Table Of ContentAS Hilâl. Studi turchi e ottomani 9 e-ISSN 2610-8895
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EN Safavids in Venetian
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UI and European Sources
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Ahmad Guliyev
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Edizioni
Ca’Foscari
9
Safavids in Venetian and European Sources
Hilâl
Studi turchi e ottomani
Serie diretta da
Elisabetta Ragagnin
9
Edizioni
Ca’Foscari
Hilâl
Studi turchi e ottomani
Direttore | Editor-in-Chief
Elisabetta Ragagnin (Freie Universität, Berlin)
Comitato scientifico | Advisory board
Bülent Arı (TBMM Milli Saraylar, Müzecilik ve Tanıtım BaŞkanı, İstanbul, Türkiye)
Dejanirah Couto (École Pratique des Hautes Études «EPHE», Paris, France)
Zayabaatar Dalai (Institute for Mongol Studies, National University of Mongolia;
National Council for Mongol Studies, Mongolia)
Mehmet Yavuz Erler (Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi, Samsun, Türkiye)
Fabio Grassi («La Sapienza» Università di Roma, Italia)
Figen Güner Dilek (Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara, Türkiye)
Stefan Hanß (University of Cambridge, UK)
Baiarma Khabtagaeva (Szegedi Tudományegyetem, Magyarország)
Nicola Melis (Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italia)
Melek Özyetgin (Yildiz Üniversitesi, İstanbul, Türkiye)
Cristina Tonghini (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia)
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e-ISSN 2610-9484
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Safavids in Venetian
and European Sources
Ahmad Guliyev
Venezia
Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Venice University Press
2022
Safavids in Venetian and European Sources
Ahmad Guliyev
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1st edition April 2022
ISBN 978-88-6969-592-6 [ebook]
ISBN 978-88-6969-593-3 [print]
This book is based upon work from a research project titled SAFVEN-West Meets East in Venice:
Cross-Cultural Interactions and Reciprocal Influences Between the Safavids and Venetians fi-
nanced with the support of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation pro-
gramme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship grant agreement no. 789632.
Safavids in Venetian and European Sources / Ahmad Guliyev — 1st ed. — Venice: Edizioni Ca’ Foscari,
2022. — x + 116 p.; 23 cm. — (Hilâl; 9). — ISBN 978-88-6969-593-3.
URL http://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/it/edizioni/libri/978-88-6969-593-3
DOI http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-592-6
Safavids in Venetian and European Sources
Ahmad Guliyev
Abstract
The emergence of the Safavid Empire in the early sixteenth century marked a signifi-
cant change in the geopolitics of the Middle East. This momentous change coincided
with the widening of Ottoman expansion eastward and the exploration by European
powers, especially by Venice, of the possibilities of forming alliances against the Ot-
tomans with the involvement of the Safavids. Thus, Ottoman threat and commercial
interests contributed to the emergence and development of diplomatic, cultural, and
trade relations between the Republic of Venice and the Safavid Empire, which lasted
until the end of the seventeenth century. Drawing on the documents from the Vene-
tian State Archives and other contemporary sources, this book focuses mainly on
some aspects of Safavid diplomacy, including the language of the Safavid polity, the
role of European subjects as interpreters for the shahs, material and visual charac-
teristics of Safavid diplomatic letters to Venice, the attitude of the Safavids towards
resident diplomacy, the reception of the European envoys in the Safavid court and
Europeans’ perception of Safavid diplomatic practices, as well as the characteristics
of the Safavid embassies to Venice. We have tried to explain the role of Turkish as a
language of diplomacy and communication in Safavid-Venetian encounters. We have
also attempted to explore briefly how the Venetians distinguished Safavid subjects ac-
cording to their ethno-linguistic affiliations. Finally, we examine the Ottoman factor in
Safavid-Venetian relations in order to establish to what extent, if any, the Ottomans
had an impact on the overall character of Safavid-Venetian relations.
Keywords Safavid Empire. Venice. Safavid diplomacy. Safavid-Venetian relations.
Ottoman-Venetian relations. Safavid envoys. Early modern diplomacy. Diplomatic
gift-giving.
Safavids in Venetian and European Sources
Ahmad Guliyev
Acknowledgments
The present monograph was written within a research project titled SAFVEN-West Meets
East in Venice: Cross-Cultural Interactions and Reciprocal Influences Between the Safa-
vids and Venetians, financed thanks to the generous support of the European Union’s
Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie
Individual Fellowship (grant agreement no. 789632). I would like to thank the Depart-
ment of Asian and North African Studies (DSAAM) of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice for
hosting me during my research in Venice. I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor
Professor Simone Cristoforetti for his support and scholarly advice. At DSAAM, I am also
grateful to the “Hilâl” series editor-in-chief, Elisabetta Ragagnin for her encouragement
and valuable Turcological advice, as well as to Andrea Rudatis for his precious help in
administrative matters and logistics. Many thanks to the staff of Edizioni Ca’ Foscari for
their support of this book project and Tommaso Galvani for excellent copy-editing. I
thank young scholar Andrew Vidali for his assistance in transcribing Venetian archival
documents. I would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers whose comments and
suggestions improved the previous version of the manuscript. Finally, I wish to express
my sincere appreciation to the staff at the Archivio di Stato di Venezia, Biblioteca Mar-
ciana (Venice), Archivio storico del Patriarcato di Venezia, Archivio di Stato di Firenze
(Florence), Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze (Florence), Vatican Apostolic Ar-
chive, and Ca’ Foscari’s Languages and Cultures Library (BALI).
Safavids in Venetian and European Sources
Ahmad Guliyev
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
1 Language and Translation
at the Safavid Court 5
2 Safavid Letters to Venice 19
3 The Nature of Safavid Diplomacy 33
4 Safavid Subjects in Venice 57
5 The Safavid-Ottoman Gift Exchanges
Through the Eyes of the Venetians 61
6 The Ottoman Factor
in Safavid-Venetian Relations 71
Appendices 81
Archives and Sources 103
