Safavids in Venetian and European Sources
open access | peer reviewed
- Ahmad Guliyev - Institute of History of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Azerbaijan - email
Abstract
The emergence of the Safavid Empire in the early sixteenth century marked a significant
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 Ottomans
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 Venetian
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 characteristics
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 according
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 Ottoman-Venetian relations • Safavid envoys • Safavid Empire • Venice • Diplomatic gift-giving • Early modern diplomacy • Safavid diplomacy • Safavid-Venetian relations
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-592-6 | e-ISBN 978-88-6969-592-6 | ISBN (PRINT) 978-88-6969-593-3 | Published April 8, 2022 | Accepted Oct. 12, 2021 | Submitted July 16, 2021 | Language en
Copyright © 2022 Ahmad Guliyev. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.