Intellectual Networks in Timurid Iran: Sharaf Al-Dīn 'Alī Yazdī And the Islamicate Republic of Letters

By focusing on the works and intellectual network of the Timurid historian Sharaf al Dīn 'Alī Yazdī (d.1454), this book presents a holistic view of intellectual life in fifteenth century Iran. İlker Evrim Binbaş argues that the intellectuals in this period formed informal networks which transcended political and linguistic boundaries, and spanned an area from the western fringes of the Ottoman State to bustling late medieval metropolises such as Cairo, Shiraz, and Samarkand. The network included an Ottoman revolutionary, a Mamluk prophet, and a Timurid occultist, as well as physicians, astronomers, devotees of the secret sciences, and those political figures who believed that the network was a force to be taken seriously. Also discussing the formation of an early modern Islamicate republic of letters, this book offers fresh insights on the study of intellectual history beyond the limitations imposed by nationalist methodologies, established genres, and recognized literary traditions.

Author: İlker Evrim Binbaş
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 05/26/2016
Pages: 362
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.36lbs
Size: 9.36h x 6.08w x 0.98d
ISBN: 9781107054240

About the Author
Binbaş, İlker Evrim: - İlker Evrim Binbaş is a lecturer in Early Modern Asian Empires in the Department of History at Royal Holloway, University of London.