Persian letters from the “second Iran”. Edition and analysis of an inshāʾ work written in mid-thirteenth century Anatolia (MS Marʿashī 11136, fol. 1-92)

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. David Durand-Guédy
• Subject Area: Islamic Studies, Arabian Studies, Semitic Studies ; Medieval History
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 502121115

The project deals with an important new source for the history of Anatolia in the thirteenth century. It is an inshāʾ work (compilation of letters) made in the Rum Saljuq sultanate. The author’s name is unknown, but he almost certainly worked as a secretary in the Rum Saljuq chancery in Konya. He began his work shortly before the Saljuq defeat at the hands of the Mongols in 1243, continued it afterwards but left it unfinished. His manuscript was later bound together with other inshāʾ copied at the beginning of the fourteenth century, during the heyday of the Ilkhanate (i.e. the Mongol polity which ruled Iran and Anatolia in the second part of the thirteenth century/early fourteenth century). It makes up the bulk of a manuscript now held by the Ayatollah Marʿashī Library of Qum (MS Marʿashī 11136, fol. 1-92).This mid-thirteenth century inshāʾ work contains 167 documents, all but one in Persian. Most of them are letters written during the sultanates of Ghiyāth al-Dīn Kay-Khusraw II (r. 1237-1246) and, later, of his sons. Some are official correspondence, others are private – although in many cases sent by princely authors. During this crucial period, the once-powerful Saljuq sultans, who had subjugated most of Anatolia, brutally became vassals of the non-Muslim Mongols.The manuscript has never been edited (except two documents), neither studied. I have presented it for the first time in 2020. I will work on the digital version of good quality provided by the Marʿashī Library. Two deliverables will come out from this project: one book and one research article. The book will include a critical edition of the whole text; a summary of all the documents (emulating the editions of Turan and Sevim for similar manuscripts); a full vocabulary; and a detailed commentary dealing with political history, cultural history and manuscript studies. Indeed this work can significantly enhance our understanding of the political and administrative history of Anatolia during the period which saw a shift of power from Konya (the Saljuq capital) to the ordus (the camps of the Mongol rulers). The documents offer an invaluable perspective on events that will be described by chroniclers at least one generation later. The documents will also serve to analyze the norms of writings, in particular through a comparison with similar works composed in Iran and Anatolia. Finally, the complex history of this manuscript will be investigated to understand the function of such work within the wider genre of the compilations. The project is expected to bring important results to understand the shock of the Mongol conquest, but also the degree of integration of Anatolia into the Persianate world.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants