The adventures of Shah Esma'il : : a seventeenth-century Persian popular romance / / by Barry Wood [translator].

• TeilnehmendeR: Wood, Barry, 1970-
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2018.
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English; Persian
• Series: Studies on Performing Arts & Literature of the Islamicate World 08.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (509 pages).
• Notes: Translation of a collection of manuscripts that was edited and published in Iran in 1971 by its owner, Aṣghar Muntaẓir Ṣāḥib, and published under the title: ʻĀlamʹārā-yi Shāh Ismāʻīl.

The Adventures of Shāh Esmāʿil recounts the dramatic formative years of the Safavid empire (1501–1722), as preserved in Iranian popular memory by coffeehouse storytellers and written down in manuscripts starting in the late seventeenth century. Beginning with the Safavids’ saintly ancestors in Ardabil, the story goes on to relate the conquests of Shāh Esmāʿil (r. 1501–1524) and his devoted Qezelbāsh followers as they battle Torkmāns, Uzbeks, Ottomans, and even Georgians and Ethiopians in their quest to establish a Twelver Shiʿi realm. Barry Wood’s translation brings out the verve and popular tone of the Persian text. A heady mixture of history and legend, The Adventures of Shāh Esmāʿil sheds important light on the historical self-awareness of late Safavid Iran.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- 1 The Story of Solṭān Firuzshāh -- 2 The Story of ʿEvazolkhavāṣṣ and His Son Moḥammad al-Ḥāfeẓ -- 3 The Story of Salāḥoddin Rashid -- 4 The Story of Seyyed Jebrāʾil -- 5 The Story of Solṭān Khwājeh ʿAli -- 6 The Battle between Solṭān ʿAli Mirzā and Aybeh Solṭān and the Death of Solṭān ʿAli -- 7 Shāh Esmāʿil Catches Sight of His Majesty the Lord of the Age -- 8 The Emergence of Shāh Esmāʿil from Gilān and Lāhijān with Seven People, and the Conquest of Ṭārom -- 9 The Story of the Sons of Rostam Shāh, and of How His Majesty the Shadow of God Went to Ardabil; the Killing of ʿAli Khān Solṭān -- 10 Alvand Sends ʿOthmān Solṭān to Fight the Shāh, Who in Turn Sends Qarāpari Qājār; the Latter is Killed, and the Torkmāns are Defeated -- 11 King Alvand Goes to the Anatolian Emperor and Seeks Help; He Comes to Iran and is Defeated; His Qualities -- 12 The World-conquering Shāh’s Proposal to Tājlu Begom, the Daughter of ʿĀbedin Beg Shāmlu, and the Wedding Feast of that Fortunate Prince -- 13 Birth of the Shadow of God, Shāh Ṭahmāsp, in the Village of Ranān near Eṣfahān -- 14 Shāh Esmāʿil Sends an Army against Solṭān Morād, and that Failure is Captured -- 15 Solṭān Morād Flees toward Shirāz; Moḥammad Karahi Captures Him and Sends Him to Shāh Esmāʿil, But He Flees Again -- 16 Solṭān Morād Flees toward Shirāz as Elyās Beg Pursues Him -- 17 Elyās Beg Goes to Dāmghān to Fight Ḥosayn Kiyā Cholāvi and is Killed by That Man’s Duplicity -- 18 Shāh Esmāʿil Proceeds from Qom towards Firuzkuh and Māzandarān to Defeat Ḥosayn Kiyā Cholāvi -- 19 ʿAli Kiyā Goes to Take the Pass of Firuzkuh -- 20 Shāh Esmāʿil Arrives at the Fortress of Mārānkuh and Does Battle with Ḥosayn Kiyā Cholāvi, Who is Killed -- 21 Shoʿayb Āqā is Killed by Solṭān Aḥmad Sāruʾi; Moḥammad Karahi Rebels, Solṭān Aḥmad is Killed, and Yazd is Captured -- 22 His Majesty Arrives at Yazd, and Moḥammad Karahi is Killed -- 23 Shāh Esmāʿil Goes from Yazd to Ṭabas; Tardi Bābā is Killed, and Amir Kamāloddin Ḥosayn Comes to the Royal Court on Behalf of Solṭān Ḥosayn Bāyqarā -- 24 ʿAbdi Beg is Martyred at the Hands of Ḥosayn Beg, Son of Ṣārem Khān the Kurd; Shāh Esmāʿil Arrives, and Ṣārem Khān Flees -- 25 The Conquest of Baghdād by the Qezelbāsh; Bāyrak Solṭān Flees to Moṣul, and Shāh Esmāʿil Visits Najaf -- 26 The Royal Banners Leave for ʿErāq and Khorrāmābād, Where Malekshāh Rostam is -- 27 The Shāh and His Army Come to Fight Malekshāh Rostam, Who Pledges Obedience; Together They Go to Ḥovayzeh to Fight Malek Fayyāz -- 28 His Majesty Sends Nur ʿAli Khalifeh to the Ṣufis of Rum on His Behalf, and He Accepts Oaths of Fealty in Tabriz and Diyārbakr -- 29 The Royal Banners Head for Diyārbakr, and Shāh Esmāʿil Does Battle with ʿAlāʾoddawleh Dhulqadr -- 30 Shāh Esmāʿil Sends a Letter to ʿAlāʾoddawleh, Who Responds with an Offer of Peace; His Majesty Returns to Ādharbāyjān -- 31 Sāru Aṣlān and Sāru Qaplān Come to the Aid of Moḥammadi Solṭān and are Killed by Qarākhān the Brother of Moḥammad Khān Ostājlu, Who is Victorious -- 32 On the Nature and Circumstances of Solṭān Salim, Son of Solṭān Bāyazid of Anatolia -- 33 Qarākhān Attacks Arzenjān, and Moḥammad Khān Sends Solṭān Bāyazid of Anatolia an Envoy with Women’s Clothing -- 34 Solṭān Bāyazid and Solṭān Qānṣaw, the Ruler of Egypt, Fight against ʿAlāʾoddawleh Dhul.