Baysunghurs library : questions related to its chronology and production

Abstract EN

Baysunghur, son of Shahrukh and grandson of Timur, ranks among the most important patrons of the arts of the book, painting, and calligraphy in Iran in the period 1400-1600.

While the prince left a considerable legacy behind him, it was ultimately written representations of Baysunghur that disseminated ideas about his cultural prowess and that fashioned an image of the enlightened patron and morally perfected prince for later audiences.

The power of these representations—spread through biographical and historical literature in Persian-has been such that scholars today persist in the belief that Baysunghur was directly involved in the production of objects, though the mechanisms that alloived this to occur are rarely considered in detail and hard evidence is entirely lacking.

This article attempts to provide the ground for a critical appraisal—picking up on an observation made by Thomas Lentz in 1985—of Baysunghur's role as a patron and practitioner, focusing mainly on his library.

The essay examines Baysunghur's biography and attempts to integrate it with a chronology of production of his manuscripts, focusing toward the end on the rich mass of didactic manuscripts dedicated to him and the role played by practitioners.