In his 1634 and 1638 editions, Herbert does not seem to notice that his illustration of the maydan shows “a Mosque East” on the western side[1]. He captions the image: “Take the outside of this brave Fabrick [sic] well presented”[2]. By 1665, he is more circumspect: “The outside of this noble Burse has this form, …
The “massive scale and orderly disposition” that Babaie has suggested was important to the Persians[1] is focused on much more explicitly in later-published Western accounts – perhaps linked to the rise in Europe of Palladianism. Della Valle, for example, wrote of the “porticos” around the maydan being: “the most beautiful, the most equal, and of the …
In Herbert’s later editions the maydan seems to have grown, being described as: “a thousand paces from North to South, and from East to West above two hundred”[1]. Herbert was not the only traveller who struggled to measure the maydan. I had already myself noticed how wildly different all the measurements were, when I came …
Herbert visited Isfahan for “above twentie days, and no time idle” in 1627[1]. In each of his published editions the maydan was a high point: in 1634, the “chiefe ornament of the Citie… and to say truth, all the bravery, concourse, wealth and Trade is comprised in her”[2]; and from 1638, “without doubt as spacious, …
Lord Curzon has described Herbert’s work as: “by far the most amusing work [on Persia] that has ever been published”[1]. Although he visited Iran in 1626-29 – after della Valle and Figueroa – his account was made publicly available much more quickly. The first edition of A relation of some yeares travaile.. Into Afrique and …
Many more travellers visited – and eulogised[1] – the commercial version of the maydan, successively flanked as it was by glorious monuments. Publication delays, however, significantly affected the order in which travellers’ accounts could be read by – and so, be influential upon – their Western audiences. For example, Pietro della Valle visited in 1617-23 …
Relatively few Westerners are known to have been in Isfahan between 1590 and 1602. The notorious Sherley brothers and their party did, however, visit in 1599. Their story was certainly popular: it was considered interesting enough to appear in at least four English versions before 1602. Translations appeared in French and Spanish, and Anthony Sherley …
As for the Persian sources, there are many more Western accounts than can be analysed in detail here. I want to concentrate on those which influenced the creation of the symbolic image of Abbas’ maydan – so, the earlier and more popular reports. In contrast to the Persian sources, it is possible to get some …
The differences between the Persian accounts underline the dynamism of Safavid Isfahan – the maydan was a work-in-progress for many decades, and not simply the static entity we see now. However, all the accounts discussed above use some version of rhetoric, with their own sorts of comparisons and citations. All of the Persian accounts draw …
Iskandar Beg Munshi’s History of Shah Abbas is in perhaps surprising contrast. The author was in the personal service of the Shah[1] and has come – “somewhat by default” – to be seen as “authoritative”, particularly with reference to the replanning of Isfahan after it was decided to make the city the capital[2]. However, Iskandar …