Manuscripts
tāriḵ-e ʿālām-ārā-ye šāh esmāʿil
The text of this manuscript relates the following story. In all the neighboring Arab countries the accomplishments of Shah Esmāʿil were by this time well known. One day at the beginning of spring, the Mamluk ruler of Egypt, Sultan Ḡānisāy Ḵādem al-Haramin, gave a big celebration where there was in attendance a certain Ethiopian slave named Saʿadān Ḡolom-e Ḥabaši Solṭān, also known as ˛Żujondin. This Ethiopian was well respected and admired by the warriors of Egypt, Syria and Arabia for his ability in combat. At this festivity Żujondin began boasting of his abilities, and claimed he could even beat Esmāʿil himself in combat. By coincidence, there was at this same celebration a ḡāzi from Iran, who became incensed by these boasts, and chastised Saʿadān for not following the proper rules of conduct and boasting idly about a king who was well above his station. If Saʿadān felt himself a noble warrior, the ḡāzi taunted, he should challenge a person of equal station such as Khan Moḥammad Ḵān (Khan Moḥammad ʿOstājlu, the Safavid governor of Diār Bakr). Upon hearing these words Saʿadān became angered, and asked Sultan Ḡānisāy for permission to go with 300 slaves and bring Khan Moḥammad back to Egypt.
Permission granted, Sa¯adån departed with 300 men for Óamid via Óalab in Syria, where they were detained three days at a banquet given in their honor by the governor, Khir al-Din Påshå. Then, festivities completed, they continued once more toward the fortress of Óamid. It was by coincidence that the dårugheh of the molåzem of Khån Mo˙ammad with 70 men had arrived at the castle of Orfeh (spelled Åufeh in the text) to meet Sultan Qåjår (Eje Sultan Qåjår, the governor of Orfeh). It was such a beautiful spring day that he and his men were wandering about admiring the flowers and scenery, when suddenly they came upon the 300 black men.
A messenger from Saʿadān soon explained their mission to the dāruǧa, to whom he replied in the following manner. “It is indeed a coincidence that you, Saʿadān, should arrive before me. I am also a slave,... of Khan Moḥammad,... and having heard of you had asked to be sent to Egypt to confront you. What good fortune that I will not have to travel all that way. But now that I am with only 70 men and you have 300, it is best that we not now fight together, but rather you should proceed on to the fort at Ḥamid and confront Moḥammad Ḵān.” The messenger returned to Saʿadān and related the words of the dāruǧa, whereupon the Ethiopian became very proud, and with his men advanced on the outnumbered Safavids. There was some skirmishing with lance and sword, and after a few had been injured or killed, Saʿadān moved toward the middle of the field of combat. The dāruǧa, seeing this, went after him. First they exchanged words, then parries, and finally the dāruǧa got very upset, and screaming the name Mortazā ʿAli he cut the zangi’s pride separate from his body with the edge of his sword. Upon seeing this the other ǧāzis all joined in the battle and the ground soon became as red as tulips from the blood. many of the Ethiopians were killed, twenty were captured, and the remainder fled.
In this manuscript the subject is located between the death of Sāru Qaplān in 913/1507-8 (folio 87), and Bābur’s encounter with Šāhibeg Ḵān (folio 135v), the latter having died in 915/1510. That suggests that the event under consideration took place between the years 913-915/1507-10. However, another variant of this subject in the British Library (cf. Ms. L, folio 242), suggests a different date for the event. There the subject follows by 10 folios the defeat of Abuʾl Ḵeyr Ḵān (folio 232) which took place in 919/1513, and precedes by five folios the Battle of Chålderån (folio 247v) of 920/1514. Since the text mentions twice that the event took place in the spring, it clearly can only be the spring of 920/1514. Another variance between the two manuscripts is the identification of the individual responsible for the death of Saʿadān. Manuscript L states him to be the dāruḡa (governor or police chief) of the molāzem (aide-de-camp) of Khan Moḥammad, but does not give his name. Manuscript M gives his name, Morād Beg, and his title as molāzem of Khan Moḥammad.
Morād Beg, in a red tunic and astride a brown horse, lunges forward to “slice up like a fresh cucumber that person without any religion, the Ethiopian slave”. The Ethiopians are here portrayed as warriors with helmets, shields, weapons and outlandish uniforms, but in Ms. L, f.242 are portrayed as aborigines wearing loin cloths and armed with crude weapons. Saʿadān seems to be the more prominent figure being split vertically by Morād’s sword - he is dressed in a black and white striped tunic and pointed helmet. Blood gushes out but he has not yet fallen from the saddle. A second Ethiopian, dressed identically, lies in the foreground severed in two parts at the waist. An erroneous inscription identifies him as Saʿadān. Five other slaves, variously dressed and brandishing swords or lances, are tightly bunched together fleeing to the left. Altogether nine slaves with skin rendered in gray and features conventionalized as Indians rather than Africans, are portrayed fleeing before the onslaught of Morād Beg, who is accompanied by only two other Safavids. In the lower right is a standard bearer;.in the upper right, dressed in purple and astride a gray horse, is a Safavid of higher rank who observes. He wears a leopard skin cape, which seems to be the mantle of the local governor. If this interpretation holds true, it would suggest that this is Khan Moḥammad ʿOstājlu, the governor of Diār Bakr, but the text clearly states that Khān Moẖammad was at Hamid at the time. Alternately, one might identify him as Sultan Qājār, the governor of Orfa, who is mentioned in the text as having been in that vicinity, but it is not clear whether he was present at the battle. The backdrop is simply rendered as a light pinkish-mauve hillside, with a rocky ridge near the top, and beyond it a gold sky.
Painting: 20.3 x 15.5 cm. with two lines of text above and below. Frame encloses painting and text; only a Safavid standard protrudes into the right margin. No signs of damage or retouching. A red marginal inscription of later date describes the event. Black inscriptions on two figures, identify them as Morād Beg and Saʿadān.
Painting references:
Mahboubian_1972, #923 folio 114v (not ill.).
Text X-references:
Muntaẓer-Ṣāḥeb_1970, pp.234-39.
Robert Eng
Last Updated: December 8, 2010
Originally published: April 4, 2002