Papers by Charles P Melville
Intercultural space. Rustaveli and Nizami , 2021
both-holding-shiningglobes-that-light-their-way-0f083a 6. 'Iskandar observing Khizr putting a dri... more both-holding-shiningglobes-that-light-their-way-0f083a 6. 'Iskandar observing Khizr putting a dried fish into the Water of Life', Sharafnama by Nizami, attributed to Mu'in Musavvir, Persia,
Iran Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies 55.1, pp. 11-23 , 2017
Kamal al-Din Gazorgahi's Majales al-'oshshaq ("The Assemblies of Lovers"), dating from the last d... more Kamal al-Din Gazorgahi's Majales al-'oshshaq ("The Assemblies of Lovers"), dating from the last decade of Timurid rule in Khorasan, presents an entertaining and light-hearted selection of stories of the earthly loves of over 70 well-known poets, sufis and members of the Turkish ruling elites, cast in a pseudo-mystical framework. This paper discusses a handful of the latter cases of contemporary and near contemporary sultans, including the putative "author", Soltan-Hosain Mirza, grandson of Bayqara, with a view to identifying any possible historical basis for Gazorgahi's narratives, and in the process noting the strong cultural connections between the rival courts of Tabriz and Herat.
Sufistic literature in Persian: Tradition and dimensions, ed. Azarmi Dukht Safavi, Aligarh, 2014, pp. 28-37.
Every Inch a King. Comparative studies on kings and kingship in the ancient and medieval worlds, ed. Lynette Mitchell & Charles Melville, Leiden: Brill, 2013, pp. 1-21
In the frequently cited words of A. Lefevere, " translation involves trust. The audience, which d... more In the frequently cited words of A. Lefevere, " translation involves trust. The audience, which does not know the original, trusts that the translation is a fair representation of it. " 1 A translation of a great work of literature not only creates a broader basis for research in depth but also – and it is equally important – shapes the image of the original in the receiving culture. That is why translation also involves responsibility. The readers, however well informed of the possible shifts and losses, still tend to take a beautifully edited rendering with the name of a genius on the dust jacket for a creation of his/her own pen. A history of translations is also instructive ; it brings to light some truths hidden not only in the original but in the receiving culture as well. We shall now try to trace the reception and appropriation of the Rubaiyat in Russia and to show at least partially what kinds of textual and visual images are in circulation all over the country nowadays under the extremely popular brand name of <Umar Khayyaem. It seems that the heritage and fame of <Umar Khayyaem (1048-1131) are more a paradox than a logical reality. Quite a few people in the West might know that the calendar he devised as the head of the Academy of Sciences in Isfahan (which he also established with significant funding from the government) was more precise than the one we are using now, but almost everyone has heard of him writing poetry: obviously everyone who has heard of him at all. Khayyaem's fame in the West comes and goes in waves, sometimes it is like a tsunami, sometimes like the still waters before the next storm in world literature. According to L.P. Elwell-Sutton, 2 Persian literature, one of the richest in the world, became famous due to someone who might have never written a single verse. However, now we have to deal with the phenomenon of the extreme popularity of poetry that can be called Khayyamic, a product of the collective mind not only in Persian or English but also in other languages. 3 This paper will try to reveal the secret of its popularity in Russia, which can be witnessed even by the fact that a Russian astronomer, L. Zhuravleva, called an outer main-belt asteroid, newly discovered by her in 1980, Omarkhayyam.
Historiography by Charles P Melville
Iran namag. Festschrift in honour of Maria Subtelny, pp. 82-100 , 2021
Introduction 'Ata-Malik Juvaini's History of the World Conqueror (Tarikh-i Jahangusha), completed... more Introduction 'Ata-Malik Juvaini's History of the World Conqueror (Tarikh-i Jahangusha), completed in 1260, has long been recognized as a major source for the study of the formative period of the Mongol Empire in western Asia and as the first significant history to be composed under the Ilkhans in Iran (1258-1353). The various general appraisals of the work are numerous, from the introduction to the text edited by Mirza Muhammad Qazvini and the translation by J. A. Boyle, 2 to surveys of 1
Iran 59.2 (2021), pp. 203-224, 2021
In around 1584, while based in his capital at Fatehpur-Sikri, Akbar commissioned a history of Tim... more In around 1584, while based in his capital at Fatehpur-Sikri, Akbar commissioned a history of Timur and his successors, including his own reign up to that date. The result, the Tarikh-i Khandan-i Timuriyya, an impressively large and heavily illustrated manuscript, now preserved in Patna, with 132 full-page paintings on 332 folios, has not received the same level of attention as Akbar's other historical commissions from around the same period, notably the Tarikh-i Alfi and the Baburnama. In particular, little or no attention has been paid to the text. This paper seeks to put the manuscript both in its immediate historical and historiographical context and in its relationship with these other illustrated works, created to celebrate Akbar's political and spiritual authority and dynastic inheritance. It can be shown that the portion of the Tarikh-i Alfi that covers the same periodincluding the reigns of Babur, Humayun and Akbardraws almost verbatim on the Khandan-i Timuriyya. This suggests that the same author might have been responsible for both works and is consistent with other indications that the production of the manuscript might have been later than generally supposed.
Iran 57.1 (2019), pp. 83-106
The creation of Timur's kingly image was the work of his chroniclers and in particular the achiev... more The creation of Timur's kingly image was the work of his chroniclers and in particular the achievement of 'Ali Yazdi, whose literary masterpiece, the Zafarnama ("Book of Victory"), was commissioned by Timur's grandson, Ibrahim-Sultan, prince governor of Shiraz in southern Persia (r. 1415-1435). Yazdi's work became a byword for rhetorical elegance and was reproduced in many tens of manuscripts; some of these, including the first known copy, dated 1436, were illustrated. Within the corpus of illustrated manuscripts and the paintings they contain, I differentiate between royal or court commissions, such as those produced for Timur's descendants, and provincial or commercial ones produced in the next century, and the effect this may have had on the choice of scenes to illustrate. Among these, it is helpful to distinguish between "generic" scenes of battle, single combats, hunting and the ruler's court, and specific scenes of particular events, often found in a unique image, and their relationship with the written text. While these illustrations cannot be viewed as visual sources for the history of the events they depict, they can be regarded as evidence of how Timur's career was perceived and understood by subsequent generations.
ASIATICA 12.2 (St Petersburg, 2019), pp. 54-68
Iran 56.1 (2018), pp. 47-67
Many medieval manuscripts are illuminated with paintings and other graphic elements, one purpose ... more Many medieval manuscripts are illuminated with paintings and other graphic elements, one purpose of which may have been to reinforce the significance of the work in question with a pictorial gloss, and perhaps also as a visual aid to convey its message for the benefit of readers who may not always have been literate. Reading the text through pictures is a matter of particular interest in the case of historical literature, as chronicles often commissioned at court lend themselves especially well to a deliberate programme of enhancing the image of the ruler and celebrating his deeds according to the political concepts and ideological imperatives of the time. This paper addresses the question of the illustration of historical texts within the Persian tradition of book art, focusing on the Jami' al-tawarikh of Rashid al-Din and its impact on later productions.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , 2016
This paper explores some different, interrelated versions of the history of the Pīshdādiyān, the ... more This paper explores some different, interrelated versions of the history of the Pīshdādiyān, the earliest dynasty represented in the Shāhnāmeh, especially the recently edited text of Rashīd al-Dīn's Jāmi'altawārīkh. This is compared with Bal'amī's Persian version of the History of al-T . abari and Qād .¯ı Baid .ā wī's Niz .ā m al-tawārīkh, of which the latter is shown to provide much the closer basis for Rashīd al-Dīn's work -especially when confronted with the manuscripts of the Jāmi'al-tawārīkh contemporary with the life of Rashīd al-Dīn. Comparison with both the early Arabic and Persian witnesses of the work suggests that the printed edition does not represent Rashīd al-Dīn's original text, but later reworkings of his chronicle -such as that by the fifteenth-century historian, H .ā fiz . -i Abrūwhich draw more directly on the Shāhnāmeh. In so far as there is discernible subtext to Rashīd al-Dīn's coverage of these earliest periods of Iranian monarchical history, it is more to emphasise the didactic message of the Shāhnāmeh and the justice and constructive achievements of the first kings, than to follow Firdausī's narrative. Despite the potency of idea of the Shāhnāmeh as expressing Persian kingly traditions, it is suggested that perhaps it was only after the time of Rashīd al-Dīn and the Islamisation of the Mongol rulers that historians appreciated and emulated the literary and narrative aspects of the text for their own sake.
"The horrors of war and the arts of peace: Images of battle in Persian manuscripts", in Nomad military power in Iran and adjacent areas in the Islamic period, ed. Kurt Franz & Wolfgang Holzworth, Wiesbaden, 2015, pp. 155-92
"'Ali Yazdi and the Shahname", in International Shahname Conference. The Second Millennium, ed. Forogh Hashabeiky, Uppsala Universitet, 2014, pp. 117-33
Living Islamic history. Studies in honour of Professor Carole Hillenbrand, ed. Yasir Suleiman, Edinburgh: University Press, 2010, pp. 129-150
Iran und iranisch gepragte Kulturen. Studien zum 65. Geburtstag von Bert G. Fragner, ed. M. Ritter et al., Wiesbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2008, pp. 28-38
Iranian Studies, Jan 2, 2000
Page 1. Iranian Studies, volume 33, numbers 1-2, Winter/Spring 2000 Charles Melville The Caspian ... more Page 1. Iranian Studies, volume 33, numbers 1-2, Winter/Spring 2000 Charles Melville The Caspian Provinces: A World Apart Three local histories of Mazandaran EVERY RULER DEFEATED BY AN ENEMY AND UNABLE TO ...
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Papers by Charles P Melville
Historiography by Charles P Melville