from the saljuqs to the aq qoyunlu (ca. 1000-1500 c.e.)

7/29/2019 From the Saljuqs to the Aq Qoyunlu (CA. 1000-1500 C.E.)

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International Society for Iranian Studies

History: From the Saljuqs to the Aq Qoyunlu (ca. 1000-1500 C.E.)Author(s): Charles MelvilleSource: Iranian Studies, Vol. 31, No. 3/4, A Review of the "Encyclopaedia Iranica" (Summer -Autumn, 1998), pp. 473-482Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society for Iranian Studies

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Iranian Studies, volume 31, numbers3-4, Summer/Fall1998

CharlesMelville

History: From the Saljuqs to the Aq Qoyunlu (ca. 1000-1500C.E.)THEHALF-MILLENNIUM FPERSIANHISTORYBETWEENTHECOMINGOF THESaljuqsandtheestablishmentof the Safaviddynasty is one of repeatedupheavaland largelyalien rule. The arrivalof the Ghuzz tribes in the early 11th centurywas not an entirely peacefulaffair-the authorof the Thrtkh-iSistlin regards tas a calamity for that formerlyprosperous province-and much worse was tofollow, with the Mongol invasions of the 13th centuryandTimur's campaignsin the late 14th,all of which causedenormousdestruction,while leaving a pro-foundimpressionon Persiansociety, culture,andpoliticallife.This long andeventful periodis seldom treatedas a whole; volume 2 ofMarshallHodgson's The Ventureof Islam is still perhapsthe nearestapproachto a unitedvision of the "MiddlePeriods"of Islamic history, but of course hisview is not confined to Iran.'Traditionally, he Mongol sack of Baghdad n 1258andthe end of the Abbasidcaliphateis taken as the defining turning point inmedieval Persianhistory,an event thatfalls almost exactly in the middleof theperiodunderreview and which to some extent destroysits unity. Nevertheless,therewas considerablecontinuity despite the changes wrought by the Mongols.Comparedwith both what went before and what came after, certainrecurringfeaturesand long-term rendshelpto define and characterize ersianhistory fromthe Saljuqsto the Aq Qoyunlu.In the first place, this is the age of Turkishdomination, which snuffed outthe tentative Persian reassertiveness of the 10th century under suchwidely-differingregionaldynastiesas the Saffarids,Samanids, andBuyids. Turkswere,of course, alreadyvery much in evidence, particularly n the army and inthe militaryregimeof the Ghaznavids.Despite the continuinguse of ghuliamsorslave troops, however, the Saljuqswere freebornTurkishchiefs andthe reins ofpower werehenceforthheld by rulersfrom the same milieu up to the Safavidperiod,andagain under he Qajars.Even the Safavids, generally claimed as a"Persian"dynasty,were heirs to the tribal background f the Aq Qoyunlu andreliedheavily on Turcomansupport.What makes the Safavidsdistinctive is thatonce again-for the first time since the fall of the Abbasids-religion becomes acrucialelement in state ideology. The periodto 1500 is a formativephase in the

Charles Melville is Lecturer n PersianStudies, CambridgeUniversity.1. See also the recent Etats, societes et culturesdumonde musulman medieval Xe-XVsiecle, vol. 1, ed. J.-C. Garcin (Paris, 1995), again with a wider perspective. D.O.Morgan, Medieval Persia 1040-1797 (London, 1988), considers that even the longerperiod up to 1800 possesses a unity that justifies its treatment in a single book (p.ix), though he doesn't go out of his way to elaborate the point.

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474 Melvilledevelopmentof Persia's religious identity,encapsulated n the growth and trans-formationof the Safaviyya leadership tself, fromSufi shaikhs to Shici sultans.The tribalorigin of Persia's rulersduring this period s its secondand con-comitantcharacteristic.The nomadism of the court was a new feature, whichentailednew offices and institutions andrequired djustmentson the part of thebureaucracy.The traditionsof the InnerAsian steppes were anotherelement to beabsorbed nto the Perso-Islamicamalgamthat had emergedunder he Abbasids.This broughta new dimension to the natureof political legitimacy andadditionalinstability to the processes of dynastic succession. In both the Saljuq andMongol periodswe see the rapiddisintegrationof centralized amily rule intoregional "partykingdoms."If there was an increasing endencytowardsmilitaryrule, the menof the pencontinued o play theirpart and to offer their services to their overlords, o theextentof involving themselves in their factionalismandintrigues. Even in theMongol period,it is not possible to view amirs and viziers as two watertightopposing interests, with the latter portrayedas protectorsof the indigenouspopulationandmoderators f governmentexcess. With the Islamizationof theMongols, largely at the hands of Sufi shaikhs, who played an increasinglyprominentrole in society and political affairs, such distinctions become evenfurtherblurred.Overarching hese questions is the issue of how the nomadicinvaderswere assimilated nto Persiansociety andto what extent the accultura-tion of theTurco-Mongolianribes was a one-way process.

If these general observations can be taken to characterizehe periodunderreview, to what extent do the availablevolumes of the Encyclopaedia Iranicaflesh out the picture?How much use arethe relevant articlesfor understandingthe periodandhow fully is it covered?What could one learn of the periodbyconsultingthe EIr?A surveyof therelevant articlessuggests four broadgroups: (i) historiogra-phy andhistoriansof the period;(ii) dynastiesandfamilies; (iii) biographiesofleading figures,and(iv) institutions,offices, andtechnicalterms.In addition v),thereare a numberof generalarticlesthatcannoteasily be classifiedundera sin-gle heading but relate principallyto economic activity, including entries onsome places thatare at least partlyrelevant to our period.I proposeto examineeach of these groups in turn, though there will inevitably be some overlapbetweenthem. The focus is on political anddynastic history, governmentandadministration;he intellectual, artistic, and religious history of the periodiscoveredin other review articles n this volume.(i) Historiographyand historians of the periodFrom the Saljuq period onwards,historicalwriting in Persian increases n vol-umeandimportance, lowly displacingArabicworks, particularlyn the areaofdynasticand local history.Thereare severalentrieson the main narrative ourcesof theperiod,undereither theirtitles or the name of the author,reflectingthesetrends.Persianhistoriansof India,CAFIFandBARANI arealso included.TwoArabicworksarecovered,the AKBAR AL-DAWLATAL-SALJUQIYAandtheCAJA:EB-AL-MAQDUR,bn cArabshah'sbiography of Timur, in adequtedetailto bring out their importance and, in the latter case, to highlight amaswherefurther esearch s likely to be fruitful).EBN CARABSAH s himself the



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From the Saljuqs to the Aq Qoyunlu 475subject of a brief but useful entry. The Persian Matla'-i Sa'dain of CABD-AL-RAZZAQ SAMARQANDI is also given a full treatment,emphasizinghisaccounts of Timuridrelationswith Egypt,China and India. EBN AL-ATIR,per-hapsthe single most important ource for the pre-Mongol period,has an appro-priately ong and analyticalentry.Otherwise, however,on the whole the entries are too brief to providea realassessment of the work in question, and this is often not available elsewhereeither.Ideally,we would read about the structure,sources, outlook, and reliabil-ity of the chronicles, and their importanceas historical texts. The Tirikh-iUljaitaby ABU'L-QASEMKASANI, for example, is the only detailedaccountof the reign of the IlkhanOljeitu,but thoughit is full of precise dates, these areoften inaccurate.Anothersource for the reignof Oljeitu, by BANAKATI, gets asuccinctentrywhich gives little idea of what the work contains; while the entryon AHARIgives the misleading impressionthat his Thrtkh-i Shaikh Uvais hasvaluable materialon Uvais's reign, whereas the manuscriptbreaksoff at the out-set of his rule. The only obvious omission I have noticed under his headingisan entryon Aqsarali,author of a Persianchronicle on the Saljuqs of Anatoliaand theirMongol successors, down to ca. 1319. The Mongol and Timurid histo-rians cAta' Malik Juvaini and cAli Yazdi will perhaps be found later underJuvainiand Sharafal-Dinrespectively?Localhistoryis representedby brief entries on the lost history of HeratbyABU NASR FAMI; the historian of Yazd, AHMAD B. HOSAYN-for whichsee the useful study of Isabel Miller;2the historian of Kirman, AFZAL-AL-DINKERMANI;the 14th-centuryhistory of Ruyan by AWLIAZALLAHAMOLI;and the local historyof Sabzavarby Ibn FunduqBAYHAQI, which does not dijustice to the importanceand value of that work, long ago exploited by JeanAubin.3Inadditionto histories and their authors, here are brief butuseful articlesonworks connected with the administration,such as the Timurid ATAR AL-WOZARA',andmanuals or secretaries,DASTUR-EDABIRIandDASTURAL-KATEB.An importantwork of this naturewhich might have been includedhereis the collection of Saljuq documents, the 'Atabat al-katabah.4Chronologyis very much a partof historiography,as shown by the use ofthe word tiarikh to designate both. A valuable and substantial article,CALENDARS ii. Islamic period infers, without emphasis, the importance ofTurkishpatronageof astronomers,as witnessed by the calendarreforms under-takenfor Malikshahand the workof the Maraghah bservatoryunderthe Ilkhansand laterat SamarqandnderUlugh Beg. The twelve-animalcalendarwas intro-duced nto Iranby the Mongols and continued to be used alongside the Hijrilunarcalendar or longerthan s statedhere.5

2. I. Miller, "Local history in ninth/fifteenth century Yazd: the Tarikh-i Jadid-iYazd,"Iran 27 (1989): 75-79.3. J. Aubin, "L'aristocratieurbaine dans l'Iran seldjukide: l'exemple de Sabzavar,"Melanges R. CroZet1 (1966): 323-32.4. Ed. 'Abbas Iqbal (Tehran 1329/1950).5. See my article, "The Chinese Uighur animal calendar in Persian historiographyof the Mongol period,"Iran 32 (1994): 83-98.



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476 MelvilleTravellers'accountsof Persia in this periodmay also be mentionedunder

the headingof sources;BARBARO, CLAVIJO,CONTARINIand CONTIare allgiven notices commensuratewith their importance.Benjaminof Tudela, whovisited Persia in the late 12th century, might have been worth a mention.Another Italian merchant,BUSCARELLO, is included more for the role heplayed in Mongol diplomaticrelationswith the west than for the recordhe left ofhis travels, as is GuillaumeADAM, who was appointed econd archbishopofSultaniyyain 1322.Among the scholarswho have contributedparticularlyo the study of thisperiod of Persian history, there are entries on BARTHOLD, BEREZIN,BLOCHET, BOYLE, and DEFREMERY. These articles tend to list theirachievementsand output; space does not allow detailedevaluationof individualworks.Persian historiography s not adequately tudiedand it is useful to haveimportanthistoricaltexts and the work of Persianhistoriansgiven space in theElr. In view of our heavy relianceon the chroniclesfor reconstructingmedievalPersianhistory, critical evaluationsof these works are essential. For the post-Abbasidperiod,Arabic sourcescontinueto be valuable, though often neglected,and no doubt many of them will feature n the volume(s)devoted to "Ebn."Withluck, a more thoroughdiscussion andcomparisonof the various genreswill bepossible in a future entry on historiography han can realistically be found inarticleson individualworks.(ii) Dynasties andfamiliesThedifficultyof establishingandmaintaining entralizedrule in medievalPersia,particularlyordynastiesof tribal and nomadicorigin, is well illustratedby thenumber of entries dedicatedo both regional and local powers. The coverageextends outside the wider Iranian phere, o include theIndianBAHMANIDS,theDELHI SULTANATE and the Central Asian CHAGHATAYIDS. Actually,thanks to alphabetical chance, articles on the Ghurids, Jalayirids,Khwarazmshahs,Mongols/Ilkhans, Muzaffarids,Qara Qoyunlu, Saljuqs, andTimuridsare still to follow. Some of these are at least represented y entriesonindividualrulers cALAM-AL-DINTSIZ, etc.; see next section).Thusonly a couple of the majordynastiesaredealt with here.The Karts ofHerat AL-E KART) aregiven rathercursorytreatmentby BertoldSpuler, whoconcentratesmore on the wider pictureof Ilkhanid Persia and relations withneighboringpowers;nothingis revealed of the innerdynamicsor politics of theKartstate,nor of their culturalpatronageor relationswith the religious classes.6A long article on the AQ QOYUNLUby R. Quiring-Zocheunderlines he essen-tial Turk versusTajikclash (esp. p. 166) that has been taken to characterizehewhole period,particularlyn the pioneeringstudiesof Minorsky. Nevertheless,closer analysis might yield a moresophisticatedpicturethan a simple dichotomybetween 'men of thesword'and 'men of the pen'. Although the authorrefersto

6. LawrenceG. Potter's Ph.D. thesis, "The Kart dynasty of Herat: religion andpolitics in medieval Iran" (Columbia, 1992), makes important progress in thisdirection.



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From the Saljuqs to the Aq Qoyunlu 477the marriagebetween Uzun Hasan'sdaughterand Sultan HaidarSafavi, the pre-vious connection with Junaid s passed over. There is perhaps an insufficientemphasis on the extent to which the Safavids were themselves the posterity ofthe Aq Qoyunlu,not only in a genealogical sense, but also as heirs to a triballyconstitutedmilitaryelite posing the same problemsfor stablegovernment.R. Stephen Humphreysgives a very succinct statement of the distinguish-ing featuresof the political system of the periodas a whole in his article on theKurdishAYYUBIDS, less obviously connectedwith Persian history or culturebut rightly viewed as successors to the Saljuqs. The fragmentationof Saljuqpower into appanages s reflected n a sequenceof articles on the atabegates,notionallyestablishedon behalf of Saljuqprinces (s.v. ATABAK).These articlesprovide useful surveys of the Ildegozids of Azarbaijan (I'm not sure thatBosworth' reconstruction f thename as Ildeniiz an be dismissedso easily), theSalghuridsof Fars, the rulers of Greaterand LesserLuristan,the Ahmadilis ofMaraghahand the Atabegs of Yazd. All are critical and up-to-datereviews ofthese dynasties,7most of whom survived into and beyond the lchanid period.They were importantnot only in giving some continuity of rule and localautonomy in their districts,but also as patrons.In addition o those noted, forexample,Nusratal-Din Ahmadb. Yusufshah(brotherandheir of Afrasiyab, notson, p. 897) was the dedicatee of Hindushah'sTajiaribal-salaf, and Arslan Abab. Aq Sunqur, he Ahmadili,was dedicatee of the Bahr al-fawd`id.8Of the Mongol successorregimes, there is an article on the CHOBANIDS,but not on theJalayirids,who could have been incorporated y the device of call-ing them Al-i Jalayir (the same goes for the Al-i Muzaffar); n a sense, theDU'L-QADR are also a Mongol successor state, becoming independentinAnatolia after the collapse of theIlkhanate.One region with morethan its shareof local rulersis the Caspian provinceof Mazandaran. t is representedhere by entries on the Bavandids (AL-EBAVAND), BADUSPANIDS of Ruyan andRustamdar,andAL-E AFRASIAB.The history of this regionis ratherobscureand seldom impingeson events southof the Alburz, thoughthe converse is less true. The coherent and detailednarra-tives provided n these articles are thus particularlywelcome, as is the spacedevoted to them. Among other things, the progress and influence of Shicism inthe Caspianprovinces,as well as their conservativeattitude o their pre-Islamicheritage, give these regions a particularly ignificant place in the continuity ofPersianculture.Apartfromruling dynasties,there areentries on the DARGAZINIfamily ofSaljuqviziers and the Bukharan amily of culama, the AL-E BORHAN. Theauthorsemphasizethe importanceof such families in administrative, conomic,and civic life, bringing with them political influence that in neither case wasnecessarily any less oppressive than the Turkish regimes with which theyclashed.

7. Though Shabankara'i'sMajma' al-ansab, which contains sections on the rulersof Fars, Luristan,and Yazd, is not cited in the bibliography of any of these articles(see now ed. Mir Hashim Muhaddith,Tehran, 1984).8. The sea of precious virtues. A medieval Islamic mirror or princes, trans. and ed.J. S. Meisami (Utah, 1991).



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478 MelvilleGiven the absence of modem monographs on all but a tiny fraction of

Persia'sdynasties(the nearestapproach till being the relevantchaptersof TheCambridgeHistoryof Iran), these encyclopedia articlesfulfill a very importantneed in assembling scatteredmaterialsand bibliographic nformation.Many ofthem demonstratehe EIr's value in stimulating researchon little-studiedsub-jects.(iii) BiographiesThere are about 75 entries on historicalfigures from the period underreview, fartoo many to mention individuallyhere. A basic subdivision of the entries bytype indicates that dynastic rulers constitute the largest group, and are evenlyspreadacross the period, so that Saljuq and Ghuridsultans, Atabegs, IsmaciliImams, Khwarazmshahs, lkhans,Timurids,and various others are represented,includingsultans of Delhi. Although rulers from Transoxania re featured,nei-ther Batu Khan of the Golden Horde nor his brother and successor Berke areincluded.The rulers aregenerally given sufficient space for a propersurvey of theirreignsand of the issues facing them, includingthe ever-present uestionof suc-cession. The Saljuq sultans, ALP ARSLAN and BARKIAROQ,both had tofight for theirpositions in a political system that was resistantto centralizationand in which brotherswere as likely to succeedas sons. By chance,all but fourof the Ilkhansappear n the first two letters of the alphabet,and the result is aseries of valuable articlesby Peter Jackson(consultingeditor for the Mongols).These drawinteresting insights from the Arabic sources, particularlyfor thereign of ABU SACID,which is not well servedby Persianhistoriography,andnotjust for the long-runningwaragainstthe Mamluksof Egypt andSyria. Twoof the Bavandid ulersaregiven their own entries, neither of which addsverymuch to the information already given in the detailed article by WilferdMadelungdevoted to the dynasty (see above), though t is interestingto see howhe slightly amplifies this material in his article on CALA'-AL-DAWLAHASAN, whereasProf. Bosworth views CALA\-AL-DAWLA CALJ rom a ratherwiderperspective.Whetheror not it is feasible to impose a standardormula onthe different ypes of article is a questionfor the editors,but there is always aneed to strikea balancebetweenanoverview of a subjectand the presentationoffactualdetail, which should be that much easier to achieve when the subjectappears n more than one place.A secondcategoryof biographiesof amirsandroyal princes or princessesreveals a farless even coverage.Thereis an almostexclusive monopoly of biog-raphiesfor theMongol and to a lesser extent Timuridperiods.Only two or threeamirs from the Saljuq period are mentioned, one of whom, ANUSTIGINGARtAkI, was in effect the first of the Khwarazmshahs.Categorizationof theatabegsas amirs rather hanrulerswould slightlyredress he apparentmbalance,but this must be partlya result of editorial nconsistency(particularlyf com-paredwith the previous Ghaznavidperiod).There is perhapsno certainway ofdecidingwho shouldbe includedmerelyin the contextof largerarticles,and whomerits an individualentry, however brief. Various Aq Sunqurs, notably al-Bursuqi,wouldcertainlydeservetheirown article. Even for the Mongol period,generallywell covered,there are one or two surprisingomissions, such as cAli



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From the Saljuqs to the Aq Qoyunlu 479Padshah he OiratandAriqBoke, brotherof Hulegu.The few womento be men-tioned are all fromthe Ilkhanidperiodwhen, it is true, they play a far more visi-ble and important role in affairs.9 Thus the princesses and royal wives,BOLOGANKATUN, DELSAD KATUN, and DOKUZ KATUN arerepresenta-tive of a widerconstituency(BaghdadKhatunis omitted). The extent to whichthe rulingTurco-Mongolelites graduallyassimilated he cultureof their subjectsis brought out in various articles on Timuridprince governors who becameimportantpatronsand even practitioners f the arts,notablyBAYSONGOR.If the men of the sword, so importanta group in the periodunderreview,appearrather ew, the menof the pen too seem under-represented.his time thebias is stronglytowards the Saljuqperiod,to which the vizier al-Kunduri ouldhavebeenaddedunder Anid al-Mulk. Only BORHAN-AL-DIN, he Muzaffaridvizier, CALA'-AL-DINMOHAMMAD, and DARVIS AHMAD, the Timuridofficials, post-date heIlkhans.Theremaybe severalverygood reasonsfor thesevariations n coverage(notablyof course the alphabet, but also the existence ofsources and the volume of informationavailable about individuals),but it isworthdrawingattention o them, in case it is possible througha deliberateedito-rialpolicy to achieve a more even balance. No amirs or viziers from the sultan-ate in Indiaareincluded,no doubton purpose.Loosely under heheadingof menof the pen, but in fact men of action in a religious guise, arethe Ismacili di' ,CAYTAS, and the Turcomandervish,BARAQ BABA, who accordingto someaccountswas responsibleforOljeitu'swaragainst Gilan.

The articles on these two groupsaregenerallyshortbutsufficientto indicatethe importanceof the subjectandthe reasonfor its inclusion.As with the dupli-cationbetweendynastiesandrulers,however,there is also occasionally a waste-ful overlap between rulersandthose who served them. Thus the treatmentofBUQA, the Mongol amir and vizier, addsnothing to the article on ARGUNKHAN, other than some conflicting informationand the odd statement thatKhabushans nearRay; in fact, two separate ncidentsin the strugglebetweenArghunandAhmadTeguderseemto have been conflated nto one, cf. AHMADTAKUDAR.'?(iv) Offices and institutionsFor the administrativesystems of the regimes from the Saljuqs to the AqQoyunlu the readers advised to refer to the respectivedynasties. In practice,however,thereare variousbetterplaces to look for informationon both adminis-trativehistory andindividualposts. Ann K. S. Lambtondevotes a long article(CITIESiii. Administrationand social organization)to distilling a lifetime'sresearchon the subject, ncorporating discussion of about30 terms andoffices.She has little to say on social structure, a gap partly cateredfor elsewhere(CLASS SYSTEM iv. Classes in medieval Islamic Persia), in an article that

9. See particularlyA. K. S. Lambton, Continuity and change in medieval Persia:Aspects of administrative, economic and social history, IJth-14th century (Albany,N.Y., 1988), chap. 8.10. For Buqa, see now the study by Jean Aubin, Emirs mongols et vizirs persansdans les remous de l'acculturation,Studia Iranica,Cahier 15 (Paris, 1995).



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480 Melvilleexplores both the traditional roupingsof sword,pen, religion andcommerceandthe relationsbetween them (cross-reference ere should be made to CAYYAR,and, for the important ribalelement in society, to CAgAYER,a regrettablybriefentry).DIVAN ii. Governmentoffice (esp. 434-36), contains a summaryof themain administrative ffices anddepartments. t is difficult to chart the signifi-cance of changesin titulature, hough the vizierate seems on the whole to havemaintained ts position; for a clarificationof the situation underthe Timurids,see DIVANBEGI . The most persistent role of the bureaucracys in financialadministration,covered by various articles on taxes (cAWAREZ; BIGAR,BIGARI;CUSTOMS DUTIES).Theperipateticnatureof the Saljuqand Mongol courts s discussed not onlyunderDIVAN, but in articles on CAPITAL CITIES ii. In Islamic times (esp.771-72) andCOURTSAND COURTIERS ii.-v., the latter a particularlyuse-ful attempt o synthesize informationon courtetiquetteandorganization,whichhas not receivedmuch scholarlyattention. tremainsunclearwhatpractical ffectthe nomadiclifestyle of the court had on administration,beyondthe introductionof new offices such as theyartchi(camp master)andperhapsa simplificationofprocedures.Many of the offices attached o the court are listed separately,someheld by the military elite, such as the AKTAJI (why not Akta6l?),BEGLERBEGI,which was equivalent o the Arabic title AMIR-AL-OMARAM,tAgNIGIR, andBOKAVOL,others evidently by the civilian secretariat, .g.ALd, though as Bosworthnotes, many household andnominally administra-tive posts tendedto fall to the Turkishmilitary (see DAWA(T)DAR).The con-flict and rivalrybetween the pen and sword is also alludedto in the article on thebureaucratsDABIR ii. In the Islamic period),as is the factionalism that oftenaffectedboth groupings. The primacy of the Persian bureaucrats n the earlyIlkhanidperiod,at least, was probablyundermined y the influx of other ethnicgroups into the chancery.An article on bitikc'1Mongol scribe)would have beenuseful in this context.These articles are necessarily concise, particularlyfor the period underreview,buttaken n combination hey providea very adequatepictureof the cur-rent state of knowledge-which is hamperedby an absence of archivalmaterialand a relianceon manuals. Thus we see the theoreticalduties of the offices andoccasionallythe abuses associatedwith them, and also their developmentovertime and the decline in status of certaintitles, e.g. AMIR. Many of the termsintroducedduringthe Turkish invasions were inherited via the Zangids andAyyubids by the Mamluk sultanate in Egypt, where they have receivedmoresystematic study.Of all the institutionsof the period,the armyis perhaps he most prominentandis discussedin severalplaces. ARMY ii. Islamic, to the Mongol period (I,499) is a good place to startfor a general review, which does not, however,enterinto or refer to the debate about the size of the Ilkhanidarmiesandthe logisticalproblemsposed by the numbersof mountsemployed."A common featureof thearmies of the periodwas the continuing use of military slaves, to supplementthe tribalcontingentsthat madeup the originalforces of the Saljuqsand Mongol

11. See various articles by J. Masson-Smith cited and discussed by D. 0. Morgan,The Mongols (Oxford, 1986), ch. 4, and Lambton,op. cit., 20-24.



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From the Saljuqs to the Aq Qoyunlu 481invaders;cf. BARDA AND BARDADARI v. Militaryslaveryin Islamic Iranfora brief overview.The compositionof the Mongol armyis furtherdiscussedundertERIK; by the Timuridperiod,the term had come also to mean a tax to levytroops. Evidencefor the continuity of institutions such as the military reviewinto theTurcomanperiod dependslargely on the Aq Qoyunluexamplein Fars in1476, cf. CARZ,DIVAN(-E).The article on COMMUNICATIONSunfortunatelybegins with the 19thcentury,butrelevantand often repetitive nformation s to be found in articlesonthe horse (ASB iii. In Islamictimes) andthe postal service (CAPAR), neitherofwhichrefersto theother;cf. also BARID.(v) Miscellaneous topicsThe question of communications leads us beyond the details of dynastic andinstitutionalhistoryand of the people who madeit, to the wider dimensions ofthe period.It is helpful to have a geographicalperspectiveon Persian history,though in many cases this simply means that the same basic material is rear-rangedunderdifferentheadings.ThusAZERBAIJAN v. Islamichistory to 1941contains a brief reminderof the history of the Ildegozidsand the Atabegs ofMaraghah see above),as well as focusing on the importanceof Azerbaijan,andparticularlyTabriz, as a capital under the Mongol and Turcomandynasties.CENTRALASIA v. In the Mongol and Timuridperiodscontains greatareas ofoverlapwiththe article on the Chaghatayids,houghdifferentemphasesand bib-liographiesmake both valuable.Articles on BALK and BUKHARA (why notBukara?) n thepre- andpost-Mongolperiods lluminate he effects of largerhis-torical developmentson the rise and fall of cities, and the importance of theirreligious associations, e.g. with the KubraviyyaandNaqshbandiyyan the caseof Bukhara.'2The fundamentalmportanceof contactswith the east during thisperiod s furtherunderlinedby articles on CHINESETURKESTANiii. andiv.,that again contain much on the Chaghatayidsand assert that diplomatic andcommercialcontactsbetweenChina andPersia declined in theearly 14thcentury,although this is not the impression given elsewhere.'3The matter is notbroacheddirectly in CHINESE-IRANIANRELATIONS iii. In the Mongolperiod,but the hazardsof the overland ourney are mentioned, as is the GreatKhan'srepresentativen Persia,BOLODCh'eng-Hsiang(s.v.), who has beenthesubjectof some morerecentresearch.'4

12. The articles on Balkh were unable to take advantage of R. D. McChesney'sWaqf n Central Asia. Fourhundredyears in the history of a Muslim shrine, 1480-1889 (Princeton, N.J., 1991).13. See now T. Allsen, "Changing forms of legitimation in Mongol Iran,"in G.Seaman and D. Marks,eds., Rulersfrom the steppe: State formation on the Eurasianperiphery (Los Angeles, 1991), 235.14. See T. Allsen, "Notes of Chinese titles in Mongol Iran,"Mongolian Studies 14(1991): 27-39 and idem, "Biography of a culturalbroker: Bolad Ch'eng-hsiang inChina and Iran," n J. Raby and T. Fitzherbert,eds., The Court of the Il-Khans 1290-1340, Oxford Studies in Islamic Art 12 (1996), 7-22.



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482 MelvilleSuch contacts were of artistic, intellectual, and commercial significance.

Commercialcontactsarecovered n an articleon COMMERCEiv. Before theMongol conquest(for the later period,see Supplement),which usefully concen-trateson traderoutes and methodsof transportation s much as the commoditiesand economic aspects of trade.Articles on the bazaar BAZAR), CARAVAN,and CARAVANSARY also address he organizationof trade and commercialactivity,with reference to historicaldevelopments n our period.The importantareaof numismatics andmonetaryhistory, relevantto economic, financial, andpoliticalaffairs,is coveredin articleson COINS AND COINAGE (see esp. 20-30), DINAR, andDIRHAM, with excellent illustrations. The Ilkhanidexperi-ment with papermoney is also treatedseparately CAV [sic]).In conclusion,the foregoing review necessarilytouches only briefly on themaintrendsandthe major opics coveredby the Encyclopaedia Iranica, but isperhapssufficient to revealthegreatwealthof its materialon the history of theSaljuqto Aq Qoyunluperiod.It is certainlyan indispensablereferencework, andon the whole, despiteincreasingrestrictionson space, providesnot only a sum-maryof existing knowledgebut also the fruits of new researchandmany sign-posts for the way forward.Thecross-referencings not all it might be, and whereauthorsare not awareof what has been or is being writtenin other relatedarti-cles, this could be brought o theirattention, n an effort to avoid duplicationandstimulatedifferentapproaches.An index of the articles would be very useful andin my view easily as desirableas a list of the contributors,who form, indeed,amost impressiveandcelebratedgroupof authorities.Theirreadiness o contributeto the Encyclopaedia is both a testimonyto anda guaranteeof its quality.

from the saljuqs to the aq qoyunlu (ca. 1000-1500 c.e.)

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