Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp in the context of "Tahmasp I"

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⭐ Core Definition: Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp

The Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp (Persian: شاهنامه شاه‌طهماسب) or Houghton Shahnameh is one of the most famous illustrated manuscripts of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran, and a high point in the art of the Persian miniature. It is probably the most fully illustrated manuscript of the text ever produced. When created, the manuscript contained 759 pages, 258 of which were miniatures. These miniatures were hand-painted by the artists of the imperial workshop in Tabriz under Shah Ismail I and Shah Tahmasp I. Upon its completion, the Shahnameh was gifted to the Ottoman Sultan Selim II in 1568. The page size is about 48 x 32 cm, and the text written in Nastaʿlīq script of the highest quality. The manuscript was broken up in the 1970s and the pages are now in a number of different collections around the world.

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In this Dossier

Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp in the context of Persianate societies

A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art or identity.

The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, The Venture of Islam: The expansion of Islam in the Middle Periods, he defined it thus: "The rise of Persian had more than purely literary consequences: it served to carry a new overall cultural orientation within Islamdom.... Most of the more local languages of high culture that later emerged among Muslims... depended upon Persian wholly or in part for their prime literary inspiration. We may call all these cultural traditions, carried in Persian or reflecting Persian inspiration, 'Persianate' by extension."

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Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp in the context of Salm (Shahnameh)

Salm (Persian: سلم) or Sarm (Middle Persian) is a character in the Persian epic Shahnameh. He is the oldest son of legendary hero and king Fereydun. It is believed that his name was given to him by his father, after Salm chooses to seek safety and run instead of fighting the dragon that had attacked him and his brothers (the dragon was Fereydun himself who had disguised himself to test his sons).

When Fereydun decides to divide his kingdom among his sons, he gives Salm Anatolia and West. Salm and his brother Tur become jealous of their younger brother Iraj. They combine their forces against him and eventually murder the young prince. Years later Iraj’s grandson Manuchehr avenges his grandfather’s death by killing both Salm and Tur.

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Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp in the context of Khalili Collection of Islamic Art

The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art includes 26,000 objects documenting Islamic art over a period of almost 1400 years, from 700 AD to the end of the twentieth century. It is the largest of the Khalili Collections: eight collections assembled, conserved, published and exhibited by the British scholar, collector and philanthropist Nasser David Khalili, each of which is considered among the most important in its field. Khalili's collection is one of the most comprehensive Islamic art collections in the world and the largest in private hands.

In addition to copies of the Quran, and rare and illustrated manuscripts, the collection includes album and miniature paintings, lacquer, ceramics, glass and rock crystal, metalwork, arms and armour, jewellery, carpets and textiles, over 15,000 coins, and architectural elements. The collection includes folios from manuscripts with Persian miniatures, including the Great Mongol Shahnameh, the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, and the oldest manuscript of world history the Jamiʿ al-tawarikh. Among its collections of arms and armour is a 13th-century gold saddle from the time of Genghis Khan.

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