), Pythagoras, and Nasir al-Din Tusi (d. 1274); their in 1488. Below this curious double portrait is the portrait
portraits are otherwise rarely included in illustrated ge- medallion of the Ottoman ruler Süleyman I dressed in
nealogies. Ottoman attire. The painting is reminiscent of Ottoman
As noted above, among all the rulers depicted, the portrait traditions that depict the ruler seated cross-
Safavids are given pride of place. The members of the legged against a pillow and holding a handkerchief in
Safavid dynasty are all positioned centrally on the page, one hand. An inscription in red refers to him as Sulṭān
whereas contemporary Ottoman, Uzbek, and Mughal Süleymān-ı Rūmī, indicating that the manuscript is not
rulers appear to float on the left and right sides of the addressed to an Ottoman reader. The text regarding Sü-
pages rather than following a consistent line as would leyman I begins with a speedy overview of his conquest
have been expected. Somewhat less disorganized than of Belgrade, Baghdad, and Esztergom. It continues with
the contemporary Ottoman Turkish silsilanāmas, the a brief account of the rebel Safavid prince Alqas Mirza
Ankara manuscript first introduces the Safavid dynasty (d. 1550), with whom Süleyman marched against Tabriz,
with a section taken from the Mirʾat al-Adwār wa Mirqat seizing Van. Mentioned next is Süleyman I’s peace trea-
al-Aḫbār, detailing the battle that its founder, Shah ty (in 1555) with Shah Tahmasp I, the shāh-i ʿālam (ruler
Ismaʿil I (r. 1501–24), fought against the Aqqoyunlu ruler of the world). Following this, the text turns to an ac-
Alvand (r. 1497–1501). It also covers Ismaʿil I’s conquest count of the Ottoman prince Bayezid, who rebelled
of Tabriz, his defeat of Murad b. Yaʿqub Aqqoyunlu (d. against his father Süleyman I and sought refuge at the
1514) and Muhammad Khan Shaybani (d. 1510), and his Safavid court. Later, he was handed over to the Otto-
possession of ʿIraq, Fars, and Khorasan. It ends with mans and executed along with five of his sons.48 The text
Ismaʿil I’s defeat at Chaldiran (1514) by his Ottoman rival ends with a brief account of Süleyman I’s death during
Selim I. The text emphasizes Shah Ismaʿil I’s victories in the campaign at Szigetvár (1566).
the first decade of his rule, quickly passing over the de- The next double-folio presents the three Safavid rul-
bacle at Chaldiran before outlining the date of his birth ers, Tahmasp I, Ismaʿil II (on folio 17b), and Muhammad
and length of his rule. The attention paid to Ismaʿil I’s Khudabanda, as well as the prince Hamza Mirza (on fo-
victories against the Aqqoyunlu and the Shaybanids in lio 18a). They are all centrally placed on the page within
Tabriz and Khurasan is matched in the manuscript with large circular medallions and linked by a blue line (figs.
the inclusion of Aqqoyunlu, Qaraqoyunlu, and Shayba- 22–23). These pages are decorated with gold florals sur-
nid rulers in both portrait medallions and the introduc- rounding the medallions. Their Uzbek, Ottoman, and
tory text. These dynasties do not appear in any of the Mughal contemporaries are placed on the left and right,
Ottoman Turkish silsilanāmas. in smaller portrait medallions. The manuscript ends
Below the text in a rectangular frame, the founder of with a painting of Hamza Mirza hunting. His near con-
the Safavid dynasty is portrayed seated on a baldachined temporaries, Sultan Mehmed III and the Mughal ruler
throne surrounded by attendants (fig. 21). He wears a Akbar (r. 1556–1605), are portrayed on either side in
plumed Safavid turban. His retinue too can be identified smaller portrait medallions. It is noteworthy that Akbar

Fig. 21. Shaykh Haydar, Sultan ʿAli Safavi (brother of Ismaʿil I), Süleyman I, Ismaʿil I. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Museum
of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 17a. (Photo: Melis Taner)
is depicted seated on a throne on a white elephant, pos- Three men stand on the left, wearing Safavid turbans
sibly signifying his ability to dominate wild beasts or and waiting in obeisance, while a fourth, dressed in or-
command war elephants. Additionally, Hamza Mirza is ange, kneels before the ruler, presenting him with a pe-
distinguished not as an enthroned ruler-figure but as a tition. The text surrounding this portrait medallion
prince hunting with falcons. Rather than serving as an begins with Shah Tahmasp’s accession to the throne, his
iconic image, this scene sets Hamza Mirza in a specific giving currency to the infallible imams and Twelver
narrative, portraying him as an active hunter prince. Shiʿism, and his destruction of the monuments of the ahl
The page with the painting of Shah Tahmasp and al-sunna, as mentioned previously.49 The second part of
Shah Ismaʿil II has been cut in the middle and the figure the text is devoted to his campaigns, first against the
of Shah Tahmasp is rubbed off (fig. 23). Interestingly, Uzbeks in Jam (in the summer of 1528), and then against
Murad III’s face is also rubbed off. The page was later the pādishāh-i Rūm, Sulṭān Süleymān in 1535. The text
mended with tape. What remains of the portrait of Shah does not mention Shah Tahmasp’s defeat by the Otto-
Tahmasp shows an enthroned ruler with an attendant mans; instead, it twists the historical account to claim
on the right wearing a fur cap and holding his arrows. that it was actually the Ottomans who “went back to

166 Melis Taner
Fig. 22. Shah Muhammad Khudabanda, Emperor Akbar, Fig. 23. Shah Tahmasp I, Ismaʿil II, Murad III, ʿUbaydallah
Mehmed III, Hamza Mirza. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Mu- Khan. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Museum of Ethnography,
seum of Ethnography, MS 8457, fol. 18a. (Photo: Melis Taner) MS 8457, fol. 17b. (Photo: Melis Taner)
Rum out of fear of the army in whose footsteps victory ing that “many amirs were killed and sedition increased
follows; and peace was made afterwards.”50 and all the princes perished in that tumult, except for
Shah Tahmasp’s successor Shah Ismaʿil II is portrayed the exalted padishah Sultan Muhammad and Sultan
enthroned in an outdoor setting; an attendant on the Hamza Mirza in Fars.”51 Ismaʿil II’s short reign was
right holds his arrows; another holds a tray of fruits, and marked by an increased influence of Qizilbash elements,
a third attendant offers him a cup. The attendants on the many executions of the members of the ulama and the
right and left wear a similar blue fur cap, which is Ustajlu clan, and discord raised by the shah’s pro-Sunni
wrapped with a white cloth in the middle. The text sur- inclinations.52
rounding this portrait medallion reflects the somewhat Not viable for the throne on account of his near blind-
turbulent years of the short reign of Shah Ismaʿil II, not- ness, Muhammad Khudabanda, Shah Ismaʿil’s brother,

was spared, as were Muhammad Khudabanda’s sons in the Ankara manuscript are situated within a narrative
Hamza Mirza and ʿAbbas Mirza. The surviving members that is closely related to the surrounding text and other
of the dynasty are represented on the facing page, on popular stories about them. The only other genealogical
folio 18a (fig. 22). Above, Sultan Muhammad Khudaban- manuscript attributable to Baghdad that distinguishes a
da is shown seated on a rug outside, wearing a gold tur- particular figure within a narrative context is the frag-
ban. Seated next to him is a young prince, also wearing mentary genealogy presently at the Linden Museum in
a gold aigretted turban, looking at Muhammad Khuda- Stuttgart,56 which ends with a large portrait of Ahmed I
banda, who is identified not by his given name but by hunting, one of his favorite activities.57 In a centrally
the title ashraf-i ʿālī shāh (The Most Exalted Shah).53 placed medallion at the bottom of the page, the young
Given that a larger portrait medallion is devoted to sultan Ahmed I is depicted on horseback, with janissary
Hamza Mirza, the youth seated with Muhammad Khud- guards on either side (fig. 24). While the portrayal of a
abanda is most likely this prince. While Muhammad sultan hunting is exceptional in this manuscript, it is
Khudabanda is given a lofty title, the text surrounding also noteworthy that the figure is Ahmed I. It was during
the medallion is somewhat critical of his reign, during the reign of his father Mehmed III that the first illus-
which trated genealogies were produced and became popu-
lar.58 The Ankara and Stuttgart manuscripts show that
viziers and amirs plundered the treasury and exerted taxa-
tion on the populace; and great damage was done. From
the interest in shorter illustrated universal histories in
the west the Rūmīyān (Ottomans) sallied forth [i.e., Mu- the form of diagrammatic genealogies continued in the
rad III’s 1578–90 campaign]. The Qizilbash lost Tabriz early seventeenth century during the reigns of Ahmed I
and Shirvan; Turkmen and Takkalu [tribes] rebelled and and Shah ʿAbbas I, a period when conflicts between the
were defeated.54 Afterwards, the army of the Ottomans Ottomans and the Safavids were rekindled. Given the
was defeated three times; a hundred thousand Rūmīyān parallel transformations in artistic and cultural realms—
were killed; and hopefully, with the help of God, the rest as well as the fact that Shah ʿAbbas I diminished the
will be captured [presumably under the current ruler, Shah
influence of the Qizilbash and instead empowered
ʿAbbas].55
ghulāms (slaves), which can be likened to the Ottoman
The beginning of Shah Muhammad Khudabanda’s reign system of conscripted ḳuls—the silsilanāma represents
saw the resumption of war with the Ottomans, which a familiar, yet subtly potent, medium for legitimacy and
was to last until 1590. The spurious reference to the de- supremacy. This sense of competition is heightened in
feat of the Ottomans in the account regarding Muham- the Ankara manuscript, for example, where the name of
mad Khudabanda was apt at a time when the two rivals Ahmed I is inserted along with a wish for his victory
were at war yet again. The expression of hope for success against the Safavids, a sentiment similarly reflected in
against the Ottomans in this text, together with the contemporary Ottoman texts.
wishes for success against the Safavids that were added The Ottoman Turkish illustrated genealogies high-
to the preface in 1606/7, exemplify the volatility of the light the Sunni Abbasid heritage and emphasize links
status quo between the two rival empires as experienced between the early Ottomans and the Seljuqs, in effect
in the frontiers. legitimizing their Sunni Ottoman rule, a point made by
Created slightly later than the corpus of illustrated Gülru Necipoğlu.59 In these genealogies the Ottoman
genealogies produced in Baghdad, the Ankara manu- dynasty is at the forefront, and other contemporary dy-
script follows the same format as these genealogies and nasties are totally absent. The portrait medallions follow
maintains the same text (although here the text around the succession of Ottoman rulers in an unbroken line,
the medallions is also in Persian, rather than Ottoman while the texts surrounding them provide details on
Turkish) and stylistic features. However, unlike the icon- their accession, length of rule, and conquests. In this
ic portraits of prophets and kings in the illustrated Bagh- context, the Ankara manuscript stands out, not only
dad genealogies, who are depicted seated against with its emphasis on the Safavid dynasty but also with
bolsters in a timeless plain gold background, the figures its inclusion of other post-Mongol and post-Timurid

168 Melis Taner
Fig. 24. Selim II, Murad III, Mehmed III, Ahmed I. From Silsilanāma, Linden-Museum, Stuttgart, VLA 1155, fol. 4b.
(©Linden-Museum Stuttgart; Photo: A. Drey)

hangir had ordered multiple copies of the Jahangīr-

n āma (Book of Jahangir), illustrated with a frontispiece
miniature depicting his accession to be prepared for dis-
tribution to dignitaries and administrators.”61 In terms
of content, the illustrated silsilanāmas surely exemplify
the courtly interest in universal dynastic histories, espe-
cially the Zübdetü’t-Tevārīḫ, which also contains lines
running through the pages.62 However, the illustrated
silsilanāmas also exhibit undeniable originality in terms
of their organization of painted medallions. At a certain
point, the illustrated genealogies from Baghdad found
their way to the Topkapı Palace Library, and it is possi-
ble that these works influenced later illustrated gene-
alogies that were produced at the court in Istanbul in the
Fig. 25. Abu Muslim, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Mu- 1680s.
Like the sudden appearance of diagrammic genealo-
gies following the Mongol conquest, the flourishing of
illustrated genealogies in Baghdad at a time of societal
d ynasties such as the Injus, Muzaffarids, Aqqoyunlu,
instability makes a claim to Sunni Ottoman identity. In
Qaraqoyunlu, and Uzbeks, which are not included in the
this context, the Ankara manuscript clearly stands apart
illustrated Ottoman Turkish genealogies.
and turns the genre on its head by positioning the Safa-
The Ankara manuscript and the corpus of Ottoman
vids as the culmination of universal history. By means of
Turkish genealogies are visual portrayals of legitimacy
slight alterations to its text, however, the genealogy
and competition that utilize complex methods of certi-
could find a new home with an Ottoman owner.
fication and authentication. These short but heavily il-
Indeed, the flexibility of the Ankara manuscript is
lustrated manuscripts attest to the popularity of
signaled by its viability on the market in Baghdad with
summary universal histories that construct links be-
a major Shiʿi population under Sunni Ottoman rule,
tween religious and historical personages; they also help
where various groups could coexist and interact, their
us understand relations between the court and the prov-
differences at times camouflaged through fear or cau-
inces. The intended audience of the Ankara silsilanāma
tion (taqiyya) or otherwise negotiated. This translatabil-
is still an unanswered question. It is unlikely to be a
ity is embodied in the corpus of illustrated manuscripts
royal Safavid commission, as the manuscript contains a
from turn-of-the-century Baghdad. It is through the style
medallion depicting Abu Muslim (d. 755) (fig. 25), whose
of these manuscripts, often described as “eclectic,” that
ritual cursing was sanctioned during the reign of Shah
the in-betweenness of Baghdad is reflected.63 The char-
ʿAbbas I.60 It is clear, however, that the work was not an
acterization of Baghdad as a person caught in a whirl-
Ottoman commission, either. While the question re-
wind underlines this eclecticism or hybridity, which
mains open, the curious provenance of the manuscript
contradicts the standard courtly style. Perhaps the lim-
does indicate that the Baghdad market extended be-
inal identity of Baghdad should also serve to challenge
yond its Ottoman governors. This conclusion is further
our definitions of what may be considered “Ottoman” or
strengthened by the dedication of the 1603 illustrated
“Safavid.”
Mathnawī to Imam-Virdi Beg bin Alp Aslan Beg Dhu’l
Qadr (NYPL Spencer Coll. Pers 12). In addition, the fact
that there are a dozen extant illustrated genealogies at-
Notes
tributable to Baghdad on the basis of style shows the
popularity of these works. Necipoğlu provides a point of 1. Şeyhoġlu, Kitāb-ı Tārīḫ-i Dārü’s-Selām-ı Baġdād’ıñ Başına
comparison with Mughal India, where the “emperor Ja- Gelen Aḥvālleri Beyān İder fi Sene 1028 (1619), Leiden

170 Melis Taner
University Library, Codex Schultens 1278, fols. 20b–21a. was also copied in Baghdad. This work is slightly different
The author, who identifies himself as Şeyhoġlu (b. 1609/10), from the others. Instead of paintings within roundels, it
composed a short history of Baghdad from 1619 until the features drawings that are likely to have been added later.
re-conquest of the province by the Ottoman ruler Murad See Serpil Bağcı, “From Adam to Mehmed III: Silsilanāma,”
IV (r. 1623–40) in 1638. In this unpublished account, the in The Sultan’s Portrait: Picturing the House of Osman (Istan-
author details the turmoils in Baghdad in the 1620s, includ- bul: Türkiye İş Bankası, 2000), 188–201, at 188.
ing famine, inflation, pressures from local Bedouins, the 6. Bağcı, “From Adam,” 198.
uprising of Bekir Subaşı, and the subsequent Ottoman loss 7. Lale Uluç, Turkman Governors, Shiraz Artisans, and Otto-
of the province to the Safavids in 1623. He ends his short man Collectors (Istanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası, 2006), 471–78.
account with a qasīda (ode) on the description and state of 8. For a detailed study on the production of illustrated manu-
Baghdad, which appears almost verbatim in the travelogue scripts and, in particular, the Majālis al-ʿUshshāq, see Uluç,
of seventeenth-century traveler Evliya Çelebi. For an intro- Turkman Governors.
duction, transcription, and translation of Evliya’s qasīdā, 9. Franz Babinger notes Şerīf Şāfīʿī as the author of the Per-
see Jessica Lutz, “Evliya Çelebi’s Qasida on Baghdad,” in De sian text, and refers to translations by Dervīş Meḥmed bin
Turcicis Aliisque Rebus Commentarii Henry Hofman dedi- Şeyh Ramażān and Yūsuf bin ʿAbdüllaṭīf, both of whom
cati: Feestbundel voor professor emeritus H. F. Hofman ter lived during the reign of Süleyman I. The name of Dervīş
gelegenheid van zijn vijftenzeventigste verjaardag aange- Meḥmed bin Şeyh Ramażān is also given in the Keşfü
boden door vrienden en studenten, ed. Hendrik Boeschoten ’z-Ẕünūn of Kātip Çelebi (d. 1657) as an author who com-
(Utrecht: Institut voor Oosterse Talen en Culturen, 1992), posed a genealogical scroll up to the time of Süleyman I
59–79. Lutz, however, does not mention Şeyhoġlu in her with the title Subḥat al-Aḫbār ve Tuḥfat al-Aḫyār. In his
article. catalogue entry to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek’s
2. Yücel Dağlı and S. Kahraman, eds., Evliya Çelebi Seya- Cod. Mixt. 487, Flügel is uncertain regarding authorial
hatnamesi IV. Kitap Topkapı Sarayı Bağdat 305 Numaralı attributions. He notes that the manuscript titled Subḥat
Yazmanın Transkripsiyonu - Dizini (Istanbul: Yapı Kredi al-Aḫbār is a translation from the Persian. The author of
Yayınları, 2000), 243. the Persian text is listed as Şerīf Şāfīʿī. Flügel voices con-
3. The emergence of the diagrammatical genealogical tree cern over this attribution: although this manuscript begins
can be dated to the early thirteenth century. İlker Evrim with a Persian introduction, the information around the
Binbaş considers the Mongol invasions as a point of rup- medallions is in Turkish. He notes that the titles of Subḥat
ture in the understanding of a universal design defined by al-Aḫbār and Subḥat al-Aḫyār are often confused. He fur-
the caliphate, and hence of interest in defining lineages ther refers to the St. Petersburg copy, Subḥat al-Aḫyār,
in the form of genealogical registers. İlker Evrim Binbaş, whose author is noted as Yūsuf bin ʿAbdüllaṭīf in the 1852
“Structure and Function of the Genealogical Tree,” in Hori- Catalogue des Manuscrits et Xylographes Orientaux de la
zons of the World: Festschrift for İsenbike Togan (Hududu’l Bibliothèque Imperiale Publique de St. Pétersburg, DXXII
Alem: İsenbike Togan’a Armağan), ed. İlker Evrim Binbaş et (468). I have not been able to see this manuscript firsthand,
al. (Istanbul: İthaki, 2011), 482. See Hugh Kennedy, “From but the catalogue entry cites the beginning of this manu-
Oral Tradition to Written Record in Arabic Genealogy,” script as Ḥamd-i bī-ḥadd u senā-yı bī-ʿadd (Infinite praise
Arabica T. 44, Fasc. 4 (1997): 531–44. For early examples and countless eulogies), and notes that the text ends with
of the genre of genealogy, see also Zoltán Szombathy, The the chronogram Ḳuvvetlü ḳış (Harsh winter, 952/1545). This
Roots of Arabic Genealogy: A Study in Historical Anthropol- text is different from that contained in ÖNB Cod. Mixt.
ogy (Piliscsaba: The Avicenna Institute of Middle Eastern MS 437, which begins Zübde-yi silsila-yi ḫāḳānī ve ḫulāṣa-yı
Studies, 2003). For multiple interpretations of chronology, dūdmān-ı ʿOsmānī, Sulṭān Süleymān Hān bin Sulṭān Selīm
see Shahzad Bashir, “On Islamic Time: Rethinking Chronol- Hān (The cream of the imperial genealogy and the purest of
ogy in the Historiography of Muslim Societies,” History and the family of Osman, Sultan Süleyman son of Sultan Selim
Theory 53 (2014): 519–44. Khan). An unillustrated silsilanāma, titled Subḥat al-Aḫbār
4. Julian Raby, “Opening Gambits,” in The Sultan’s Portrait: and kept at the Süleymaniye Library (Ayasofya MS 3259),
Picturing the House of Osman, ed. Selmin Kangal (Istanbul: also begins with the words Ḥamd-i bī-ḥadd u senā-yı bī-ʿadd.
Türkiye İş Bankası, 2000), 64–96, at 92. On the post of the This manuscript (formerly a codex) gives the name of the
nāqīb al-ashrāf, see Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, translator as Yūsuf bin ʿAbd al-Laṭīf (folio 2a). The manu-
s.v. “Naḳīb al-Ashrāf,” by A. Havemann. See also Rüya Kılıç, script ends with an overview of the reign of Sultan Süley-
“The Reflection of Islamic Tradition on Ottoman Social man, with his conquests written narratively and presented
Structure: The Sayyids and Sharifs,” in Sayyids and Sharifs in in a diagram organized according to seven climes. Medal-
Muslim Societies, ed. Morimoto Kazuo (London: Routledge, lions for Süleyman’s sons and for the succeeding sultan
2012), 123–39. have been added but left blank. After a blank double page,
5. These are TPML H. MS 1591, TPML H. MS 1324, and Chester there is a short section in verse composed by the translator.
Beatty Library T. MS 423. In addition to these, which Bağcı This section asks for the favor of the “shah full of divine radi-
mentions, the Bibliothèque nationale de France Silsilanāma ance” and wishes for the continuance of his reign and his

dynasty with “sun-faced, beautiful princes” (folio 65b). The edith-Owens, “A Genealogical Roll in the Metropolitan
author notes that the manuscript was completed during a Museum,” in Islamic Art in the Metropolitan Museum of
severe winter with an abundance of snow and ends with a Art, ed. Richard Ettinghausen (New York: Metropolitan
chronogram denoting the year 952 (1545). A close reading of Museum of Art, 1972), 87–90.
illustrated and unillustrated genealogies shows, however, 11. Serpil Bağcı writes that the name of Yūsuf bin ʿAbdüllaṭīf is
that there are slightly varying versions in both Persian and given in a mid-eighteenth-century silsilanāma preserved at
Turkish. The following copies have more or less the same the Topkapı Palace Museum Library (B. MS 193), where the
Turkish introduction: Badische Landesbibliothek Rastatt introduction names Yūsuf bin ʿAbdüllaṭīf as the translator
MS 201, TPML A. MS 3110, TPML H. MS 1624, TPML H. MS of the Persian work (Bağcı, “From Adam,” 188).
1591, TPML H. MS 1620, CBL T. MS 423, ÖNB A. F. MS 50, 12. The case of the late-sixteenth-century Celali rebel
BnF Supp. turc MS 126, LACMA M.85.237.38, and Vakıflar ʿAbdülhalīm Ḳarayazıcı, who reportedly claimed a gene-
Genel Müdürlüğü MS 1872. To these, one can add the early- alogy that went back to unidentified ancient rulers, is one
seventeenth-century illustrated copy held at the Museum example in which claiming a certain lineage becomes a
of Ethnography in Ankara (MS 8457), which is composed in means to establish legitimacy. That the rebel also issued
Persian. This manuscript is studied in detail in the second orders with an imperial seal after capturing the town of
part of this essay. The above-mentioned Turkish texts are Ruha (present-day Urfa) and appointed the Ottoman gov-
very close translations of this Persian text, with only the ernor-turned-rebel Ḥüseyin Paşa as his grand vizier, shows
verbs changed from Persian to Turkish. Another version, the importance of genealogies, fabricated or not, along with
which is similar in content but different in its wording, other visible marks of power and legitimacy. See Günhan
can be found in these manuscripts: St. Petersburg MS 522, Börekçi, “Factions and Favorites at the Courts of Sultan
TPML B. MS 193; National Library of Tunisia MS 1459 (part Ahmed I (r. 1603–1617) and His Immediate Predecessors”
one of a compilation); and Sakıp Sabancı Museum MS 190- (PhD diss., The Ohio State University, 2010), 34; Baki Tez-
0520. A different Ottoman Turkish version can be found at can, “Searching for Osman: A Reassessment of the Deposi-
ÖNB A. F. MS 17. In addition, there are several manuscripts tion of the Ottoman Sultan Osman II (1618–1622)” (PhD
that begin with an additional Arabic section, followed by diss., Princeton University, 2001), 210. Also see the more
the Turkish introduction: CBL T. MS 423, TPML H. MS 1591, recent work by Baki Tezcan, The Second Ottoman Empire:
and TPML H. MS 1324. It is worth noting that these three Political and Social Transformation in the Early Modern
manuscripts are copied in the naskh script, rather than World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).
the nastaʿlīq, and follow a similar organizational structure. 13. This scroll at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MS 67.272)
has escaped the attention of most scholars with the excep-
In each, the introductory Arabic section begins with a
tion of G. M. Meredith-Owens, who provides a brief intro-
double folio illumination surrounding the text and ends
duction to this work in his “Genealogical Roll,” 89, and Ser-
with a stepped chart. These three manuscripts also bear the
pil Bağcı, “From Adam,” 188.
name of the calligrapher and the place of copying. TPML
14. While many of the same hadiths (such as the one men-
H. MS 1324 and TPML H. MS 1591 were copied by Yūsuf bin tioned above) and Qurʾanic quotations are included in all
Muḥammad al-Dizfūlī, sākin-i Baġdād (resident of Bagh- of the silsilanāma manuscripts, the Metropolitan scroll is
dad). CBL T. MS 423 was copied by Abū Ṭālīb Iṣfahānī, slightly different in that the beginning of the preface is a
sākin-i Baġdād. While CBL T. MS 423 has not retained its summary of the other silsilanāma texts, and the rest of the
original binding, it is worth noting that TPML H. MS 1324 preface diverges from the other manuscripts. Translations
has a lacquered binding depicting a lion, tiger, qilin (an are the author’s unless otherwise noted.
imaginary four-legged creature), and gazelle amidst trees 15. Metropolitan Museum of Art, MS 67.272.
and flowers. Among all the silsilanāmas, this is the only 16. Note also that in both the Metropolitan and Vienna scroll,
copy that has a lacquered binding. Other original bindings the Genghisids are not presented with the same informa-
still remaining are mostly leather with a central shamsa tion (number of rulers, length of rule), but instead their
and cornerpieces in gold. It is likely that TPML H. MS 1324, dynasty is left blank. The likelihood that the Vienna scroll
TPML H. MS 1591, and CBL T. MS 423 were prepared for gov- is missing a portion at the beginning should be noted. Pres-
ernors or other high-ranking officers. See Bernhard Dorn ently, the scroll is capped with an ogival-shaped paper,
et al., Catalogue des manuscrits et xylographes orientaux whose somewhat rudimentary illumination follows its
de la Bibliothèque Impériale Publique de St. Pétersbourg (St. shape. On the right and left margins, the ruling lining the
Petersburg: Impr. de l’Académie Impériale des Sciences, scroll on both sides continues toward the top of the scroll
1852); Gustav Flügel, Die arabischen, persischen, türkischen (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Mixt. MS 487).
Handschriften der Kaiserlichen und Königlichen Hofbiblio- 17. Serpil Bağcı also notes that the name of the genealogy’s
thek zu Wien (Hildesheim, NY: Olms, 1977). translator can be found in this manuscript, but she has
10. G. M. Meredith-Owens also notes, without providing the not made the connection between this manuscript and
source, that a continuation of the Turkish genealogy was the Metropolitan scroll that forms the basis of the Turkish
made by Derviş Meḥemmed ibn Shaykh Ramażān under translation by Yūsuf bin ʿAbdüllaṭīf (Bağcı, “From Adam,”
the title Subḥat al-Aḫbār va Tuḥfat al-Abrār. G. M. Mer- 188).

172 Melis Taner
18. Günsel Renda provides a reconstruction of the manuscript named the work Tācü’t Tevārīḫ (Crown of Histories). See
in her article, “Ankara Etnografya Müzesi'ndeki 8457 No.lu Reza Pourjavady, “Muṣliḥ al-Dīn al-Lārī and His Samples of
Silsilanāma Üzerine Bazı Düşünceler,” in Kemal Çığ'a the Sciences,” Oriens 42 (2014): 292–322; see also Ḥasan Beg
Armağan (Istanbul: Bozok Matbaası, 1984), 175–202, at 181. Rūmlū, A Chronicle of the Early Safavids Being the Ahsan
19. AEM MS 8457, fol. 1b. al-Tawarikh of Hasan-i Rumlu, ed. C. N. Seddon (Baroda:
20. AEM MS 8457, fol. 2a. Oriental Institute, 1934), 183.
21. Renda, “Ankara Etnografya,” 176. 36. Other manuscripts formulate the same idea as follows: “the
22. Part of the line, beginning with ar-andāz-i dushman ruler of the auspicious conjunction of the time, the out-
ba-tīgh, is original. The next few words have been altered: come of the world, the pride of the line of the Ottomans,
Muḥammad, muḥibb-i chahār-yār-i khālīṣ, Shah Aḥmad. the sultan son of a sultan son of a sultan, Sultan Süleyman
The subsequent line is also original, but the line below this Han, son of Sultan Selim Han, that ruler of the universe,
has been altered: chatr-i asmānī muʾassas u mustahkam bād may the ropes of the tent of felicity and excellence and his
va shamshīr-i ān sulṭān az sar-i surkhsarān bar nayāmad va celestial tent be forever strong. May the foundations of his
bar ān dushmanān hamīsha [nāṣir u manṣūr bād]. The line reign and the days of his rule be forever on his domains,
below this continues according to the original text. It is and may the rays of his grace ceaselessly shine on the lords,
clear from the change in calligraphy, as well as the different [all the way] from the fish to the moon till the Day of Judg-
paper, that the name of Shah Ahmed has been added later, ment.” See TPML H. MS 1591, fol. 16b; TPML H. MS 1624, fol.
along with his identification as a lover of the four caliphs 2b; TPML A. MS 3110, fol. 2a; CBL T. MS 423, fol. 15b; LACMA
(AEM MS 8457, fol. 2a). MS M85.237.38, fol. 2a, BnF Supp.turc MS 126, fol. 2a, ÖNB
23. AEM MS 8457, fol. 2a. A. F. MS 50, fol. 2a.
24. Ibid., fol. 3a. 37. Caʿfer Efendi, Risāle-i Miʿmāriyye: An Early-Seventeenth-
25. Ibid. Century Ottoman Treatise on Architecture: Facsimile with
26. The casting of Abraham into fire is mentioned in the Translation and Notes, trans. Howard Crane (Leiden: Brill,
Qurʾan (21:68–69) with no reference to Nimrod. This story 1987), 74.
is repeated in most of the genealogies. 38. Ibid., 75–76.
27. Abdülkadir Özcan, ed., Āsafī Dal Mehmed Çelebi, 39. Howard Crane and Esra Akın, Sinan’s Autobiographies: Five
Şecāʿatnāme: Özdemiroğlu Osman Paşa’nın Şark Seferleri Sixteenth-Century Texts, ed. Gülru Necipoğlu (Leiden: Brill,
(1578–1585) (Ankara: Çamlıca, 2006). For an introduction 2006), 113.
to this work and a transcription of the text, see Mustava 40. Renda, “Ankara Etnografya,” 185, 187.
Eravcı, ed., Āsafī Dal Mehmed Çelebi ve Şecāʿatnāme (Istan- 41. AEM MS 8457, fol. 3a. The murder of Abel, though not
bul: MVT Yayıncılık, 2009). named as such but as the “son of Adam,” is noted in the
28. Şeyh Muḥammed Vefāʾī, Tevārīḫ-i Ġazavāt-ı Sulṭān Murād-ı Qurʾan (Sura al-Ma’ida, 27–32).
sālis, ÖNB Hist. Ott. MS 66, fols. 66a–67b. 42. AEM MS 8457, fol. 3a.
29. Andrew J. Newman, Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian 43. Renda also points out that a depiction of a man who was
Empire (London: I.B. Tauris, 2006), 42–43. crucified instead of Jesus Christ appeared in copies of
30. Muṣṭafa b. Mulla Rıḍvan el-Baġdādī writes that Ḥamza the Zübdetü’t-Tevārīḫ (CBL T. MS 414, fol. 102b, Museum
Mirzā was murdered by a boon companion named Hūrī. of Turkish and Islamic Arts T. MS 1973, fol. 40a, Topkapı
The author notes that Hūrī had been fostered by an amir Palace Museum Library, H. MS 1321, fol. 46a). She adds
known as Ismikhan. After killing Ḥamza Mirzā with a dag- that such a composition does not appear in other illus-
ger, Hūrī went to his patron, who brought Hūrī to Shāh trated genealogies (Renda, “Ankara Etnografya,” 185). On
Muḥammad Khudābanda. Hūrī was immediately executed the Zübdetü’t-Tevārīḫ, see Günsel Renda, “Topkapı Sarayı
(Muṣṭafa b. Mulla Rıḍvan el-Baġdādī, Tārīḫ-i Fetḥnāme-i Müzesindeki H. 1321 No.lu Silsilanāma’nin Minyatürleri,”
Baġdād, Bodleian Or. MS 276, fol. 48b). Sanat Tarihi Yıllığı 5 (1973): 443–95. See also Renda’s “New
31. AEM MS 8457, fol. 18a. Light on the Painters of the Zubdat al-Tawarikh in the
32. Renda, “Ankara Etnografya,” 188. Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in Istanbul,” in IVème
33. AEM MS 8457, fol. 17b. Congrès International d’Art Turc, Aix-en-Provence (Aix-
34. Ibid., fol. 18a. en-Provence: Éditions de l’Université de Provence, 1976),
35. A comparison of the Ankara manuscript with one of the 183–200; Günsel Renda, “İstanbul Türk ve İslam Eserleri
manuscript copies of this work (Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Müzesindeki Zübdetü’t Tevarih’in Minyatürleri,” Sanat 6
Ayasofya MS 3085, fols. 388a–b) shows that the text on (1977): 58–67; and more recently Emine Fetvacı, Picturing
Ismāʿīl I and Ṭahmāsp I is taken from Muṣliḥ al-Dīn Lārī’s History at the Ottoman Court (Bloomington, IN: Indiana
work. Other copies of this work can be found in the Istanbul University Press, 2013), 158–75.
University Library, F. MS 725 and F. MS 1505; British Library 44. AEM MS 8457, fol. 7a. The reference to Jesus Christ pray-
Add. MS 7650; Āstān-i Quds-i Razavī Mashhad, MS 4155. ing with the Imam Muḥammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth
This work by Muṣlīḥ al-Dīn Lārī was translated into Turk- Imam, believed to be in Occultation, also suggests the Shiʿi
ish in the late sixteenth century by Hoca Saʿdeddin, who nature of the text. However, as Subrahmanyam remarks,

it is not only Shiʿis who believe in the Mahdi. He gives the 59. Gülru Necipoğlu, “The Serial Portraits of Ottoman Sultans
example of mid-sixteenth-century Morocco, “where the in Comparative Perspective,” in The Sultan’s Portrait: Pic-
ruler Muhammad al-Shaikh, second of the Saʿdi dynasty turing the House of Osman, ed. Selmin Kangal (Istanbul:
of Sayyids from the southern Atlas, took to titling himself Türkiye İş Bankası, 2000), 22–61, at 45.
‘al-Mahdi’” (Sanjay Subrahmanyam, “Connected Histories: 60. Ibid.
Notes towards a Reconfiguration of Early Modern Eurasia,” 61. Ibid.
Modern Asian Studies 31 [1997]: 735–62, at 751). 62. That several of the genealogies also share the title
45. AEM MS 8457, fol. 10b. Zübdetü’t-Tevārīḫ with Loḳmān’s work shows the congru-
46. Ibid., fol. 9b. ence between these illustrated genealogies and universal
47. Ibid., fol. 17a. histories produced at court, a point made by Gülru Neci-
48. Ibid. poğlu. In addition, I have come across a manuscript sold at
49. Ibid., fol. 17b. auction (Sotheby’s London, Lot 47, October 15, 1998, p. 36),
50. Ibid. which combines Loḳmān’s Zübdetü’t-Tevārīḫ and an illus-
51. Ibid. trated diagrammatical genealogical tree in a single volume.
52. Iskandar Munshi, along with most Safavid historians, men- The manuscript was formerly in the collection of Selīm
tions Shāh Ismāʿīl’s “weak attachment to Shiʿism” (Iskan- al-Awranuwsī, governor of Bosnia, 1239 (1823). According
dar Munshī, Tārīḫ-i ʿĀlam-ārā-yi ʿAbbāsī, book 1, 318–19); to the sales catalogue, this manuscript is a composite work
Muṣṭafa b. Mulla Rıḍvan el-Baġdādī, Tārīḫ-i Fetḥnāme-yi containing the incomplete text of Loḳmān’s Zübdetü’t-
Baġdād, Süleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Nuruosmaniye MS Tevārīḫ and the incomplete illustrated genealogical tree,
3140, fol. 11b; Jalāl al-Din Muḥammad Munajjim Yazdī, which stylistically can be attributed to Baghdad. In addi-
Tārīkh-i ʿAbbāsī yā Ruznāmeh-i Mulla Jalāl, ed. Seyfullah tion, there is a single full-page painting showing Solomon
Vahidinya (Tehran: Vahid, 1987), 41–42. and Belqis enthroned, surrounded by men and angels. This
53. It is probable that the inscriptions in red were not written is possibly the right half of a double-folio opening illus-
by the calligrapher of the manuscript but by a non-Otto- tration. The inclusion of such illustrated frontispieces in
man owner or reader. The text surrounding this painting many Shirazi manuscripts from the late sixteenth century,
clearly refers to Shāh Muḥammad Khudābanda. as well as many of the Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyāʾ manuscripts (whose
54. AEM MS 8457, fol. 18a. place of production is still a matter of debate), points to
55. Ibid. the relevance and congruity of portrayals of prophethood,
56. On this genealogy, see Hans Georg Majer, “Ein ungewöhnli- as well as the kinds of texts contained in a codex headed
ches osmanisches Silsilanāma in Stuttgart,” Tribus 60 (2011): by such paintings. For opening illustrations depicting the
125–59. enthroned Solomon with Belqis and his retinue, jinns, and
57. See Tülay Artan, “Ahmed I’s Hunting Parties: Feasting in animals, see Serpil Bağcı, “A New Theme of the Shirazi
Adversity, Enhancing the Ordinary,” Princeton Papers: Frontispiece Miniatures: The Divan of Solomon,” Muqarnas
Interdisciplinary Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 16 (2011): 12 (1994): 101–11.
93–138; see also Tülay Artan, “A Book of Kings Produced 63. Rachel Milstein is among the first to note the eclecticism
and Presented as a Treatise on Hunting,” Muqarnas 25 of Baghdad paintings in her book, Miniature Painting in
(2008): 299–330. Ottoman Baghdad (Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda, 1990).
58. Bağcı, “From Adam,” 188.

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Muqarnas

An Annual on the Visual Cultures

For use by the Author only | © 2018 Koninklijke Brill NV

Avinoam Shalem, In Memoriam: Eva Baer (1920–2017) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Abbey Stockstill, A Tale of Two Mosques: Marrakesh’s Masjid al-Jamiʿ al-Kutubiyya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Maximilian Hartmuth, Mosque-Building on the Ottoman-Venetian Frontier, circa 1550–1650:

NOTES AND SOURCES

Mehran Matin and Moujan Matin, A Preliminary Study of a Nineteenth-Century Persian

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An Illustrated Genealogy between the Ottomans and the

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damaged and trimmed at the edges of the ruling and

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sessor of good fortune, undaunted against the enemy

The rest of the encomiastic section of the introduction

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Fig. 6. Introduction, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara, Mu-

rulers added around the painted medallions. Individuals

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I (r. 1588–1629). This would correspond with the date

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He lost his goods. He lost his life.

These wishes for success against the Safavid shah hint at

The Ankara Manuscript and Its Paintings

In addition to its curious provenance, the Ankara manu-

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Fig. 13. Murder of Iraj, detail. From Cemʿ-i Tārīḫ, Ankara,

page, the story of the prophet Eber (Hud) is related. The

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d­ epicted is also worth noting. The Abbasid caliphs and

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hangir had ordered multiple copies of the Jahangīr­-

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d epicted is also worth noting. The Abbasid caliphs and

hangir had ordered multiple copies of the Jahangīr-