Chronicle of the Reign of Shah 'Abbas

This publication provides a digital reproduction of a unique manuscript, recently rediscovered in Cambridge, which chronicles the reign of Shah Abbas, the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty of Persia. Abbas's forty-year reign revived the fortunes of the dynasty, and made Persia a prominent power in the early 17th century, developing strong commercial and diplomatic links with western Europe. His reign has been documented by several court historians, but the new and exciting discovery of Fazli Beg's contemporary chronicle, long thought to have been lost, makes available a wealth of new information about Abbas's reign and Safavid provincial administration in general. Lying miscataloged for over 150 years in the Old Library of Christ's College, Cambridge, the manuscript contains the author's own substantial marginal annotations, which are preserved in this digital reproduction of the work. At the same time, the previous two volumes of his history on two earlier rulers of the Safavid dynasty are also published here for the first time, in facsimile, from two other unique surviving manuscripts - one preserved in the University Library in Cambridge, and one in the British Library, London. This publication brings the whole work together as it currently exists. The text is provided on 4 CD-Roms, which are accompanied by an explanatory booklet. The text is also indexed for easy access.