CALL FOR PAPERS
Music in the Time of Timurid and Safavid Empires
Organised by: Persian Manuscripts Association
Hosted by: Khalili Research Centre
16-17 May, 2025
*
The Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA) is calling for its second conference on Persian Studies.
The conference concerns music in the Persianate world during the Timurid and Safavid periods, and in the contemporary empires in Greater Iran, Central Asia, South Asia and the Ottoman world during the 15th-17th century.
We are aiming to bring together interdisciplinary scholars to explore and discuss musical arts, inclusive of texts, objects, and arts of the book. Presentations from wide-ranging approaches including music; philosophy; theology; mysticism; history; literature and art history, and all forms of studies about music, musicians, instruments, court repertories, performance practices, musical patronage, music circles and their interactions with scholars and artists are welcome.
From treatises on musical theory and catalogues of instruments to anecdotes about musicians at viziers’ halls, we know that musical culture was dynamic and vibrant. Under the patronage of Timurid aristocracy, Persian music undertook significant development in the 15th century: a rich body of evidence—including the treatises of ‘Abd al-Qādir Marāghī, the catalogues of Ḥasan Kāshānī, and the writings of Mīr ʿAlī Shir Navāʾī—attest to the flourishing of musical arts and interactions between Timurid and Ottoman courts in this period. Music underwent a shift in the Safavid courts during the 16th century, at which point a number of great artists and musicians migrated to South Asia to seek Mughal patronage.
The conference will be hosted in person by the Khalili Research Centre at the University of Oxford, with the possibility of virtual participation if necessary.
We will consider papers on a range of subjects, including:
Theoretical music treatises
Music in written heritage (literature, poetry, travelogue, samā‘-nāma, taẕkira, theology, sufism, philosophy and other written sources)
The documentation of musical activities in courts
Musicians and performers
Conceptualisation of music (music in the context of societies and empires)
Political culture and sophisticated court music
Antecedents in the Ilkhanid and Jalayirid periods
Interaction with intellectual circles
Interactions between court musicians in contemporary empires
Ethnomusicology and organology
Representation of music in Persian painting
Musical transmissions (migration of musicians to other courts, music circles and interaction between various cultures)
Music as medicine
Music patronisation in the Timurid and Safavid courts and beyond
Application Procedure
Please send your abstract (max. 300 words) along with a short biography (max. 200 words) as one pdf file to info@persianmanuscripts.org.
AN UNIDENTIFIED PRINCELY EDITION OF THE TĀRĪKH-I VAṢṢĀF
Online ZOOM lecture by Dr. Shiva Mihan | Washington University in St. Louis
Please register with: https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_t4b0-0otQBiO7isUUrVhfw
“Baysunghur’s Workshop: Exhibition of mastepieces from Baysunghur’s library.”
Malek National Library and Museum, 21 November 2023.
The event includes talks by Abolala Soudavar and Dr Shiva Mihan.
This is an in-person event only.
“ʾVisualising Persian History: The Illustration of Persian Manuscript Histories.” The talk will take place on Tuesday 21st of November 2023, 6:16 pm (CET). [NOTICE THE TIME CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS WEBINARS]
More information: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ifi/veranstaltungen/event-details/visualising-persian-history-the-illustration-of-persian-manuscript-histories
To participate online, please register at https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_17rkdW40Tvi9AWD-GkAtnQ#/registration
“Collation Culture in Pre-Modern Islam: The Manuscript Tradition of Ibn Abī Uṣaybiʿa’s ʿUyūn al-Anbāʾ fī Ṭabaqāt al-Aṭibbāʾ”
The talk will take place on Tuesday 17th of October 2023, 5 pm (CET).
More information:
Please register at
https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jtYw9_Y_TXCkopYHFvdnCw
Call for Collaboration
Website Manager, Persian Manuscripts Association (unpaid)
The Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA) is seeking a volunteer Website Manager to expand and maintain its website (http://persianmanuscripts.org/). The PMA is a new international academic membership organization that aims to support and promote research on Persianate manuscript studies. The Association hopes to organize regular events, publish new research and facilitate increased communication and cooperation across its membership base. The PMA website is a crucial space for the implementation and maintenance of these aims, and its functionality and appearance are of the utmost importance.
The Website Manager’s responsibilities include:
⦁ Developing a distinctive and functional website for the organization, which will include facilitating and maintaining the private membership list, and managing cloud storage for large files;
⦁ Identifying, responding to and troubleshooting website issues and security breaches;
⦁ Ensuring the website, PMA email accounts and membership information are protected by appropriate security measures;
⦁ Monitoring website traffic and recommending improvements where necessary;
⦁ Collaborating with other team members, such as the Publicity Officer, to ensure that the website aligns with wider PMA objectives.
Essential requirements of the post holder include:
⦁ Experience in constructing and maintaining WordPress websites;
⦁ Familiarity with setting up and using cloud spaces;
⦁ Understanding of search engine optimization;
⦁ Experience with image editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop;
⦁ Ability to take initiative and solve problems independently;
⦁ Excellent written English and attention to detail.
No knowledge of the academic field is required, but familiarity with Arabic script is desirable.
The role is home-based and flexible. It is expected that the post will not require more than three hours per week on average. While the role is currently unpaid, this is an exciting opportunity to become involved with a new academic organization and help shape its growth and development on the ground level. We hope that, as the PMA expands, we will be able to remunerate the post holder accordingly.
Interested candidates should submit their CV and a covering letter that demonstrates how they meet the essential requirements outlined above to info@persianmanuscripts.org by Sunday 30 July 2023. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide two references at a later date and to attend a brief Zoom interview.
Publicity Officer, Persian Manuscripts Association (unpaid)
The Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA) is seeking a volunteer Publicity Officer to manage its social media accounts and promote its activities. The PMA is a new international academic membership organization that aims to support and promote research on Persianate manuscript studies. The Association hopes to organize regular events, publish new research and facilitate increased communication and cooperation across its membership base. The PMA’s social media pages are vital channels for the promotion of these aims and activities.
The Publicity Officer’s responsibilities include:
⦁ Developing a creative and engaging social media presence for the PMA Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts;
⦁ Managing the day-to-day handling of these accounts and regularly updating these appropriately with relevant content;
⦁ Monitoring social media accounts and recommending improvements where necessary;
⦁ Assisting in the marketing and promotion of PMA events via direct mailing lists;
⦁ Collaborating with other team members, such as the Website Manager, to ensure that social media and mailing list content aligns with wider PMA objectives.
Essential requirements of the post holder include:
⦁ Experience in maintaining and growing public-facing social media accounts;
⦁ Experience in writing and editing marketing copy for a variety of platforms;
⦁ Understanding of algorithms and search engine optimization;
⦁ Some knowledge of Islamic art history;
⦁ Ability to work constructively and professionally with a variety of stakeholders;
⦁ Excellent written English and attention to detail.
Familiarity with manuscript studies and Arabic script is desirable.
The role is home-based and flexible. It is expected that the post will not require more than three hours per week on average. While the role is currently unpaid, this is an exciting opportunity to become involved with a new academic organization and help shape its growth and development on the ground level. We hope that, as the PMA expands, we will be able to remunerate the post holder accordingly.
Interested candidates should submit their CV and a covering letter that demonstrates how they meet the essential requirements outlined above to info@persianmanuscripts.org by Sunday 30 July 2023. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide two references at a later date and to attend a brief Zoom interview.
“The Mongols’ Baghdad: Knowledge Transmission Through Manuscript Cultures Before and After The Conquest.”
1st-3rd December 2022, IMAFO Library, Hollandstrasse 11-13, 3rd Floor, 1020 Vienna.
2 December 2022, 9.00 – 17.30
Online registration:
https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/…/WN_M2L-Kit-SX2K3PmV62B_RA
Day 2:
3 December 2022, 10.00 – 17.00
Online registration:
https://oeaw-ac-at.zoom.us/…/WN_np7gCAUqTj6at12WmeIijw
Timurid Manuscripts in Context
Call for Papers
The Persian Manuscripts Association invites book chapter proposals for its inaugural book publication – an edited volume concerning Prince Baysunghur’s patronage and manuscript production to be published by Brill.
For more details download the PDF here.
Shamsa: The Journal of the Persian Manuscripts Association
Call for Papers
The Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA) is delighted to announce the launch of their new online, open-access journal, Shamsa: The Journal of the Persian Manuscripts Association. We invite submissions to be published in the inaugural 2024 volume. For more details download the PDF here.
Prince Baysunghur, Before & After:
Timurid Manuscripts in Context
The inaugural symposium of the Persian Manuscripts Association celebrates the 600th anniversary of the first manuscript produced at the royal library-atelier of the Timurid Prince Baysunghur (1399-1433) in Herat. Prince Baysunghur, Before and After: Timurid Manuscripts in Context, is a two-day international symposium, held on 5-6 November 2021, and hosted by the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.
Baysunghur’s patronage of manuscript production is significant for exhibiting a high artistic refinement in the arts of the book, but the patron was also actively involved in the scholarly aspect of the works to be reproduced. He commanded editions and the preservation of texts in a variety of fields, notably history, ethics and literature.
This symposium brings together scholars and international experts in a number of disciplines to explore the connoisseurship and patronage undertaken by the prince, the aesthetic of his atelier’s output, their antecedents in the Jalayirid period, and the production of literary editions in his library.
The full program for this event can be seen here. Register in advance for this webinar here. After registering, you will receive an email containing information about joining the webinar.
For additional information please contact Shiva Mihan at smihan@ias.edu.
Webinar series: pre-modern Islamic manuscripts
This is the first Webinar series organised by the NoMansLand research project (FWF Y 1232) dedicated to the study of Islamic manuscripts in pre-modern Iran and Central Asia. The project aims to reconstruct aspects of the production, circulation and consumption of written knowledge during the Mongol and early Timurid periods in Iran and Central. The webinar series presents eight lectures to this effect by world-leading scholars, each delving into different aspects of manuscript studies. It aims to promote research on handwritten material and explore its potential impact on the study of this region during the 13th – 15th centuries. The webinar endeavors to raise awareness of the historical value that surviving codices from the Mongol period have in shaping our understanding of Central Asian and Iranian cultural history. The lectures have been scheduled throughout the academic year 2021-2022. They are free of charge, but registration will be required (registration will be announced for each lecture).
22 September 2021, 5 pm
Prof. Shahzad Bashir | Brown University, USA
13 October 2021, 5 pm
Prof. Javad Abassi | Ferdawsi University in Mashhad, IR Iran
17 November 2021, 5 pm
Dr. Joep Lameer | University of Leiden, The Netherlands
15 December 2021, 5 pm
Dr. Francesca Leoni | Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
23 February 2022, 5 pm
Dr. Hadel Jarada | Institute of Iranian Studies, ÖAW, Austria
16 March 2022, 5 pm
Dr. Stefanie Brinkmann | Saxony Academy of Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
13 April 2022, 5 pm
Akram Khabibullaev | Indiana University, USA
11 May 2022, 5 pm
Dr. Nourane Ben Azzouna | Université de Strasbourg, France
more information:
13-14 July 2021, Oxford
10.45am-4.15pm BST (13 July)
11am-5.30pm BST (14 July)
Online
Free, book in advance Book now
Persian Arts of the Book Conference
About the event
‘Persian Arts of the Book’ gathers scholars from around the world with expert curators from Oxford and beyond to reflect on the Persian manuscript tradition. In a series of short presentations and thematic panel discussions we will examine the poetry, history, and artistic expression contained in these treasures, and the materials and crafts that contributed to making the manuscripts, as well as the history and science of their preservation. Starting with a focus on the history of collections now at the Bodleian Library, the international speakers represent the state of the field of Persian manuscript studies today.
Speakers:
Nasrin Askari, Arezou Azad, Anita Chowdry, Peyvand Firouzeh, Cailah Jackson, Gulfishan Khan, Shiva Mihan, Adeela de Unger, David Roxburgh (keynote), Karin Scheper and Ilse Sturkenboom
Booking information:
Registration closes at 12pm on 8 July
To join the Zoom meeting, please register here.
When you have booked your place, the ticketing system will send you an automated confirmation.
A link to access the online event will be sent by the morning of the event to the email address associated with your booking.
If you do not receive this link please email: bookcentre@bodleian.ox.ac.uk