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Books by Chad Lingwood

In Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran Chad Lingwood offers new insights into the polit... more In Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran Chad Lingwood offers new
insights into the political significance of poetry and Sufism at the court of
Sulṭān Ya‘qūb (d. 896/1490), leader of the Āq Qoyūnlū. The basis of the study
is Salāmān va Absāl, a Persian allegorical romance ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī (d.
898/1492), the great Timurid belletrist and Naqshbandi Sufi, dedicated to
Ya‘qūb. Lingwood demonstrates that Salāmān va Absāl, which modern critics
have dismissed as ‘crude’ and ‘grotesque,’ is a sophisticated work of political
and mystical advice for a Muslim ruler. In the process, he challenges received
wisdom concerning Jāmī, the Āq Qoyūnlū, and Perso-Islamic advice
literature. Significantly, the study illustrates the extent to which Jāmī’s
compositions integrated the Timurid and Āq Qoyūnlū realms.

Papers by Chad Lingwood

Middle Eastern Literatures, 2023

This article proposes that Bāgh-i iram, a Persian masnavī by Kamāl al-Dīn Shīr-ʿAlī Banāʾī, the n... more This article proposes that Bāgh-i iram, a Persian masnavī by Kamāl al-Dīn Shīr-ʿAlī Banāʾī, the narrative of which presents a love triangle involving brother-dynasts-hence its alternative title, Bahrām va Bihrūz-is a work of moral and ethical advice. The study posits that Banāʾī composed Bahrām va Bihrūz, which survives only in manuscript form, to honor his deceased patron, Yaʿqūb b. Ūzūn Hasan, leader of the Aq Qoyunlu, whose reputation as a debauchee-turned-penitent ruler Banā'ī employs to impart advice on avoiding sin and comporting oneself with rectitude. The article sheds light on Banāʾī, but also the statesmen-advisers, Qāżī Safī al-Dīn ʿĪsāʾ and Shaikh Najm al-Dīn Masʿūd, and their involvement in Sultān Yaʿqūb's abandonment of venality. The study concludes that Bahrām va Bihrūz is unique within the literary tradition, in that its character-types, twinbrothers, and its focus on the faults of the poet's former patron are subjects not typically encountered in Persian masnavīs.

International Journal of Persian Literature, 2020

This study analyzes selected Persian ghazals attributed to Najm al-Dīn Masʿūd Sāvajī (d. ca. 1493... more This study analyzes selected Persian ghazals attributed to Najm al-Dīn Masʿūd Sāvajī (d. ca. 1493), who, at the behest of Āq Quyūnlū Sultan Yaʿqūb b. Ūzūn Ḥasan (r. 1478–90), held paramount administrative positions in the White Sheep confederate empire. The analysis departs from existing scholarship on premodern Persian ghazal—the tendency of which is to regard the poetic form as nonreflective of its author and its times—and
considers these ghazals as sources of historical information. The study thus determines the extent to which the selected lyrics of Najm al-Dīn affirm information about Āq Quyūnlū royal personalities and state policies contained in the traditional sources, like official chronicles, literary biographies, and personal correspondences. In the process, the article introduces an influential, though hitherto overlooked, Āq Quyūnlū bureaucrat who exemplifies a category of versifier largely neglected by modern specialists of Persian classical poetry: the statesmen-cum-poet dilettante.

Jāmī in Regional Contexts: The Reception of 'Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī's Works in the Islamicate World, ca. 9th/15th-14th/20th Century, 2018

On account of a longstanding interest in his seven masnavīs, modern scholars of classical Persian... more On account of a longstanding interest in his seven masnavīs, modern scholars of classical Persian poetry have all but ignored the qaṣīdas Jāmī composed between 867/1463 and 897/1491. As a consequence, there have been no efforts to determine the extent to which the qaṣīdas Jāmī addressed to Muslim rulers contain historical information about the poet and his royal patrons. Though limited to an analysis of two such poems, this essay demonstrates that the qaṣīdas Jāmī addressed to Abū al-Muẓaffar Yaʿqūb b. Ūzūn Ḥasan, or Sulṭān Yaʿqūb (d. 896/1491), leader of the Āq Qoyūnlū confederate empire, indicate the former’s remarkable familiarity with Yaʿqūb and key personalities at his court in Tabriz and reflect Jāmī’s interest in proffering moral and spiritual advice to an earthly ruler. In a more specific sense, the first qaṣīda—the theme of which is repentance for the commission of sin—appears to commemorate Sulṭān Yaʿqūb’s public repentance for wine-drinking in 893/1488 and presents (to Yaʿqūb) idealized examples of Muslim kingship. The second qaṣīda—the concerns of which are kinship and loyalty—serves to remind Sulṭān Yaʿqūb that the refinement of his character, and thus the longevity of his reign, is dependent upon the guidance of two courtiers and kinsmen from Sāva: the grand vazīr, Qāḍī Ṣafī al-Dīn ʿĪsā Sāvajī (d. 896/1491), and Yaʿqūb’s confidant, Shaikh Najm al-Dīn Masʿūd Sāvajī (d. ca. 898/1493). Both poems contain imagery and terminology relevant to Sufis, including the Naqshbandī order, within which Jāmī was a central figure. It would therefore appear that in addition to solidifying Yaʿqūb’s kingship, Jāmī used the qaṣīdas to acquaint his royal audience with basic aspects of (Naqshbandī) Sufism. Such intentions would indicate that Jāmī—though far away in Timurid-ruled Herat—nevertheless sought to inculcate in Yaʿqūb ideas associated with the realization of perfect Muslim sovereignty.


Journal of Persianate Studies, Jan 1, 2011

This article addresses the possibility that members of the Naqshbandi Sufi order exerted a greate... more This article addresses the possibility that members of the Naqshbandi Sufi order exerted a greater influence at the royal court of Yaʿqub b. Uzun Hasan, leader of the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty, than previously acknowledged. In order to substantiate this claim, the article cites contemporary and near-contemporary Persian sources, notably the Tārikh-eʿālam-ārā-ye amini, the Rowzāt al-jenān va jannāt al-janān, and the Rashahāt-e ʿayn al-hayāt, each of which attests to the presence of Naqshbandis in the Aq Qoyunlu capital of Tabriz, and notes that the Naqshbandis most closely associated with Yaʿqub shared the distinction of being protégés of the classical Persian poet ʿAbd al-Rahmān Jāmi. In a related vein, the article suggests that it was Jāmi himself, in Salāmān o Absāl, and in a personal letter sent to Yaʿqub from his residence in Timurid Herat, who may have exerted the most significant Naqshbandi influence over the Aq Qoyunlu. The article therefore concludes that the existing historiography, which emphasizes the involvement of the Khalvati order in Aq Qoyunlu affairs, should be revised in order to recognize the probable influence of members of the Naqshbandi order, particularly Jāmi, at the Aq Qoyunlu court.

Iranian Studies, Jan 1, 2011

Conference Presentations by Chad Lingwood

This paper seeks to demonstrate that the terminus a quo of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī’s Salāmān va Absāl... more This paper seeks to demonstrate that the terminus a quo of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī’s Salāmān va Absāl is later than commonly understood. In order to substantiate this claim, evidence will be presented to suggest that Jāmī addressed the poem to Sulṭān Yaʿqūb b. Ūzūn Ḥasan, leader of the Āq Qoyūnlū, in order to commemorate the ruler’s repentance for immoral acts in 893/1488. In recognizing the tale’s historical symbolism, the paper concludes that the traditional chronology of Jāmī’s Haft aurang, which situates Salāmān va Absāl second among its heptad of poems, is no longer tenable. The paper proposes a new chronological sequence, which locates the poem as the sixth and thus penultimate composition in Jāmī’s corpus of long masnavīs.

In Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran Chad Lingwood offers new insights into the polit... more In Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran Chad Lingwood offers new
insights into the political significance of poetry and Sufism at the court of
Sulṭān Ya‘qūb (d. 896/1490), leader of the Āq Qoyūnlū. The basis of the study
is Salāmān va Absāl, a Persian allegorical romance ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī (d.
898/1492), the great Timurid belletrist and Naqshbandi Sufi, dedicated to
Ya‘qūb. Lingwood demonstrates that Salāmān va Absāl, which modern critics
have dismissed as ‘crude’ and ‘grotesque,’ is a sophisticated work of political
and mystical advice for a Muslim ruler. In the process, he challenges received
wisdom concerning Jāmī, the Āq Qoyūnlū, and Perso-Islamic advice
literature. Significantly, the study illustrates the extent to which Jāmī’s
compositions integrated the Timurid and Āq Qoyūnlū realms.

Middle Eastern Literatures, 2023

This article proposes that Bāgh-i iram, a Persian masnavī by Kamāl al-Dīn Shīr-ʿAlī Banāʾī, the n... more This article proposes that Bāgh-i iram, a Persian masnavī by Kamāl al-Dīn Shīr-ʿAlī Banāʾī, the narrative of which presents a love triangle involving brother-dynasts-hence its alternative title, Bahrām va Bihrūz-is a work of moral and ethical advice. The study posits that Banāʾī composed Bahrām va Bihrūz, which survives only in manuscript form, to honor his deceased patron, Yaʿqūb b. Ūzūn Hasan, leader of the Aq Qoyunlu, whose reputation as a debauchee-turned-penitent ruler Banā'ī employs to impart advice on avoiding sin and comporting oneself with rectitude. The article sheds light on Banāʾī, but also the statesmen-advisers, Qāżī Safī al-Dīn ʿĪsāʾ and Shaikh Najm al-Dīn Masʿūd, and their involvement in Sultān Yaʿqūb's abandonment of venality. The study concludes that Bahrām va Bihrūz is unique within the literary tradition, in that its character-types, twinbrothers, and its focus on the faults of the poet's former patron are subjects not typically encountered in Persian masnavīs.

International Journal of Persian Literature, 2020

This study analyzes selected Persian ghazals attributed to Najm al-Dīn Masʿūd Sāvajī (d. ca. 1493... more This study analyzes selected Persian ghazals attributed to Najm al-Dīn Masʿūd Sāvajī (d. ca. 1493), who, at the behest of Āq Quyūnlū Sultan Yaʿqūb b. Ūzūn Ḥasan (r. 1478–90), held paramount administrative positions in the White Sheep confederate empire. The analysis departs from existing scholarship on premodern Persian ghazal—the tendency of which is to regard the poetic form as nonreflective of its author and its times—and
considers these ghazals as sources of historical information. The study thus determines the extent to which the selected lyrics of Najm al-Dīn affirm information about Āq Quyūnlū royal personalities and state policies contained in the traditional sources, like official chronicles, literary biographies, and personal correspondences. In the process, the article introduces an influential, though hitherto overlooked, Āq Quyūnlū bureaucrat who exemplifies a category of versifier largely neglected by modern specialists of Persian classical poetry: the statesmen-cum-poet dilettante.

Jāmī in Regional Contexts: The Reception of 'Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī's Works in the Islamicate World, ca. 9th/15th-14th/20th Century, 2018

On account of a longstanding interest in his seven masnavīs, modern scholars of classical Persian... more On account of a longstanding interest in his seven masnavīs, modern scholars of classical Persian poetry have all but ignored the qaṣīdas Jāmī composed between 867/1463 and 897/1491. As a consequence, there have been no efforts to determine the extent to which the qaṣīdas Jāmī addressed to Muslim rulers contain historical information about the poet and his royal patrons. Though limited to an analysis of two such poems, this essay demonstrates that the qaṣīdas Jāmī addressed to Abū al-Muẓaffar Yaʿqūb b. Ūzūn Ḥasan, or Sulṭān Yaʿqūb (d. 896/1491), leader of the Āq Qoyūnlū confederate empire, indicate the former’s remarkable familiarity with Yaʿqūb and key personalities at his court in Tabriz and reflect Jāmī’s interest in proffering moral and spiritual advice to an earthly ruler. In a more specific sense, the first qaṣīda—the theme of which is repentance for the commission of sin—appears to commemorate Sulṭān Yaʿqūb’s public repentance for wine-drinking in 893/1488 and presents (to Yaʿqūb) idealized examples of Muslim kingship. The second qaṣīda—the concerns of which are kinship and loyalty—serves to remind Sulṭān Yaʿqūb that the refinement of his character, and thus the longevity of his reign, is dependent upon the guidance of two courtiers and kinsmen from Sāva: the grand vazīr, Qāḍī Ṣafī al-Dīn ʿĪsā Sāvajī (d. 896/1491), and Yaʿqūb’s confidant, Shaikh Najm al-Dīn Masʿūd Sāvajī (d. ca. 898/1493). Both poems contain imagery and terminology relevant to Sufis, including the Naqshbandī order, within which Jāmī was a central figure. It would therefore appear that in addition to solidifying Yaʿqūb’s kingship, Jāmī used the qaṣīdas to acquaint his royal audience with basic aspects of (Naqshbandī) Sufism. Such intentions would indicate that Jāmī—though far away in Timurid-ruled Herat—nevertheless sought to inculcate in Yaʿqūb ideas associated with the realization of perfect Muslim sovereignty.


Journal of Persianate Studies, Jan 1, 2011

This article addresses the possibility that members of the Naqshbandi Sufi order exerted a greate... more This article addresses the possibility that members of the Naqshbandi Sufi order exerted a greater influence at the royal court of Yaʿqub b. Uzun Hasan, leader of the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty, than previously acknowledged. In order to substantiate this claim, the article cites contemporary and near-contemporary Persian sources, notably the Tārikh-eʿālam-ārā-ye amini, the Rowzāt al-jenān va jannāt al-janān, and the Rashahāt-e ʿayn al-hayāt, each of which attests to the presence of Naqshbandis in the Aq Qoyunlu capital of Tabriz, and notes that the Naqshbandis most closely associated with Yaʿqub shared the distinction of being protégés of the classical Persian poet ʿAbd al-Rahmān Jāmi. In a related vein, the article suggests that it was Jāmi himself, in Salāmān o Absāl, and in a personal letter sent to Yaʿqub from his residence in Timurid Herat, who may have exerted the most significant Naqshbandi influence over the Aq Qoyunlu. The article therefore concludes that the existing historiography, which emphasizes the involvement of the Khalvati order in Aq Qoyunlu affairs, should be revised in order to recognize the probable influence of members of the Naqshbandi order, particularly Jāmi, at the Aq Qoyunlu court.

Iranian Studies, Jan 1, 2011

This paper seeks to demonstrate that the terminus a quo of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī’s Salāmān va Absāl... more This paper seeks to demonstrate that the terminus a quo of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Jāmī’s Salāmān va Absāl is later than commonly understood. In order to substantiate this claim, evidence will be presented to suggest that Jāmī addressed the poem to Sulṭān Yaʿqūb b. Ūzūn Ḥasan, leader of the Āq Qoyūnlū, in order to commemorate the ruler’s repentance for immoral acts in 893/1488. In recognizing the tale’s historical symbolism, the paper concludes that the traditional chronology of Jāmī’s Haft aurang, which situates Salāmān va Absāl second among its heptad of poems, is no longer tenable. The paper proposes a new chronological sequence, which locates the poem as the sixth and thus penultimate composition in Jāmī’s corpus of long masnavīs.