[CT]introduction

673 Qâzi, Golestân, p. 152.

674 Mo`in used the verb naql gardid, literally "was transferred" (copied from an original). The verb was previously read as naqqâshi gardid (was drawn) by Stchoukine, without consideration for Mo`in's peculiar treatment of the "l"; see Stchoukine, Peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I, p. 89.

675 Ibid., p. 90.

676 The similarity is visible in the writings of such words as ghafrân.

677 Words such as zol-qa`dé in the first writing and khatama in the second are misspelled. The idiom "khatama bel-khayr vaz-zafar" (was happily and victoriously completed) that follows and rhymes with Safar is one that would be an ending statement and stylistically would not be used in the middle of a lengthy statement; here it is redundant and misplaced.

678 Stchoukine read the two words as "`Abbâsi Ash`ar," then opted for Asghar without justification; see Stchoukine, Peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I, p. 88.

679 See A. Welch, Shah `Abbas and the Arts of Isfahan (New York: Asia House Gallery, 1973), no. 75.

680 The appearance of three dots under the "sin" indicates Mo`in's intention to spell Asghar with a "sin."

681 The Khosrow-o Shirin in the Victoria and Albert Museum (L1613-1964) has unreliable signatures, although Robinson considered them authentic; see Persian Drawings, pl. 58. The authenticity of the colophon is questionable, as it gives a completion date of A.H. 1091/1680 by the scribe `Abdojjabâr, by then long dead. In addition, the manuscript has been remargined, and Rezâ's "signatures" appear on the margins. Stylistically the paintings belong to the second half of the seventeenth century, and many of the compositions are actually derived from the paintings of the Makhzanol-asrâr; see cat. nos. 110a-i.

682 Some of the folios (fols. 14, 17) from the Shâh `Abbâs Shâhnâmé in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (no. 277), previously attributed to Rezâ, may be a joint effort by father and son (see discussion at cat. no. 100). Rostam Killing the White Elephant (fol. 13), however, seems to be entirely by Rezâ; see Welch, Artists for the Shah, pls. 8-10.

683 An elaborate double-page painting in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, signed by Rezâ and dated A.H. 1020/1612, perhaps a manuscript frontispiece, might also have been a commissioned work; see Stchoukine, Peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I, pls. 38-39.

684 In the Seated Youth, the patron is given as Mirzâ Mohammad Shafi`, a descendant of a family of viziers; see T. Falk, ed., Treasures of Islam (London: Sotheby's Publications, 1985), p. 117. In the British Museum painting, the patron is described as "Navvâb-e Kamyâb-e Ashraf-e Aqdas-e A`lâ" (i.e., the shâh); see F. R. Martin, The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia and India and Turkey from the 8th to the 18th Century (reprint; London: Holland Press, 1968), pl. 110b.

685 The painting is reproduced in B. Gray, Peinture persane (Geneva: Skira, 1961), p. 162.

686 A number of the illuminated borders from the dispersed manuscript have subsequently been paired with the text of a manuscript of the Golestân of Sa`di. S. C. Welch has attributed some of those borders (similar to the one here) to Soltân-Mohammad, circa 1525-30; see S. C. Welch, Wonders of the Age, exh. cat. (Cambridge: Harvard University, Fogg Art Museum, 1979), nos. 45-46; and Dickson and Welch, vol. 2, figs. 118-19.

687 The final purchase of this work by the Baron Maurice de Rothschild occurred in a tripartite transaction, the details of which the Parisian jeweler-collector Henri Vever recorded in his diary entries of June 1914. On June 6, 1914, Vever wrote that he purchased the painting for 3500 francs (reduced from the asking price of 5000 francs) from the dealer Demotte. Vever described the subject as a "jeune prince assis," and classified the work as a "miniature Persane signée par Rezâ-e `Abbâsi." Vever noted that the baron had long wanted the painting and was pressuring Demotte to get it back. Subsequently the sale was voided on July 8, 1914, and the painting sold to the baron. In compensation, Demotte presented Vever with a painting of higher value, Noshiravân Listens to the Owls, now at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., S86.0214 (the painting had been offered by Demotte to collector G. Homberg at 7000 francs). The transaction underscores Rothschild's dominant position in the art market of early twentieth-century Paris. I am indebted to G. Lowry for a photocopy of this page from Vever's diary, now preserved at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C.

688 See, for instance, Falk, Treasures, nos. 84, 85, and Âtâbây, Fehrest-e moraqqa`ât, p. 299.

689 A spurious inscription at the bottom left, attributing the work to Valijân, a Persian painter who went to the Ottoman court, can be disregarded on stylistic grounds.

690 Rezâ figures in the BibliothŠque Nationale Qesasol-anbiyâ (e.g., fol. 79v, reproduced in Gray, Peinture persane, p. 162) as well as those in the Chester Beatty Shâhnâmé (e.g., Fereydun Spurns the Ambassador from Salm and Tur, reproduced in Welch, Artists for the Shah, pl. 9) all display such a tilt.

691 See Welch, Artists for the Shah, pls. 8-10.

692 Qazi, Golestân, p. 149.

693 Eskandar Beyg, vol. 1, p. 176.

694 Another indication is Rezâ's use of the word hova (he) at the beginning of his inscriptions, typically invoked by dervishes at the beginning of any undertaking.

695 The case of Sufism influencing the relationship of the Javânmard and Fotovvat brotherhoods, and especially the community of the wrestlers, has been discussed by, among others, S. Nafisi; see Sarcheshmé-ye tasavvof dar Iran (Origins of Sufism in Iran) (Tehrân: Foroughi Publications, 1368), pp. 138-44. For a discussion of brotherhoods among guilds in early Islamic periods, see S. Ibrâhim, Asnâf dar asr-é `Abbâsi (Guilds under the `Abbâsids), trans. H. `Âlemzâdé (Tehrân: Markaz-e Nashr-e Dâneshgâhi, 1362), pp. 135-40.

696 I. Afshar, ed., Âshpazi-ye dowré-ye Safavi (Safavid cooking) (Tehrân: Sedâ and Simâ Publications, 1360), p. 194.

697 The modern-day zurkhâné, the home of traditional wrestling, continues in the same atmosphere.

698 Bayâni, vol. 2, pp. 518-39.

699 Ibid., p. 531.

700 In his revised version of his account on calligraphers and painters, Qâzi Ahmad states that Rezâ was "avoiding attendance to the soltân"; see Golestân, p. 121.

701 Bayâni, vol. 2, pp. 526-27. Mir `Emâd's alleged Sunnism is usually proffered as the source of the shâh's animosity toward him. But there seems to be no proof in this respect, and all other indications, such as the content of his writings, point to the contrary, although he may have disliked the Shi`ism practiced by the Safavids.

702 Deploring the Mir's assassination, Jahângir, the Mughal emperor of India, exclaimed: "Had they allowed the Mir to come to me, I would have reciprocated by giving his weight in gold"; ibid., p. 527.

703 F. Cagman and Z. Tanindi, The Topkapi Saray Museum: The Albums and Illustrated Manuscripts, trans. and ed. J. M. Rogers (London: Thames and Hudson, 1986), nos. 125-27.

704 Lentz and Lowry, no. 138, and E. Asin, "The Bakhshi," in The Arts of the Book in Central Asia, 14th-16th Centuries, ed. B. Gray (Paris: Unesco, 1979), p. 286.

705 The attribution to Sâdeqi Beyg can be established by comparing the paintings with those of Sâdeqi among the dispersed pages of the Shâhnâmé of Shâh Esmâ`il II (see, for instance, Robinson [Colnaghi], nos. 19vii, 19x); the Chester Beatty Shâhnâmé of Shâh `Abbâs (no. 277); the 1593 Anvâr-e Soheyli (Lights of Canopus) in the Sadruddin Aga Khan collection (see Welch, Artists for the Shah, figs. 14-15, 17, 37, 38-40, 42-55, and pls. 4-5, 11-13); and the Habibossiyar manuscript at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C. (S86.0047), dated A.H. 987/1580 (see G. D. Lowry and M. C. Beach, An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection [Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1988], no. 209.

706 Bayâni, vol. 2, p. 525.

707 Other scenes repeated in the Topkapi manuscript are The Story of Hâtam, fol. 21b (see Cagman and Tanindi, Topkapi Saray Museum, p. 126) and The Story of the Nimble Cavalier, fol. 8b. I am indebted to Sheila Canby for providing me with photos of this manuscript.

708 The stories depicted in each illustration have been identified by Wheeler Thackston based on a circa 1575 copy of the same work at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C. (S86.0054).

709 Bayâni, vol. 2, pp. 525-26.

710 The borders on cat. nos. 110a and 110e-h are not original but were added when the manuscript was remargined. Traces of the original borders can be detected between branches and leaves protruding outside the text area. The close affinity between the later borders and the Topkapi manuscript margins may indicate that the later borders were added shortly after production of the Topkapi manuscript. The remargined borders of the remaining four paintings (cat. nos. 110b-d, 110i) were removed by Demotte, who had the unfortunate habit of using manuscript text margins for the embellishment of the paintings he sold.

711 The epithet Tilbé was given to a cousin of Amir `Ali-Shir who was killed by the order of Soltân Hosayn; see Lowry and Beach, An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, no. 167.

712 See M. G. Lukens, "The Language of the Birds," Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (May 1967), p. 330. For a color reproduction, see Gray, The Arts of the Book in Central Asia, p. 190, also Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Islamic World (New York: 1987), p. 90. Although designed by Behzâd, the execution of the painting is weak and must be by the hand of a pupil.

713 A few pages of cat. no. 111 are missing. Comparison to other Golestân manuscripts such as cat. nos. 36 and 214 suggests that the missing pages would not have had space allocated to illustration.

714 The design of cat. no. 111c is similar to another double-page frontispiece by Rezâ, dated A.H. 1020/1612 (Hermitage, St. Petersburg; see Stchoukine, Peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I, pls. 38-39).

715 Afzal's most extensive signature qualifies him as Afzal, of Hosayni descent, from the city of Tun.

716 See Nuroddin `Aborrahmân b. Ahmad Jâmi, Masnavi-e haft owrang (Seven thrones masnavi), 3d ed., ed. Âqâ Mortezâ Modarres-e Gilâni (Tehrân: Sa`di Publications, 1363), pp. 515-16, trans. W. Thackston.

717 Bayâni, vol. 2, p. 457.

718 The seal reads: "O, imam Mohammad-e Bâqer"; thus the name could be either Mohammad-Bâqer or Bâqer.

719 This man cannot be the leader of the Bakhtiyâri, `Ali-Qoli Khân-e Sardar As`ad, who recaptured Tehrân in 1909 during the Constitutional Revolution period, since the latter's father was named Hosayn-Qoli.

720 Bayâni, vol. 2, p. 394.

721 For instance, see Afzal's style in the great Shâhnâmé at the State Public Library, St. Petersburg (Dorn 333); see Ashrafi, Persian-Tajik Poetry, p. 115, and Martin, Miniature Painting and Painters, pl. 149

722 These manuscripts include one in the Golestân Library, Tehrân (no. 2239), with paintings attributed here to Mohammad-`Ali (see B. Âtâbây, Fehrest-e divânhâ-ye khati-ye ketâbkhâné-ye saltanati[Catalogue of literary manuscripts in the imperial library] [Tehrân: Zibâ Press, 2535], no. 346, p. 858-61), and one in the State Public Library, St. Petersburg (Dorn 333), by Afzal and others, painted between 1642 and 1654 (see Ashrafi, Persian-Tajik Poetry, no. 96-98). A manuscript copied by Mo`in circa 1654-57 was split between the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (no. 270), and the Sadruddin Aga Khan collection (see A. Welch and S. C. Welch, Arts of the Islamic Book: The Collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan [Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1982], no. 38). The 1648 Shâhnâmé manuscript (Windsor Castle, Ms. Holmes 151) is mostly by Mohammad-Qâsem (see Stchoukine, Peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I, pls. 54-65).

723 Khalifé-Soltân's full name was Hosayn b. Mohammad b. Amir Shojâ`oddin Mahmud, of the Mar`ashi clan ruling in Âmol; see Eskandar Beyg, vol. 2, p. 1013; E. Vâ`ez-Javâdi, ed., Dasturol-vozarâ (Chronicle of the viziers) (Tehrân: Bonyâd-e Farhang-e Iran, 1345), p. 8; and Zahiroddin Mar`ashi, Târikh-e Tabarestân-o Ruyân-o Mazandarân (History of Tabarestân, Ruyân, and Mazandarân), ed. M. H. Tasbihi (Tehrân: Sharq Publishing, 2535), p. 41.

724 Eskandar Beyg, vol. 2, p. 1091.

725 Qazvini Abol-Hasan, Favâ'edos-Safaviyé (Safavid achievements), ed. M. Mirahmadi (Tehrân: Institute for Cultural Studies, 1367), p. 63.

726 Vâ`ez-Javâdi, Dasturol-vozarâ, p. 8.

727 The title E`temâdoddowlé, used by the `Abbâsnâmé author to address Khalifé-Soltân, is also used by Mo`in in the inscription above the portrait; see Mohammad-Tâher Vahid-e Qazvini, `Abbâsnâmé (Book of `Abbâs), ed. E. Dehqân (Arâk [Iran]: Farvardin Press, 1329), p. 7. However, in the correspondence of Mir Jomlé Khânkhânân, an important figure at the Deccan court, the vizier is called `Emâdoddowlé, and the office `emâdoddowlégi (British Library, Add. ms. 6600, written by the Deccan scribe Hâji `Abdol-`Aziz).

728 A. Eqbâl, ed., Majma`ottavârikh (Collection of chronicles) (Tehrân: Tahuri Library, 1362), pp. 144-45; Modarresi-e Tabâtabâ'i, Mesâl-hây-e sodur-e Safavi (Decrees of the Safavid sadrs) (Qom [Iran]: Hekmat Printing, 1353), pp. 22-23.

729 Except for the first few words--"Arzédâsht-e Bahrâm, gholâm-e ghadimi" (Solicitation note from your longtime slave Bahrâm)--the inscription remains undeciphered.

730 See Stchoukine, Peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I, pls. 66-67. Another section was in the M. Mahboubian collection; see Robinson (Colnaghi), no. 57.

731 For a reproduction, see Christie's, Nov. 28, 1983, lot 124.

732 See, for instance, Martin, Miniature Painting and Painters, pl. 162.

733 These characteristics of Afzal's style can be seen in Lovers at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (IS133-1694, fol. 44a), reproduced in Robinson, Persian Drawings, no. 68, and in Marks of Love from the Sadruddin Aga Khan collection, reproduced in Welch and Welch, Arts of the Islamic Book, no. 36.

734 Stchoukine, Peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I, pl. 64.

735 See Martin, Miniature Painting and Painters, pls. 152 and 155; also Gray, Peinture persane, p. 169.

736 See E. Kuhnel, Miniaturmalerei im Islamischen Orient (Berlin: Bruno Cassirer Verlag, 1922), p. 92.

737 Robinson (Colnaghi), p. 75.

738 Lowry and Beach, An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, no. 161.

739 Atil, Brush of the Masters, no. 24.

740 Another painting, Dervish and Disciple, bearing Mohammad-Mohsen's signature and executed in substantially the same style is also in the Freer Gallery (47.23); ibid., no. 25.

741 See Welch, Shah `Abbas, no. 64; A. U. Pope and P. Ackerman, A Survey of Persian Art, from the Prehistoric Times to the Present (reprint; London: Oxford University Press, 1967), vol. 12, no. 1056; E. Blochet, Musulman Painting XIIth-XVIIth Century, trans. M. Binyon (New York: Hacker Art Books, 1975), pl. 168; and O. F. Akimushkin and A. A. Ivanov, Persidskikh miniatur XIV-XVII v. (Moscow, 1968), pls. 71-73. Another similar painting, dated A.H. 1051/1641, is kept at Fondation Custodia (Coll. F. Lugt), Paris.

742 See Islamic World, no. 82.

743 Stchoukine, Peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I, p. 80; Sotheby's, April 11, 1988, lot 80.

744 Abol-Fazl-e `Allâmi, Akbar-nama (Book of Akbar) (reprint; Delhi: Rare Books, 1972), vol. 1, p. 219.

745 Abol-Fazl, Akbar-nama, vol. 1, p. 571.

746 Jauhar, Tezkereh al Vakiat, trans. C. Stewart (reprint; Delhi: Kumar Bros., 1970), p. 43.

747 Gulbadan Begam, Humayun-Nama, trans. A. S. Beveridge (reprint; Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiy„t-i Delli, n.d.), p. 124.

748 Abol-Fazl-e `Allâmi, Â'in-e Akbari (Akbarian etiquettes) (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1938), vol. 1, p. 115.

749 Nawwab Samsam-ud-daula Shah Nawaz Khan and `Abdul Hayy, Ma'athir-ul-umara (Biography of the warlords) (reprint; Patna: Janaki Prakashaw, 1979), vol. 2, p. 1019.

750 M. C. Beach, The Imperial Image: Paintings for the Mughal Court (Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art, 1981), nos. 17a, 31.

751 M. C. Beach, "The Gulshan Album and Its European Sources," Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 332 (1965), pp. 63-91.

752 E. Kuhnel and H. Goetz, Indian Book Painting from Jahangir's Album in the State Library (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1926).

753 M. C. Beach, Grand Mogul (Williamstown, Mass.: Clark Art Institute, 1978), pp. 43-59, and Beach, Imperial Image, pp. 156-67.

754 S. C. Welch, India, Art and Culture 1300-1900, exh. cat. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985), no. 85.

755 J. L. Wescoat, "Gardens of Invention and Exile: The Precarious Context of Mughal Garden Design during the Reign of Humayun," Journal of Garden History 10, no. 2 (1990), pp. 106-16.

756 Sharafoddin `Ali-ye Yazdi, Zafarnâmé (Tehrân: Amir-e Kabir Press, 1336), pp. 213-14.

757 For a comparison, see G. Egger, Hamza-nama (Graz: Akademische Druck und Verlagsanstadt, 1974), vol. 1, pl. 38 or 50.

758 M. C. Beach, Early Mughal Painting (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987), pp. 37-49.

759 Ibid., pp. 21-26.

760 Beach, Grand Mogul, pp. 92-95 and 116-18; see also Miniatures de l'Inde imperiale, exh. cat. (Paris: Musée Guimet, 1989), no. 28, for a superb example of this style. Âqâ Rezâ Jahângiri is a different artist from Âqâ Rezâ (Rezâ-e `Abbâsi) mentioned in chap. 7.

761 T. W. Arnold and J. V. S. Wilkinson, The Library of A. Chester Beatty: A Catalogue of the Indian Miniatures (London: Oxford University Press, 1936), vol. 2, pl. 36.

762 J. P. Lotsy, The Art of the Book in India (London: British Library, 1982), no. 17, pl. 31.

763 Beach, Imperial Image, no. 16a.

764 Beach, Grand Mogul, pp. 76-77, where a complete list of the then-known dispersed pages is given; for an additional group, see G. D. Lowry and M. C. Beach, An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection (Washington, D.C.: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, 1988), pp. 278-92.

765 S. C. Welch, A. Schimmel, et al., The Emperors' Album: Images of Mughal India (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987), no. 11.

766 Lowry and Beach, An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection, no. 334.

767 I. Stchoukine, Les peintures des manuscrits de Shah Abbas I … la fin des Safavis (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1964), p. 46; see also W. Floor, "Dutch Painters in Iran during the First Half of 17th Century," Persica 8 (1978-79), pp. 145-61.

768 Ibid., p. 46. Stchoukine quotes the French jeweler Tavernier.

769 See Drouot, June 23, 1982 (Album of Mohammad-Bâqer), where `Ali-Qoli copies an Indian work attributed to Govardhan. The works were mounted on facing pages in the album (nos. 12-13). A number of Mughal "style" works in the Leningrad Album bear attributions to `Ali-Qoli. A few more can be attributed to Persian painters such as Hâji Mohammad (no. 91).