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IRAN
AND THE WORLD IN THE SAFAVID AGE
Abstracts
Melikian-Chirvani, Dr.
Assadullah Souren, CNRS, Paris, Iranian Culture in the Iranian World and beyond under
the Safavids
Iranian culture with
Persian as the language of literature and polished usage spread
further under the Safavids than at any time, but profoundly
differed in character within the homelands, Iran and Mavera an-Nahr,
and beyond, in Hindustan and Ottoman Turkey.
In Iran, evolution in the
art of the book continued on the lines defined in the fifteenth
century, until the second quarter of the sixteenth century.
All had changed by the reign of Shah Abbas I. The scale became bigger, formulae very simplified.
The break in a century-old tradition occurred around the
mid-seventeenth century when stylization gave way to the awkward
adaptation of European models.
Architecture, objects remained unaffected.
In Mavera an-Nahr, where
the urban milieu was always Persian-speaking, the evolution
paralleled that in Iran. The
Bokhara atelier blended the legacy of early sixteenth-century
Herat with overlays of West-Iranian influence by the 1570s.
Literary tastes combined admiration for the regional
Persian poets and the classics of Iran.
The texts illuminated in the royal atelier were those of
Nizami, Jami or Hatifi. In book painting, a break occurred around
the mid-seventeenth century while architecture was unaffected.
Outside the Iranian
world, Iranian culture left an imprint on what is exportable -
literature, illuminated books, objects.
In Hindustan, where Persian was the sole Kultursprache,
Persian literary production was enormous, favoured by the
immigration of Iranian literati. Iranian masters founded an atelier of calligraphy and book
painting, but one generation later painting was recast into a
Hindustani mould and after another decade was refashioned by
European influences. In
the art of the object, styles were on the contrary juxtaposed.
Safavid-style metalwork was produced at the Moghul court
alongside Hindustani types. A
remarkable if short-lived Indo-Iranian school came about.
In
Turkey, literary culture followed the Iranian model.
Turkish literature based on Iranian originals developed
while the Iranian classics continued to be read.
In the art of the book, Iranian styles were cultivated in
Istanbul, particularly under Sulaiman Kanuni, with a major Iranian
participation. In
contrast to Hindustan, Ottoman architecture bore no trace of
Iranian influence. It was the product of a different environment,
largely Greek in the West, Armenian in the East, Syrian in the
Southwest.
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