A FARMAN FROM THE FOURTH SAFAVID SHAH, MOHAMMAD KHODABANDEH (R. 1578 - 1587), SON OF SHAH TAHMASP I AND FATHER OF ABBAS I
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ENGLISH BIBLIOPHILE
Safavid Iran, dated 992 AH (1584 AD)

Persian manuscript on paper, with 6ll. of black ink nasta’liq script preceded by a farman declaration in red, outlining revenues for the Khadim Bashi (chief guardian) of the shrine of Sheikh Safi Ud-Din, the founder of the Safavid dynasty, in Ardabil, the text beneath the seal of the king, below the phrase 'all property belongs to God' in gold, the verso with 4 witness seals, 3 initialed with the letter ‘sad’ (ص), further notes and signatures, framed, within two sheets of glass, the document 34.2cm x 16cm, 39.5cm x 21cm including the frame.

Provenance: once part of the Adrian David Hugh Bivar Collection, purchased at Sotheby's London in 1975.

Literature: B. G. Martin, 'Seven Safavid documents from Azerbaijan', in Samuel Miklos Sterne ed., Documents from Islamic Chanceries, Oxford, 1965, pp. 174 - 175.

Mohammad Khodabandeh, also known as Sultan Mohammad, succeeded his brother Ismail II to the Safavid throne at a time when internal tensions were brewing. A man of refined taste and great literary education, and son of one of the greatest Safavid rulers, Shah Tahmasp I, Mohammad failed to fit into his father's grand steps, showing from the very beginning a rather weak character. This was used to the advantage of his wife, Khayr al-Nisa Begum, also known as Mahd-e Olya. Her thirst for power and control escalated and frictions with the Qizilbash factions became unavoidable. Even after her murder by the hands of a group of Qizilbash conspirators, who strangled her in her harem on 26 July 1579, the tensions between Qizilbash factions and Sultan Muhammad lingered: the Shah had lost their trust and support. This led a few years later to a coup, headed by one of the leaders of the Ustalju Qizilbash faction, Murshid Quli Khan, who succeeded in overthrowing the Shah and proclaiming his second son Abbas Mirza, Shah Abbas I, the new ruler of Safavid Iran in October 1587.

Dimensions: the document 34.2cm x 16cm, 39.5cm x 21cm including frame