Thesis--Princeton University. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Princeton University. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, both Austria and Persia were each repeatedly at war with the Ottoman Turks. Diplomats travelled between the two countries in an attempt to forge an alliance against their common enemy. Although the alliance never materialized the relationship broadened to cover other concerns. Despite cultural differences, both countries tried to work together and approached each-other as equals. Contact between the countries exposed both cultures to wider influences. Their changing relationship illustrates the priorities of both parties. This thesis, for the first time, uses primary sources to view the evolution of the relationship over the two century reign of the Safavid dynasty. It charts the course of their diplomatic relationship, examines the turning point in this relationship, and explores why the alliance both sides wanted never materialized. By examining Austria's diplomatic initiatives to the east this thesis helps correct the historiographical imbalance in central European history of concentration on only European affairs, and shows that their understanding of the east was more nuanced than is often credited.

This thesis is a study of two major figures among the royal Safavid women in the sixteenth century, with a special focus on their political activities and style of leadership. I examine the socio-political careers of Pari Khan Khanum (955-985/1548-1578) and Mahd-i 'Ulya (d.987/1579) in connection with family and dynastic politics as well as the power struggle and factionalism among the qizilbash tribes. A detailed analysis of these powerful female political figures of the Safavid court leads one to conclude that first, royal women faced particularly complex social and personal restrictions, but nonetheless some managed - through their privileged status as upper-class women with access to education, wealth, and social and family networks - to advance their careers in politics. Second, these women were subject to the political rules and games of their time but faced additional impediments, for they competed with other women such as co-wives, sisters-in-law and others for social recognition and influence, at times leading to the ruthless elimination of female and male rivals. Third, Safavid women came to play an active role in shaping central political decisions and the succession of sovereigns. This reflects not merely gendered semi-nomadic Turcoman roles but also urban Iranian-Islamic transitional traditions which are comparable to Ottoman and 'Abbasid counterparts.

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Le Šarafnāma est un ouvrage écrit en persan par Šaraf Xān Bidlīsī (949-1009/1543-1600), gouverneur kurde de la principauté de Bidlīs, en 1005/1596-1597 environ. Il s’agit d’une chronique des dynasties et tribus kurdes, commençant avec la dynastie des Marwānides, à la fin du IVe/Xe siècle, pour se terminer avec les événements de l’année 1005/1596-1597 et le récit de l’histoire des Diyādīnides de Bidlīs, lignée dont était issu l’auteur. La chronique est composée d’une introduction (muqaddima) et de quatre ṣaḥīfas (livres). À cette chronique, l’auteur a également ajouté un épilogue (xātima) constitué par des annales ottomanes et safavides. Il existe, à ce jour, une quarantaine de manuscrits du Šarafnāma encore existants. Notre première tâche a été d’identifier ces manuscrits et de les consulter, sous forme physique ou numérique, afin de les comparer et de produire un stemma codicum des copies de l’ouvrage. Une fois ceci fait, notre recherche a plus particulièrement porté sur les manuscrits produits du vivant de l’auteur, dans les années 1005-1007/1596-1599, ainsi que sur les copies effectuées au XIe/XVIIe siècle, soit le siècle suivant la composition de l’ouvrage. Après une première partie consistant en une étude générale sur le travail historiographique de Šaraf Xān, nous avons, dans une deuxième partie, étudié spécifiquement les trois manuscrits transcrits de sa main ou sous sa supervision, afin de mettre en lumière le caractère réfléchi et collaboratif du processus de composition de l’ouvrage. Dans la troisième partie, nous nous sommes intéressés à la dizaine de manuscrits produits au XIe/XVIIe siècle à Bidlīs, Kilīs, Alep et dans la région d’Ardalān, et aux processus de réappropriation et de réinterpréation de l’oeuvre originale visible dans ces copies. / The Šarafnāma is a book written in Persian by Šaraf Xān Bidlīsī (949-1009/1543-1600), Kurdish governor of the principality of Bidlīs, in about 1005/1596-1597. It is a chronicle of Kurdish dynasties and tribes, starting with the Marwānid dynasty, at the end of the 4th/10th century, and concluding with the events of the year 1005/1596-1597 and the story of the Diyādīnids of Bidlīs, the author’s own household. The chronicle is composed of an introduction (muqaddima) and four ṣaḥīfas (books). The author has also added an epilogue (xātima), which is an annalistic history of the Ottomans and the Safavids. There are around forty extant manuscripts of the Šarafnāma. Our first task has been to identify and physically or digitally consult these manuscripts, in order to compare them and produce a stemma codicum of the book’s copies. Once this was done, we have focused our research on the manuscripts copied during the author’s lifetime, in the years 1005-1007/1596-1599, as well as on the copies made in the 11th/17th century, immediately following the book’s composition. The first part of our work is a general study of Šaraf Xān’s historiographical outlook. In the second part, we have studied the three manuscripts transcribed by the author or under his supervision, in order to highlight the thought out and collaborative nature of the book’s composition. In the third part, we have focused on the dozen manuscripts produced in the 11th/17th century in Bidlīs, Kilīs, Aleppo and the Ardalān region, and on the processes of reappropriation and reinterpration of the original work manifest in these copies.

Ces travaux portent sur plusieurs facettes de l’emploi du bleu dans les miniatures persanes. Ils se fondent sur un corpus constitué de 56 manuscrits à peintures, appartenant à la période qui va de l’accession au trône des Safavides jusqu’au règne de Shah Abbâs (soit de 1501 à 1588), et conservés à la Bibliothèque Nationale de France et à la British Library. Ce travail s’articule autour de deux grands axes. Le premier aborde les questions préliminaires relatives aux matériaux et techniques utilisés pour fabriquer la couleur bleue qui se rencontrent dans la peinture persane du XVIe siècle. Cette étude exigeait aussi une définition exacte des noms des nuances de la couleur bleue. Deux catégories de sources textuelles fournissent des informations sur la nature des pigments et le chromatisme employés dans la miniature persane, à savoir les traités techniques et les œuvres scientifiques. L’autre partie de cette thèse présente dans un premier temps une étude picturale détaillée en vue de définir les divers emplacements de la couleur bleue sur les peintures du corpus ; dans un second temps, il est procédé à une analyse textuelle des ouvrages dudit corpus, permettant de confirmer la corrélation des textes avec leurs illustrations quant aux indications liées au choix de la couleur bleue. Ces deux analyses nous mènent vers une synthèse qui aide à comprendre l’aspect symbolique et métaphorique de cette couleur dans l’ensemble de ses représentations picturales. Certaines sources telles que les récits de voyages et les recueils de biographies ou les textes littéraires et mystiques comportent des renseignements précieux sur l’emploi de la couleur bleue dans la société et son contexte culturel. / This research deals with several aspects of the use of blue in Persian miniatures. It is based on a corpus of 56 illustrated manuscripts, dating from the beginning of rule of the Safavids until the reign of Shah Abbas (i.e. from 1501 to 1588 A.D.), preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the British Library. This work contains two major developments. At first, come the preliminary questions about the materials and techniques used to make the colour blue met in the paintings of the XVIth century. This study also required an exact definition of the names of shades of blue. Two categories of textual sources provide information about the nature of the pigments and the chromatics used in the Persian miniature; they are technical treaties and scientific works. The other part of this thesis is made up of pictorial studies which allow us to determine the location of the colour blue in painting. This approach is coupled with an analysis of the illustrated texts in order to confirm the correlation between pictures and texts when dealing with the colour blue. Both analyses lead to a synthesis that helps us understand the symbolic and metaphorical aspects of this colour in all its pictorial uses. Some sources such as travelogues and biographies or literary and mystical texts contain information on the use of blue in society and its cultural context.

No description available.