English: A LATE SAFAVID FARMAN RELATING TO THE TAX AFFAIRS OF THE LOCAL ARMENIAN COMMUNITY

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILE Isfahan, Safavid Iran, dated Ramadan 1107 AH (April 1696 AD)

Persian manuscript on paper, with 7ll. of shikasteh nasta’liq script in black ink, the opening phrase 'farman-e shahanshah' in red, beneath it the circular seal impression of Shah Sultan Hossein, the ninth and last independent ruler of the Safavid dynasty (r. 1694 - 1722), below the Arabic phrase ‘al mulk u lillah’ (all possession belongs to God) in gold, dated Ramadan 1107 (April 1696 AD), the reverse with six witness stamps and signatures, framed and glazed on two sides, 31cm x 14.8cm, 49cm x 30.5cm including the frame.

Provenance: once in the Adrian David Hugh Bivar collection, purchased at Sotheby's in 1975.

Literature: B. G. Martin, "Seven Safavid documents from Azarbayjan", in Samuel Miklos Stern (ed), Documents from Islamic Chanceries, Oxford, 1965, pp. 174-175.

Shah Sultan Hossein (1688 - 1726), best known for his excessive piety and superstitious beliefs, was of an infirm, sensual, and profligate character. In his foreign policy, his failure to obtain support from the Portuguese against the Omani naval threat in the Persian Gulf forced him to offer the French commercial privileges, a trading post, and possession of two forts of Muscat in exchange for naval support. Louis XIV’s subsequent embassies to Isfahan campaigned for preferential treatment, and protection for Iran’s Christians and the European missionaries. Though the present document predates the first of these embassies in 1708, it is clear that a focus on the litigious approach to Jizya (the protection tax non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Islamic law are required to pay) was already sacrosanct. What makes this document a unique and fascinating window into the running of the state according to Islamic law, is the provision for the Armenian winemakers within the amounts signed and witnessed.