Persian through Safavid Texts

Instructor: Peyman Eshaghi

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About the course:

This 12-week advanced course develops high-level Persian reading skills through close engagement with original Safavid-era (16th–18th century) texts. Students work directly with unadapted historical, literary, religious, and administrative sources to master complex syntax, Arabic–Persian hybridity, rhetorical devices, and genre-specific vocabulary characteristic of early modern Persian. The course emphasizes contextual reading, stylistic analysis, and historical semantics while training students to navigate manuscript-style prose and verse. It is especially beneficial for advanced Persian learners, graduate students, and researchers in Iranian studies, Islamic history, Shiʿi studies, Ottoman–Safavid relations, and Persianate literature who seek direct access to Safavid primary sources without reliance on translations.

 

Content of the course:

 

Week 1

Tarikh-e Jahan-ara by Ahmad Ghaffari Qazvini

تاریخ جهان‌آرا اثر قاضی احمد غفاری قزوینی

 

Week 2

Tuhfa-ye Sami by Sam Mirza Safavi

تحفه سامی اثر سام میرزا صفوی

 

Week 3

Jame-e Abbasi by Baha' al-Din al-Amili (Sheikh Baha'i)

جامع عباسی اثر بهاءالدین عاملی (شیخ بهایی)

 

Week 4

Ahsan al-Tavarikh by Hasan Beg Rumlu

احسن‌التواریخ اثر حسن بیگ روملو

 

Week 5

Haft Iqlim by Amin Ahmad Razi

هفت اقلیم اثر امین احمد رازی

 

Week 6

Karnameh dar Bab-e Tabbakhi (Manual of Cookery) by Haji Mohammad Ali Bavarči

کارنامه در باب طباخی و صنعت آن اثر حاجی محمدعلی باورچی بغدادی

 

Week 7

Tuhfat al-Mu'minin (The Gift of the Faithful) by Mohammad Mo'men Tonekaboni

تحفه المؤمنین اثر محمد مؤمن تنکابنی

 

Week 8

Gohar-e Morad by Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji

گوهر مراد اثر عبدالرزاق لاهیجی

 

Week 9

Monsha'at-e Vahid Qazvini by Mirza Muhammad Taher Vahid Qazvini

منشآت وحید قزوینی اثر میرزا محمد طاهر وحید قزوینی

 

Week 10

Abbas-nama by Mirza Muhammad Taher Vahid Qazvini

عباس‌نامه اثر میرزا محمد طاهر وحید قزوینی

 

Week 11

Tazkira-ye Nasrabadi by Mirza Mohammad Taher Nasrabadi

تذکره نصرآبادی اثر میرزا محمدطاهر نصرآبادی

 

Week 12

Dastur al-Shahriyar by Mohammad Ibrahim b. Zayn al-Abedin Nasiri

دستور الشهریار اثر محمد ابراهیم بن زین‌العابدین نصیری

 

Course Details

Schedule: Thursdays, 25 June - 10 September, 2026

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Time: 11:00 AM–12:00 PM (US Pacific), 02:00–03:00 PM (US Eastern), 8:00–9:00 PM (Central European)

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Format: 12 online sessions 

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Tuition: $300 (payable in installments)

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Registered participants will receive full access to recorded session videos and all course materials.

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Registration link: https://forms.gle/LLmHevpx1mvyjXhG6

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