Sufi Lovers, Safavid Silks and Early Modern Identity

Cover
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration
Introduction: Material Culture and Mysticism in the Persianate World
	Material Culture and Mysticism
	The Persianate World
Part I
	1.	Silks, Signatures and Self-fashioning
		Khamsa Narrative Silks in Scholarship
		The Famous Naqshband: Unrivalled in the Art of Textile Design
		Craftsmen and Consumers
		Self-Fashioning in the Early Modern Persianate World
	2.	Dressed as King, Lover and Beloved: Khusrau and Shirin
		Lovers from Nizami’s Khamsa
		The Romantic Tragedy of Nizami’s ‘Khusrau and Shirin’
		Khusrau and Shirin in Paintings and Safavid Silks
		The Gaze and the Body: States of Dress and Undress
	3.	Weaving Stories, Weaving Self: Layla and Majnun as Sufi Icons
		The Mystical Love Story of Nizami’s ‘Layla and Majnun’
		Layla and Majnun in Poetry, Paintings and Silk Designs
		The Khamsa of Amir Khusrau
		Text and Textile in Sufi Poetry
Part II
	4.	The Divine Cloak of Majesty: Material Culture in Sufi Practice
		Garments as Gifts of Blessing, Piety and Power
		Chivalry, Spirituality and Materiality in Sufism
		Khirqa: The Cloak of Spiritual Poverty
		Khamsa Silk as Khirqa? Figural Silks in Islamic Literary Sources
		Enrobed: Khil‘at in the Early Modern Age
	5.	Mughal Dress and Spirituality: The Age of Sufi Kings
		Silk, Sufism and Self-Image at the Mughal Court
		Figural Silks from Mughal Manufactories
		Jahangir as King and Lover
		Ghiyath’s Legacy at the Mughal Court
	6.	Safavid Figural Silks in Diplomacy: Rare Textiles of Novel Design
		Silk as Commodity in Safavid Iran
		Figural Silk as Safavid Identity: Sherley and His Rivals
		Figural Silk as Diplomatic Gifts
		Safavid and Mughal Gift Giving in Historical Accounts
		Figural Silks at the Mughal Court
Conclusion
	Reattribution of the Khamsa Silks Based on Paintings and Poetry
	Textile Designs and Designers
	Sufi Kings in Mughal India and Safavid Iran
	Khusrau and Shirin: Love and Kingship
	Layla and Majnun: Separation and Union
	Deviations from the Khamsa Characters
	Concluding Thoughts
Appendix A: List of Khamsa Silks
Appendix B: Summary of ‘Shirin and Khusrau’ by Amir Khusrau Dihlavi
Appendix C: Summary of ‘Majnun and Layla’ by Amir Khusrau Dihlavi
Glossary of Textile Terms
Glossary of Persian and Arabic Terms
List of Historic Figures
Index
List of Illustrations
	Figure 1.1: Textile fragment depicting Layla and Majnun. Attributed to sixteenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk with metal foil; double cloth. L: 7 7/8 in. (20 cm), W: 5 3/8 in. (13.65 cm). The Textile Museum (1969.36.1). Acquired from the Cooper Hewitt Muse
	Figure 1.2: Textile fragment depicting Khusrau seeing Shirin bathing. Attributed to mid-sixteenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk; cut velvet. L: 7 1/2 in. (19.1 cm), W: 5 7/8 in. (14.9 cm). Cleveland Museum of Art (1944.499.b). Purchase from the J.H. Wade Fu
	Figure 1.3: Textile fragment depicting Layla and Majnun, with the signature ‘Work of Ghiyath’ (detail), mirrored to show proper direction of the script. Attributed to sixteenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk, with gilded parchment wrapped around silk core; s
	Figure 2.1: Khusrau Catches Sight of Shirin Bathing (detail). Folio from a Khamsa of Nizami. Painting by Shaikh Zada. Calligraphers: Sultan Muhammad Nur and Mahmud Muzahhib. 1524-1525, Safavid Iran. Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper. L: 12 5/8 in
	Figure 2.2: Textile fragment depicting Khusrau and Shirin. Attributed to mid-sixteenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk; cut velvet. L: 15 3/8 in. (39 cm), W: 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1978.60). Purchase, Seley Foundation Inc., Schim
	Figure 2.3: Textile fragment depicting Khusrau and Shirin. Attributed to mid-sixteenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk, with metal threads; cut and voided velvet. L: 15 15/16 in. (40.5 cm), W: 10 in. (25.3 cm). Topkapi Saray Museum (no. 13/1697). © The Presid
	Figure 2.4: Textile fragment depicting Khusrau and Shirin. Attributed to ca. 1600, Safavid Iran. Silk, with metal threads; cut and voided velvet. L: 28 1/4 in. (71.76 cm), W: 21 3/4 in. (55.25 cm). The Keir Collection of Islamic Art on loan to the Dallas
	Figure 2.5: Textile fragment depicting Khusrau and Shirin, with the signature ‘Work of Ghiyath.’ ca. 1600, Safavid Iran. Silk with metal threads; cut and voided velvet. L: 24 3/4 in. (62.87 cm), W: 18 3/8 in. (46.67 cm). The Keir Collection of Islamic Art
	Figure 2.6: Digital drawing of Ghiyath’s signature on fig. 2.5, mirrored to show proper direction of the script. © 2022 Nazanin Hedayat Munroe.
	Figure 2.7: Textile fragment depicting Khusrau and Shirin. Attributed to seventeenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk; double cloth. L: 8 1/4 in. (20.96 cm), W: 10 3/4 in. (27.31 cm). Yale University Art Gallery (1951.51.82). Hobart and Edward Small Moore Memo
	Figure 3.1: Textile fragment depicting Layla and Majnun, with the signature ‘Work of Ghiyath.’ Attributed to sixteenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk, with gilded parchment wrapped around silk core; satin lampas. Silk; cut velvet. L: 25 3/16 in. (64 cm), W:
	Figure 3.2: Textile fragment depicting Layla and Majnun, with the signature ‘Work of Ghiyath.’ Attributed to late sixteenth/early seventeenth century, Safavid Iran (Yazd or Isfahan). Silk, metal-wrapped silk; satin lampas. L: 20 1/8 in. (51.08 cm), W: 27
	Figure 3.3: Textile fragment depicting Layla and Majnun. Attributed to ca. 1550-1600, Safavid Iran. Silk; cut velvet. L: 17 5/8 in. (44.77 cm), W: 18 1/2 in. (46.99 cm). The Kier Collection of Islamic Art on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art (K.1.2014.1335
	Figure 3.4: Textile fragment depicting Shirin and Farhad (detail). Attributed to sixteenth/seventeenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk, metal-wrapped thread; double cloth. L: 25 3/4 in. (65.4 cm), W: 14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art (46.15
	Figure 3.5: Textile fragment depicting Khusrau and Shirin, Layla and Majnun, Yusuf and Zulaikha (detail). Attributed to early seventeenth century, Safavid Iran. Silk; double cloth. L: 12 3/4 in. (32.5 cm), W: 6 7/8 in. (17.5 cm). British Museum (1985,0506
	Figure 3.6: Layla Visits Majnun in the Desert. Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi. Attributed to Bihzad, 1485; Timurid, Herat (Afghanistan). Approx. L: 7 7/8 in. (20 cm), W: 6 in. (15 cm). Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, MS 163, f. 120v
	Figure 3.7: Layla and Majnun in the Wilderness with Animals. Folio from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Amir Khusrau Dihlavi. Attributed to Sanwalah, ca. 1590-1600, Mughal India. Opaque watercolour, ink and gold on paper. L: 7 5/16 in. (18.6 cm), W: 6 3/8 in. (16.2
	Figure 4.1: Khusrau Seated on His Throne (detail). Folio from a Khamsa of Nizami. Painting by Shaikh Zada. Calligraphers: Sultan Muhammad Nur; Mahmud Muzahhib. 1524-1525, Safavid Iran. Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper. L: 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm), W
	Figure 4.2: A Dervish. Attributed to late sixteenth/early seventeenth century, Safavid Iran. Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper. H: 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm), W: 5 3/8 in. (13.6 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art (13.228.35). Gift of Alexander Smith Cochra
	Figure 4.3: Dancing Dervishes. Folio from the Shah Jahan Album. Mir ‘Ali Haravi (Calligrapher). Ca. 1610, Mughal India. Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper. L: 15 3/16 in. (38.6 cm), W: 10 3/16 in. (25.9 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art (55.121.10.18
	Figure 5.1: The Emperor Shah Jahan with His Son Dara Shikoh (with detail). Folio from the Shah Jahan Album. Painting by Nanha. Ca. 1620, attributed to Mughal India. Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper. L: 15 5/16 in. (38.9 cm), W: 10 5/16 in. (26.2
	Figure 5.2: Chasuble (with detail). Attributed to Iran (fabric); Russia (shoulder pieces), sixteenth century (fabric), seventeenth century (shoulder pieces). Silk and silver thread; cut and voided velvet. L: 136 cm. Entered the Hermitage in 1930; transfer
	Figure 5.3: Drawings of motifs by the author: a) dragonfly, Majnun velvet (fig. 5.2); b) tulip and dragonfly, Mansur’s painting; c) tulip with ibex, Majnun velvet (fig. 5.2); d) rabbit, Farrukh Beg’s painting (S1986.230); e) rabbit, Safavid drawing (fig. 
	Figure 5.4: Majnun in the Wilderness (detail). Second half of sixteenth century, attributed to Safavid Iran. Ink, opaque watercolour, and gold on paper. L: 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm), W: 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art (45.174.6). Bequest of George
	Figure 6.1: Portrait of Robert Sherley. Anonymous artist. Ca. 1626. Oil on canvas. L: 76 3/4 in. (195 cm), W: 41 3/8 in. (105 cm). After Canby, Shah ‘Abbas: The Remaking of Iran.
	Figure 6.2: Portrait of Teresia Sherley. Anonymous artist, ca. 1626. Oil on Canvas. L: 84 1/4 in. (214 cm), W: 48 3/4 in. (124 cm). After Canby, Shah ‘Abbas: The Remaking of Iran.
	Figure 6.3: Portrait of Naqd ‘Ali Beg. Richard Greenbury. 1626. Oil on canvas. L: 83 7/8 in. (213 cm), W: 51 in. (129.5 cm). London, British Library (F 23).