Intellectual Networks in Timurid Iran: Sharaf al-Din 'Ali Yazdi and the Islamicate Republic of Letters

by Ilker Evrim Binbas?

Overview

By focusing on the works and intellectual network of the Timurid historian Sharaf al Dīn 'Alī Yazdī (d.1454), this book presents a holistic view of intellectual life in fifteenth century Iran. İlker Evrim Binbaş argues that the intellectuals in this period formed informal networks which transcended political and linguistic boundaries, and spanned an area from the western fringes of the Ottoman State to bustling late medieval metropolises such as Cairo, Shiraz, and Samarkand. The network included an Ottoman revolutionary, a Mamluk prophet, and a Timurid occultist, as well as physicians, astronomers, devotees of the secret sciences, and those political figures who believed that the network was a force to be taken seriously. Also discussing the formation of an early modern Islamicate republic of letters, this book offers fresh insights on the study of intellectual history beyond the limitations imposed by nationalist methodologies, established genres, and recognized literary traditions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781316551905
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/26/2016
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

İlker Evrim Binbaş is a lecturer in Early Modern Asian Empires in the Department of History at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. The making of a Timurid intellectual; 3. Informal intellectual networks in Timurid Iran; 4. The prophet of Cairo and the master of Isfahan; 5. The articulation of a princely political discourse; 6. Writing the past; 7. The king's two lineages: the evolution of a politico-theological idea; 8. Epilogue.

Editorial Reviews

'… it is really two books - one on a smallish network of Muslim intellectuals with occult leanings, and the other on Persian historical writing under the Timurid dynasty - with Yazdi serving as the connecting link. Moreover, the author breaks so much new ground on both scores that he sometimes feels compelled to provide with minute, and even inconsequential, details that impede the flow of his argument. … it provides a window on a circle of über-sophisticated Muslim intellectuals in a part of the world that, sadly, is associated in contemporary minds with anything but intellectual activity.' Maria Subtelny, The Times Literary Supplement

'The book is a splendid introduction to one of the key periods in Iranian history. Written with a smooth pen, it studies Yazdī’s life with many original and profound analyses. We should be thankful to Binbaş who has painstakingly analyzed the life, the transregional network, and the works of Sharaf al-Dīn ‘Alī Yazdī. I warmly recommend the book to everyone who is interested in the Timurid era.' Ali-Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Renaissance Quarterly

From the Publisher