Free shipping on orders over $99
Slaves of the Shah

Slaves of the Shah

New Elites of Safavid Iran

by Mussumeh FarhadIna Baghdiantz-McCabe K. Babayan and others
Hardback
Publication Date: 15/12/2003

Share This Book:

 
$144.00
The Savafid dynasty represented, in political, cultural and economic terms the pinnacle of Iran's power and influence in its early modern history. The evidence for this -the creation of a nation state, military expansion and success, economic dynamism and the exquisite art and architecture of the period - is well-known. What is less understood is the extent to which the Safavid success depended on - and was a product of - a class of elite originating from outside Iran: the slaves of Caucasian descent and the Armenian merchants of New Julfa in the city of Isfahan. It was these groups, bolstered by Shah Abbas the Great (1589 - 1629) and his successors, who became the pillars of Safavid political, economic and cultural life. This book describes how these elites, following their conversion to Islam, helped to form a new language of Savafid absolutism. It documents their contributions, financed by the Armenian trade in Safavid silk, to the transformation of Isfahan's urban, artistic and social landscape.
The insights provided here into the multi-faceted roles of the Safavid royal household offer an original and comprehensive study of slave elites in imperial systems common to the political economies of the Malmuk, Ottoman and Safavid courts as well as contributing to the earlier Abbasid, Ghaznavid and Saljuq eras. As such this book makes an original and important contribution to our understanding of the history of the Islamic world from the 16th to the 18th centuries and will prove invaluable for students and scholars of the period.
ISBN:
9781860647215
9781860647215
Category:
Middle Eastern history
Format:
Hardback
Publication Date:
15-12-2003
Language:
English
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Country of origin:
United Kingdom
Pages:
256
Dimensions (mm):
234x156x24mm
Weight:
0.54kg

Click 'Notify Me' to get an email alert when this item becomes available

Reviews

Be the first to review Slaves of the Shah.