This study explores handwritten documents in scroll format originating in the Muslim world and datable to approximately the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries. In a first step, this abstract takes a closer look at the catalogue part of this study (Part II), in which selected scrolls are described according to codicological standards, deciphered and contextualised. Their importance as objects of art is also underscored. In a second step, this abstract returns to Part I of the study and gives an overview of the historical and socio-religious background of the milieux in which these scrolls were produced by specialised artisans and appreciated by their owners. As the studied scrolls are mostly of an extraordinary quality, their possessors often belonged to the ruling elite.
Although manuscripts from Islamic contexts were mostly prepared as codices, the scroll format was certainly not unknown in the Muslim world. Copyists and artisans from the Near East involved in the production of the documents studied here must have been aware that in Judaism and Christianity, there was a long-standing tradition of using the scroll format for texts both religious, such as the Torah, and liturgical. In Islamic contexts proper, copies of the Quran, pilgrimage certificates and âpicture poemsâ in scroll format were produced in Syria as early as in the sixth/twelfth century. Additionally, legal documents such as property deeds, decrees issued by the Ottoman Sultans (berÄt, firmÄn), genealogical scrolls, and calendars were later frequently produced as scrolls (á¹Å«mÄr).
This study deals with a particular group of scrolls. The textual vocabulary of the documents studied here generally consists of prayers, pious formulas and passages from the Quran. During preliminary research, it was possible to identify some 120 documents, now often held in European scientific institutions. This book presents the most important items from this heteroclite group in detail and tries to contextualise them. These documents are more easily accessible in western institutions than in the Muslim world; this is particularly true for non-Muslim researchers. The documents under discussion here can be roughly attributed to three different geographic and cultural contexts:
-
A first group probably originated in a region situated between the three cities of Konya, Tabriz and Baghdad. These documents measure ca. 10â12â¯cm in width and up to 16â¯m in length. As these early documents were copied on a strong paper, they have a wide diameter when rolled up. Documents of this first group were produced between 1300 and 1450â¯CE approximately. Scrolls of this type older than those identified in Chapter 4 have apparently not survived.
-
A second group of documents can be attributed to the Persianate world and was produced between 1450 and 1600 in late Timurid and Safavid contexts. These scrolls usually measure approximately 10â¯cm in width. While the older documents are still copied on a strong paper, from about 1550 onwards an extremely thin, nearly transparent paper was available and preferred for the production of scrolls. This very thin paper considerably reduced the diameter of the documents. These scrolls, produced either in the Persianate world or by craftsmen with a Persian background, are dealt with in Chapter 5.
-
A third group of scrolls originated in the Ottoman Empire and mostly dates from the seventeenth century, when Habsburg Austria and the Ottoman Empire were involved in a long series of battles in the Balkans. The confrontation between these two powers culminated in the defeat of the Ottoman troops and the relief of the city of Vienna in 1683. These late documents, again, are mostly copied on a very thin and transparent paper. They measure ca. 4â¯cm in width and typically 3â4â¯m in length. These scrolls are dealt with in Chapter 6.
The final chapter, Chapter 7, shows that scrolls continued to be produced in the Muslim world until the recent past. The most recently produced item identified in the context of this research project was allegedly made in Syria in the 1970s. But this tradition was also widespread in Iran and India in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is, however, striking that the design and the contents of these younger scrolls differ considerably from those of the old documents from the fourteenth century. The design of these documents is mostly decorative and avoids the integration of symbols appreciated by religious subgroups. This reduction of the ornamental vocabulary and the frequent use of flowers and abstract geometric features underline that traditionally oriented theologians increasingly controlled the religious debates from 1800 onwards. This most recent period in the production of scrolls in the Muslim world is illustrated by a closer look at a few documents dating from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
This second part of the study (Chapters 4â7) describes the most important scrolls among the identified documents. It pays attention to their codicological features and investigates in detail their textual and ornamental vocabulary. This thorough analysis is, however, hampered by the microscopic and decorative scripts frequently applied on these scrolls. The decipherment of the textual elements is therefore time-consuming and additionally complicated by the too often poor state of preservation of certain passages or of entire documents. The descriptions try to give a precise idea of the texts copied on the respective documents. Whenever it was possible, the texts are identified. Two categories of texts were preferably copied on these scrolls:
On the one hand, Quranic passages feature frequently. Certain scrolls contain a virtually complete copy of the Islamic revelation (e.g. Berlin, Ms. or. oct. 218, Chapter 4.3; Paris, Arabe 6088, Chapter 4.5; Dublin, Is 1623, Chapter 5.3). These passages with the continuous text of the Quran were generally copied in a microscopic script known as ghubÄr (dust). GhubÄr script measures 1â3â¯mm in height and is therefore hardly legible to the naked eye. These Quranic passages are often integrated in different geometric or simply decorative features; they frequently form a second, larger text to be read at a superior level. The ghubÄr script was also in use in pigeon post.
On the other hand, prayers and pious formulas regularly feature on the scrolls. They were often, but by far not always, copied in a larger script. Different prayers could be identified. On the seventeenth-century documents from the Ottoman Empire, al-BūṣīrÄ«âs Qaṣīdat al-Burda was copied in the second part of the scroll, always respecting the same layout. On the earlier scrolls feature copies of the DuÊ¿Äʾ al-Jawshan al-kabÄ«r and of the DuÊ¿Äʾ al-Qadaḥ (both on Michigan, Isl. Ms. 220, Chapter 4.1), of the DuÊ¿Äʾ NÅ«r al-anwÄr al-kabÄ«r and of the MunÄjÄt AmÄ«r al-muʾminÄ«n (both on Copenhagen, David Collection, 37â1996, Chapter 4.2), of the Ḥirz AbÄ« DujÄna and of ShÄdhilÄ«âs Ḥizb al-Baḥr (Dublin, Is 1626, Chapter 4.9). On the documents from Safavid contexts, we can repeatedly identify the NÄdi-Ê¿AlÄ« prayer, a highly appreciated dhikr among ShiÊ¿i mystics in Iran (Dublin, Is 1623, Chapter 5.3; Paris, Arabe 5102, Chapter 5.4). Additionally, numerous pious formulas were copied on these documents in decorative panels. There are elaborated copies of the basmala (Chapter 4.1), medallions with invocations of AllÄh by pious formulas such as al-mulk li-AllÄh and SubḥÄna AllÄh (Basel, M III 173, Chapter 4.8). Other features highlight the concept of tawakkul, the unconditional trust in AllÄh (Berlin, Ms. or. oct. 146, Chapter 5.1). Q 112 (SÅ«rat al-IkhlÄá¹£) and the Throne verse (Q 2:255) are encountered particularly often on the scrolls.
The prayers and further textual elements identified suggest that these scrolls were often produced in pious milieux, generally speaking, and were particularly appreciated in mystically oriented environments. In certain instances, it was possible to identify the contexts in which the scrolls were produced. We can assume, for example, that the scroll Is 1623 (Chester Beatty Library, Chapter 5.3) was produced in Shiraz, where the Dhahabiyya Sufi order flourished at the end of the sixteenth century. In the case of the documents from the Ottoman Empire (Chapter 6), certain scrolls were probably produced in a BektÄshÄ« milieu for members of the Janissary troops (Ms. or. 20, Chapter 6, scroll 1, Zurich). Different features on the scroll from Karlsruhe suggest that its owner had close connections with Futuwwa and AkhÄ« associations which played an important role in the Ottoman Empire (Hs. RA 204, Chapter 6, scroll 4). These male associations (Männerbünde) are often in close relation with the mystical Sufi orders proper and can only be distinguished from them with difficulty. That documents of this kind can be explained from a mystical point of view is further confirmed by a golden decorative element added at the very beginning of Is 1626 (Chester Beatty Library, Chapter 4.9). This decoration recalls the headgear worn by the members of the different Sufi orders. As the details of the headgear featured on Is 1626 are not clearly visible, it was not possible to identify the order to which the owner of this scroll probably adhered. Further decorative features point in the same direction: a tree (cypress) at the beginning of the Karlsruhe scroll (Hs. RA 204, Chapter 6, scroll 4) recalls the Tree of futuwwa (shajarat al-futuwwa) described in the Futuwwa literature. Additionally, on several scrolls from the Ottoman Empire features a symbol referred to as Shakl-i Ê¿ayn-i Ê¿alÄ«. This symbol can be most convincingly explained against the ideological background shared by members of the BektÄshiyya order and the soldiers of the Janissary troops closely connected with the BektÄshÄ«s.
The textual and ornamental vocabulary featuring on these scrolls suggests that they were produced for and appreciated by members of the aforementioned Sufi orders and further male associations (Männerbünde), such as Futuwwa and AkhÄ« groups, and craftsmenâs guilds. This reading of the scrolls as documents originating in pious, and particularly in mystically inclined, contexts contradicts their interpretation as the primarily magical documents sometimes encountered in former research. Certain documents analysed in the present study in fact contain elements in common with magical literature from the Muslim world, such as Brillenbuchstaben, the Seven Seals of Solomon, passages of text copied in unconnected letters, or textual elements integrated into squares. But most often, the documents studied here do not contain such elements at all, or these features play a secondary role on the scrolls. It is, therefore, rather improbable that they were produced in magical contexts. While Islamic mysticism was relatively open towards magic and magicians (Chapter 1.3), these particular scrolls originated in a pious environment and were intended to protect their bearer or owner in all kind of dangerous situations.
As most of the documents presented in detail in this study are of an extraordinary quality, we can assume that they were produced for members of the ruling elite. The oldest scroll presented here (Isl. Ms. 220, Michigan, Chapter 4.1) is dated 727/1327 (?) and was perhaps produced for AbÅ« SaÊ¿Ä«d, the last IlkhÄnid ruler. His name, however, was, probably intentionally, erased from the scroll. An extraordinary scroll measuring nearly 16â¯m in length was commissioned for GhiyÄth ad-DÄ«n, the Sultan of the Beylik state of Eretna in eastern Anatolia; the document is clearly dated (754/1353â1354, Chapter 4.10). In another instance (Is 1624, Chester Beatty Library, Chapter 4.6), the name of its first owner, YalbughÄ, is integrated into two prayers copied on the scroll. This YalbughÄ can most probably be identified with YalbughÄ al-KhÄṣṣakÄ«, the de facto ruler of Mamluk Cairo between 1358 and 1366. Apparently not protected well enough by his scroll, YalbughÄ was killed in an assassination in 1366. The scroll CB 542 (Fondation M. Bodmer, Cologny-Geneva, Chapter 5.2) was perhaps once in the possession of the Ottoman Sultan SulaymÄn the Magnificent (reigned 1520â1566). He may have obtained this document from the Safavid Prince AlqÄs MÄ«rzÄ during their alliance against the Safavid ShÄh ṬahmÄsp (reigned 1524â1576). Ms. or. oct. 146 (Staatsbibliothek, Berlin, Chapter 5.1) once belonged to MÄ«rzÄ MakhdÅ«m ShÄ«rÄzÄ« who served for a very short period as á¹£adr, or minister of religious affairs, during the Safavid IsmÄÊ¿Ä«l IIâs short reign (984â985/1576â1577). Finally, the Karlsruhe scroll (Hs. Rastatt 204, Chapter 6, scroll 4) once belonged to the Ottoman Sulá¹Än IbrÄhÄ«m (reigned 1640â1648). A note on the silver box preserved together with the scroll suggests this attribution. The scroll from Zurich (Ms. or. 20, Chapter 6, scroll 1) was probably brought back to Switzerland by a soldier who participated on the Christian side in the second relief of Vienna in 1683. In most other instances, the details of the documentsâ provenance or the circumstances under which they were produced are unknown.
Part I of this study (Chapters 1â3) gives an overview of the cultural, historical and socio-political developments in the Near East between 1250, when the Mongols overran the Muslim world (fall of Baghdad in 1258), and ca. 1800, when Western modernity slowly reached the Islamic world. This information is intended to locate these scrolls in their broader socio-cultural contexts: Chapter 1 gives a general idea of the topic of this study and clarifies questions of terminology. Chapter 2 highlights the most important stages of the historical developments from about 1200 onwards. In a first step, it deals with the invasion of the Mongols in the Muslim world and the further developments up to Timurâs arrival in Iran in 1381; the IlkhÄnid dynasty played a central role during this period (Chapter 2.1). The next chapter describes how Timur established a great empire in the Near East between 1381 and 1405. Under his sons, however, this huge empire soon dissolved (Chapter 2.2). Turkmen dynasties increasingly controlled Iran and Iraq in the fifteenth century (Chapter 2.3). The next section of this overview pays attention to the ascension of the Safavids (Chapter 2.4). This dynasty (1501â1722) developed out of a Sunni dervish order based in Ardabil (NW Iran). ShÄh IsmÄÊ¿Ä«l (died 1524) established this dynasty as a political power in Tabriz in 1501. Under the Safavids, ShiÊ¿ism was introduced as the official religion in Iran (see Chapter 2.6). The Safavids and the Ottomans were bitter enemies for most of the sixteenth century (Chapter 2.5). This opposition can, on the one hand, be explained by the territorial interests of the Ottomans, who tried to expand their empire eastwards. On the other hand, there was a serious religious conflict between the two dynasties. The Safavids mainly came to power because of the unconditional support of the QizilbÄsh tribes. These QizilbÄsh tribes adhered to religious convictions incompatible with the generally accepted tenets of the mainstream Sunni and ShiÊ¿i clergies. The convictions of the QizilbÄshs can best be explained as heterodox leanings. Many admirers of ShÄh IsmÄÊ¿Ä«l lived in Eastern Anatolia under Sunni Ottoman rule. The Ottomans accused the QizilbÄshs of supporting their Safavid shaykhs and later ShÄh IsmÄÊ¿Ä«l himself. They severely persecuted them and exiled them to places such as Eastern Europe. As Chapter 6 studies scrolls originating from Ottoman contexts and datable to the seventeenth century, Chapter 2.7 describes the developments in the Ottoman Empire up to the second relief of Vienna in 1683. This historical overview closes with a last look at Iran after the fall of the Safavids in 1722 (Chapter 2.8).
The Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century largely destabilised the Near East. The fall of the Abbasid capital, Baghdad, had thorough repercussions on nearly all levels of society at the time. Cultural life suffered as much as the economic development of the region. The villagers abandoned their lands because they and their cattle were constantly threatened by the foreign invaders and local bandits. Between 1250 and 1350, several outbreaks of the plague are registered in the region. And many people simply starved to death. In this general atmosphere of insecurity and violence, people addressed themselves for guidance and relief to the religious shaykhs who were placed at the head of mystically oriented brotherhoods (Chapter 3). Islamic mysticism, generally referred to as taá¹£awwuf (Sufism), was increasingly organised in orders from the second half of the eleventh century onwards. This development accelerated after 1200. These Sufi orders (á¹arÄ«qa, pl. á¹uruq) were established by charismatic leaders and later controlled by their successors. In order to give a general idea of this background, Chapter 3 presents different Sufi orders, such as the Yasawiyya (3.1.1), the Mawlawiyya (3.1.2), the BektÄshiyya (3.1.3), the Qalandariyya (3.1.4), the Bayramiyya (3.1.5) and the KubrÄwiyya (3.1.6), as well as several orders widespread in the Arab world, among them the QÄdiriyya, the ShÄdhiliyya and the Suhrawardiyya (3.1.7).
These Sufi orders proper, very often, can hardly be distinguished from further male associations (Männerbünde) such as Futuwwa and AkhÄ« groups or craftsmenâs guilds. We are best informed of the different activities of the Futuwwa groups in Baghdad, where they played a destabilising role for a long time. NÄá¹£ir li-DÄ«n AllÄh, perhaps the last Abbasid caliph able to impose his power, reformed the Futuwwa movement in Baghdad (1207). AbÅ« Ḥafá¹£ Ê¿Umar as-SuhrawardÄ« (died 1234) was the intellectual architect of this reform project. As SuhrawardÄ« played an important role in the establishment of the Suhrawardiyya order in Baghdad, NÄá¹£ir li-DÄ«n AllÄhâs courtly Futuwwa was thoroughly influenced by Sufi ideas (Chapter 3.2). This is not the place to present the ideals of the Futuwwa movement in detail. But generally speaking, young men (fatÄ, pl. fityÄn) organised themselves in these associations. Their moral and corporal exemplar was Ê¿AlÄ« b. AbÄ« ṬÄlib, the fourth caliph of the Sunnis and the first Imam of the ShiÊ¿is. Ê¿AlÄ« gained in importance in the AkhÄ« groups that were active in Anatolia in the fourteenth century. The customs of the AkhÄ«s were described in detail by the Maghrebi traveller Ibn Baá¹á¹Å«á¹a, who visited Anatolia in the 1330s. As generosity and hospitality were their main qualities, these AkhÄ« groups were extremely proud of lodging the famous traveller in their assembly places (khÄnaqÄh). Later, the customs of the AkhÄ«s continued to be observed by the members of the craftsmenâs guilds active in the Ottoman Empire.
Marshall G.S. Hodgson underlined the increasing importance of Ê¿AlÄ« b. AbÄ« ṬÄlib in the 14th century in his study The Venture of Islam. This veneration of Ê¿AlÄ«, the first Imam, did not necessarily imply a ShiÊ¿i background. After the shock of the Mongol invasion and the fall of Baghdad, the ideological strife between Sunnis and ShiÊ¿is decreased in intensity, and Muslims, at least ideally, joined their forces against their common external enemy. In this context, M.G.S. Hodgson speaks of an Ê¿Alid loyalty dominating Islamic societies in the fourteenth century (chapter 3.3). This Ê¿Alid loyalty finds a noteworthy expression on Is 1624 (Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Chapter 4.6). In an eightfold ḥijÄb-prayer (prayer for protection), each part is dedicated to one of the following persons: a. Muḥammad (prophet), AbÅ« Bakr, Ê¿Umar, Ê¿UthmÄn (the three first rightly guided caliphs of the Muslims), and b. Ê¿AlÄ« b. AbÄ« ṬÄlib (first Imam of the ShiÊ¿is and, at the same time, the fourth rightly guided caliph of the Sunnis), Ḥasan, Ḥusayn, and JaÊ¿far aá¹£-á¹¢Ädiq (the second, third and sixth Imams of the ShiÊ¿is). These common mentions of Sunni and ShiÊ¿i dignitaries can best be explained against the background of Ê¿Alid loyalty. Further documents studied here underline the importance of Ê¿AlÄ« in Muslim societies. Among them feature M III 173 (Basel, Chapter 4.8) and Is 1623 (Chester Beatty Library, Chapter 5.3). Later documents, dating from the seventeenth century and in use in the western part of the Ottoman Empire, also express this respect for Ê¿AlÄ«, albeit in a different sense than the older documents from the fourteenth century.
The members of all these associations, whether Sufi orders or Futuwwa groups, gathered in their assembly places. Certain adherents did so daily; others might have participated only in the weekly gatherings. During these gatherings, they practised their prayers, dhikr exercises and further rites (Chapter 3.4.2). The analysis of the textual elements showed that several prayers or pious formulas copied on the scrolls are also attested in mystical prayer books or were recited during initiation rites (Chapter 3.4.3). Additionally, passages from the Quran frequently copied on the scrolls were often written on the walls of the khÄnaqÄhs, the assembly places of the Sufi orders, or in their main pilgrimage sites for decorative purposes. When looking closely at the early scrolls dealt with in Chapter 4, we can remark a striking relationship between their ornamental vocabulary and the features decorating, for example, Aḥmad YasawÄ«âs shrine in Yasi, Central Asia (erected between 1389 and 1405 by Timur), or the sanctuary of the á¹¢afawiyya order in Ardabil, dating in its oldest parts from the fourteenth century (Chapter 3.4.1). This important interdependence of textual and decorative vocabulary, between scrolls and shrines, underscores that the scrolls presented in this volume are, in the first instance, documents particularly appreciated by pious people in general. They were often, but not necessarily, affiliated to one or several religious groups, such as a Sufi order, a Futuwwa or AkhÄ« group or a craftsmenâs guild.
The customs observed and religious ideals shared by the members of these associations and orders often differed from the convictions of a more traditionally oriented Islam. These often-heterodox ideas found an echo in the textual and ornamental vocabulary applied on different scrolls. As some of these features are also encountered in texts on Islamic magic (siḥr), such as works by Aḥmad al-BÅ«nÄ« (died 622/1225?) or TilimsÄnÄ« (died 737/1336), these scrolls were sometimes explained as magical documents. This study does not exclude eventual magical implications of these scrolls. It suggests, however, that they served primarily as documents of devotion and protection, and that they were highly estimated by pious believers in general. They were appreciated by their owners as powerful means of protection in all kinds of dangerous situations, such as war, illness, childbirth, when approaching a mighty person, etc. Magical elements could, of course, enhance this protective function. But the devotional character of these scrolls prevails.