File:A firman of Shah Isma'il I Safavi Khata'i (d.1524), Safavid Tabriz, Iran, dated 4 July 1508.jpg

English: A FIRMAN OF SHAH ISMA'IL I SAFAVI KHATA'I (D. 1524)

SAFAVID TABRIZ, IRAN, DATED 25 SAFAR AH 914 / 4 JULY 1508 AD

A decree issued by Shah Isma'il I Safavi Khata'i transferring ownership of the Bagh-i Khan Ahmad garden in Tabriz to his brother Sayyid Sulayman Mirza, Persian manuscript on paper with 12ll., black shikasteh, key words picked out in gold, with seal impression dated AH 908 / 1502-3 AD, the reverse with annotations, mounted, framed and glazed 19 x 9in. (48.3 x 23cm)

Engraved [1] He is God, extol Him! [2] In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful! [3] O 'Ali! [4] Judgement is God's alone! [5] Abu'l-Muzaffar Isma'il Bahadur, Our Order (sozumuz)! [6] At this time we have decreed that the garden of Khan Amhad, situated in the capital (dar al-saltane) of Tabriz, [7] and the gardens which have been in the possession of the excellent sayyid-like person, auspicious and beloved brother (janab-i-siyadat ma'ab, sa'adat-qibab-i ukhuwwat-habab), [8] Glory of Sayyids and Religion, Sayyid Sulayman Mirza, should belong to him, according to the former precedent (dastur), and should pass into the possession of his representatives (wukala). [9] No other person should enter there. The darughe, kalantars, and mutasaddis of the affairs of the diwan of the aforesaid capital should consider it an established matter, according to what is written here. [10] [In this repsect, as long as the exalted and dignified ('ali-janab-i imarat-ma'ab) Jumlat al-Mulk, Kamal al-Dawla wa'l-Iqbal, Husayn Beg Lala has not taken possession.] [11] No person should interfere; nor should they make any alteration in what has been decreed; they should consider it their obligation. Written on - [12] It should pass into their possession at this time. Searches must not be undertaken. No further remarks (bida)] [13] the 25th of the month of Safar 914/25 June 1508

This early firman composed on behalf of Shah Isma'il I Safavi Khata'i, founder of the Safavid dynasty, is a rare survival of a transitionary form between the chancellery practices of the Qara and Aq Qoyunlu and those of the later Safavids. Notably, the presence of the phrase khutima bi'l-khayr written perpendicular to the eleventh line is a last trace of a formal concluding prayer used by the former bureaucracies. As it is traditionally written on the final line as a method of preventing unauthorized amendments, B.G. Martin has suggested that lines ten and twelve are later interpolations. They mention the prominent Qizilbash leader Husayn Beg La'la', who played a key role in the early Safavid movement by helping the young brothers Isma'il and Sulayman Mirza - mentioned in the firman - evade the Aq Qoyunlu authorities. As such, this rare surviving document provides a valuable insight into the early Safavid political struggle between the Qizilbash Turkomans and the settled bureaucracy of Azerbaijan.

This firman is one of twenty surviving documents which can be connected to Shah Isma'il and dateable to his lifetime. Four of these are unfinished drafts of letters without a seal or tughra. Eight, now in the Topkapi Palace Museum archive, deal with diplomatic and political subject matters. The final eight deal with property rights (guaranteeing or confirming proprietorship, exemptions or immunities on land revenues, and freeing property from the control of the state or its agents). Three of these eight documents are fragmentary or incomplete, including a partial firman in the British Museum (published www.asnad.org/en/document/274; accessed 21 March 2024). Our firman is the earliest known which is both complete and retrains the seal and tughra. It is the only surviving document relating to a member of Isma'il's family.

The full transcription and commentary are published in B.G. Martin, 1965, and are available upon request.