Program

Chair: Dr. Yui Kanda (ILCAA)

Abstract

Nicoletta Fazio (Museum of Islamic Art, Doha)
The Movement of the Line: Early Timurid Painting in the Collection of MIA, Doha
About 60% of the collection in the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), Doha is constituted by objects from the Persianate World, mostly Iran and, to a lesser extent, Central Asia. Among the many diverse artworks forming this part of the collection, paintings and bound manuscripts figure prominently, some being true treasures of Persian painting, especially from the Safavid era. Yet, one small but quite interesting corpus of paintings and illustrated manuscripts dates to the late Jalayirid and early Timurid period, a crucial moment for the history of Persian painting. This group of artworks are still rather understudied, and it has been only recently, thanks to the work done for the MIA 2022 Relaunch, that proper research has begun.
      Because of its heterogeneous nature, from large naturalistic paintings of birds to qalam-siyāhi sketches, to bound illustrated manuscripts and lose folios of epic and romantic poetry, the early Timurid material preserved at MIA allows us to follow the major steps that led to the establishment of what modern scholars have called the Classical Persian Painting. This paper aims to present such artworks and place them in their historical and artistic context to better understand their genesis and stimulate further research and discussion.

Yui Kanda (ILCAA)
Doha Candlestick: Pilgrimage and Endowment to the Mausoleum of Imām Mūsa al-Kāẓim, Kazimayn (c. 1600)
This study introduces a hitherto less-known brass candlestick at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar (inv. no. MW.152.1999) inscribed with an endowment inscription that indicates that it was donated to the mausoleum of Imam Musa al-Kazim in Kazimayn, Iraq. The candlestick is analysed in depth because its inscriptions – not only the endowment one but also the poetical ones – have the potential to shed some light on the cultural and religious settings in which poetically inscribed brass candlesticks were produced and meant to be used. The study focuses on the surface decorations and the poetical inscriptions on the candlestick and those on some related pieces which were gifted to Shiʿi shrines in Kazimayn, Samarra, and Mashhad. It also examines contemporary primary sources such as biographical anthologies of Persian poetry and dynastic chronicles. Based on these investigations, it is suggested that the Doha candlestick was endowed most likely by a pilgrim from Iran to the mausoleum of Imam Musa al-Kazim in Kazimayn around 1600 or later, the period in which the town was mostly under the control of the Ottomans; it is also argued that the object in question was produced in Iran, circa 1600, most probably in Kashan, the long-established centre of the Twelver Shiʿite population and the city where poets had a close relationship with craftsmen.

Philip Bockholt (University of Münster/ILCAA)
Cultural Patronage and Intellectual Legacy of Safavid Iran: Shah ʿAbbās’ Book Endowments to Ardabil (c. 1600)
The paper investigates the book collections endowed by Shah ʿAbbās (r. 1588–1629) to shrines in Safavid Iran around 1600. Previous analyses, notably by Robert McChesney, have examined narrative accounts and documentary sources like endowment deeds. However, significant gaps persist regarding the specifics of book endowments to key shrines in Ardabil, Mashhad, Qum, and Ray. This study utilises methodologies from Arabic and Islamic studies to scrutinise book inventories, catalogue entries, and manuscript notes. These contain invaluable information regarding manuscripts once contributed to the shrine of Shaykh Ṣafī al-Dīn in Ardabil, now archived in Tehran, Saint Petersburg, and Istanbul. The primary objective is to enrich discussions concerning both the quantity and substantive content of these donated manuscripts. Furthermore, this investigation seeks to elucidate the provenance of these books, probing whether they originated from a royal library, the Shah’s personal collection, or were previously owned by Safavid dignitaries before becoming part of the Ardabil shrine library. Through an examination of the thematic breadth represented in the former royal library via these endowments, this study aims to unveil key aspects of Safavid material culture and the prevailing intellectual milieu within the Safavid court circa 1600. Additionally, the inquiry extends to examining book endowments directed to shrine libraries as a potential tool employed to legitimise Safavid authority within Iran.

Tomoko Masuya (Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo)
An Overview of Illustrated Persian Manuscripts Moved Between Cities in the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries
In my recent study of a particular copy of Jāmiʿ al-tavārīkh preserved at the Raza Library in Rampur, India (F. 1820), I found that this illustrated Ilkhanid manuscript moved first from Tabriz to Shiraz before the early fifteenth century, then to Herat around 1415, and finally to India by the end of the sixteenth century. Other Ilkhanid copies of this title by Rashīd al-Dīn also traveled significant distances; some even found their way to Istanbul from Tabriz via Herat.
      Why were these illustrated Persian manuscripts moved? The reason was that manuscripts containing quality paintings were considered to be treasures by pre-modern Persianate rulers. Royal bibliophiles wishing to improve their library holdings would obtain illustrated manuscripts in the form of booty, confiscations, gifts, or purchases, and thus the manuscripts often changed hands. Sometimes they accompanied their owners to a new post in a new city.
      I will give an overview of how illustrated Persian manuscripts moved from city to city during the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries and suggest the circumstances and the people responsible for these movements. This will shed light on how highly valued and universally revered these manuscripts were in the pre-modern Persianate world.