The Academy of Persian Language and Persianate Culture
Advanced Persian through Safavid Texts
Instructor: Peyman Eshaghi
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:
12-Week Course Outline (Safavid Firsthand Materials)
Week 1 – Tārīkh-e ʿĀlam-ārā-ye Ṣafavī (اسکندر بیگ منشی)
A foundational Safavid chronicle presenting court politics and imperial ideology.
Students analyze narrative prose, bureaucratic diction, and historiographical style.
Week 2 – ʿĀlam-ārā-ye ʿAbbāsī (اسکندر بیگ منشی)
The most authoritative account of Shah Abbas I’s reign.
Focus on elaborate prose, Arabicized syntax, and royal discourse.
Week 3 – Khulāṣat al-Tavārīkh (قاضی احمد قمی)
A court historian’s view of Safavid administration and society.
Emphasis on formal historiographical vocabulary and chronological narration.
Week 4 – Tārīkh-e ʿAbbāsī (ملا جلالالدین منجم یزدی)
A chronicle written by a royal astrologer and insider observer.
Reading highlights technical terminology and courtly register.
Week 5 – Safvat al-Ṣafā (ابن بزاز اردبیلی)
The foundational hagiography of Shaykh Ṣafī al-Dīn Ardabīlī.
Students explore Sufi terminology, spiritual metaphors, and early Safavid identity.
Week 6 – Dastūr al-Mulūk (میرزا رفیعا)
A manual of Safavid administrative offices and court protocol.
Focus on bureaucratic Persian and institutional vocabulary.
Week 7 – Tazkirat al-Mulūk (نویسنده ناشناس، دوره صفوی)
A concise description of Safavid state structure and ranks.
Emphasis on titles, functions, and formal administrative language.
Week 8 – Majāles al-Muʾminīn (نورالله شوشتری)
A major Shiʿi biographical and theological work of the Safavid era.
Students analyze polemical prose and religious argumentation.
Week 9 – Rawżat al-Shuhadā (حسین واعظ کاشفی)
A highly influential devotional narrative read widely in Safavid Iran.
Focus on emotive prose, religious imagery, and performative language.
Week 10 – Dīvān of Ṣāʾeb Tabrizi
Representative poetry of the Safavid “Indian Style” (sabk-e hindī).
Close reading of metaphor, syntax compression, and semantic density.
Week 11 – Safavid Farmāns and Royal Decrees
Selections of original royal edicts and legal documents.
Training in deciphering formulaic openings, legal phrasing, and archival Persian.
Week 12 – Travel Accounts on Safavid Iran (e.g., شاردن or ایرانی پاسخها)
Persian responses to European travel narratives and internal descriptions.
Integration of historical prose reading with cultural and linguistic analysis.
Course Details:
Schedule: Thursdays, 29 January 2026 – 9 April 2026
Time: 9:00–10:00 am (US Pacific), 1:00–2:00 PM (US Eastern), 6:00–7:00 PM (Central European)
Format: 12 online sessions
Tuition: $300 (payable in 3 installments)
Note:
Class days and times may be adjusted in accordance with the request of enrollees.
Registered participants will receive full access to recorded session videos and all course materials, including curated sequences from the films and television series.
Registration link: https://forms.gle/4DJhsMC9b8EQpUGu6