Three Empires and Persian Historiography

Nilab Saeedi is Research Associate at the Institute of Habsburg and Balkan Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences. She received her PhD in history in 2025 at Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul, with a focus on Islamic intellectual history. Her dissertation was awarded the “Best Doctoral Thesis of the Year” at Ibn Haldun University. She also holds an MA in Turkish literature from Ondokuz Mayıs University and a BA in linguistics. Her research interests include early modern Ottoman history, Persian historiography, and Islamic intellectual history. She has taught courses on art and literature and worked as a translator in Turkish, English, and Persian. She is a contributing editor for the Journal of the History of Ideas, where she interviews scholars of intellectual history and reviews their work.

• TABLE OF CONTENTSList of FiguresList of TablesPrefaceAcknowledgementsList of Symbols and AbbreviationsChapter 1: Lārī’s World: Exile, Empire, and History1.1 IntroductionChapter 2: Muṣliḥ al-Dīn Lārī: Education, Travels, and Career2.1. Origins and Early Scholarly Development2.2. A Forced Migration2.3. At the Mughal Court2.4. Arriving at the Ottoman CourtChapter 3: The Persianate Lens: Lārī's Literary Contributions and Historical Vision3.1. Introduction3.2. Mir’ātü’l-Advār wa Mirḳātü’l-Aḫbār: An In-Depth Analysis3.3. Exploring Features of Mir’ātü’l-Advār wa Mirḳātü’l-AḫbārChapter 4: Selective Silence: Lārī's Portrayal of the Safavids4.1. Introduction4.2. Lārī's Reversal of Safavid Historiography4.2.1. Crafting the Safavid Universal History4.2.2. Biographies4.2.3. The Shah at the Core4.2.4. Prefaces4.2.5. The Ancient Stories4.3. Safavid Rule in Question4.4. Safavid Scholars in Lārī's Taẕkira4.5. ConclusionChapter 5: The Heroic Legacy: Tīmūr's Glorious Portrayal 5.1. Introduction5.2. A Heroic Narrative5.2.1. Tracing the Lineage of Tīmūr5.2.2. The Leadership Triad: Strategy, Skills, and Character in Action5.2.3. The Faithful Conqueror5.2.4. The Patron of Knowledge5.3. Lārī's Tīmūr: A Strategic Hero in the Battle of Ankara5.4. Timurid Mindscapes: The Intellectuals of the Timurid Era in Mir’ātü’l-Advār 4.4.1. Mystics of the Naḳshbandīs5.4.2. Mystics Beyond the Naḳshbandī Sufi Tradition5.4.3. Scholars in the Era of Tīmūr5.5. ConclusionChapter 6: Empire in Outline: Lārī's Portrayal of the Ottoman Dynasty6.1. Introduction6.2. Lārī's Lens: Early Ottoman Origins and the Shaping of Power6.3. Osmān I: The Struggle for Legitimacy in the Early Ottoman Empire6.4. Beneath Tīmūr's Shadow: Lārī's Account of the Ottoman Interregnum6.5. Conquering the World: Lārī's Depiction of Meḥmed II6.5.1. Conquering the World6.6. Disclosing Hostility: Lārī's View on the Battle of Çaldıran6.7. Divine Majesty: Sultan Süleymān in Lārī's Narrative6.8. ConclusionChapter 7: A Mirror Fading: Lārī’s Historiographical Legacy7.1 ConclusionAppendicesIndex