Music in the Safavid Era (1501-1736)

Four Texts and Their Translations

Series: 

Editor / Translator:
Amir Hosein Pourjavady
This volume presents four Persian musical texts from 16th- and 17th-century Iran, each offering invaluable insights into the musical norms and repertoire of the Safavid court. Their well-established dates of composition and places of origin further allow us to trace the trajectory of musical development over nearly two centuries. The first text, Resāla-ye Karāmiya, is an important musical treatise written by Dawra Beg Karāmi in the 1580s in Herat. The second was authored by Mir Ṣadr al-Din Moḥammad Qazvini (d. 1599), a distinguished court music theorist and composer active in the latter half of the 16th century. The third treatise, Zamzama-ye vaḥdat, was penned by Bāqiyā Nāʾini (d. c. 1658), a renowned composer who initially trained in Iran before relocating to India, where he completed his work in 1654 and dedicated it to Shāhjahān (r. 1628-1658). The final text in this collection is the Codex of Amir Khān Gorji, a Georgian court composer in Isfahan during the second half of the 17th century. This codex also includes the musical treatise and song-text collection of Āqā Moʾmen Moṣannef. While the first three texts focus exclusively on music theory, Amir Khān’s codex stands out for its diverse collection of song texts composed by Safavid musicians throughout the 17th century.
Copyright Year:
2026
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ISBN:
978-90-04-76063-9
Publication:
30 Jul 2026
Hardback
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ISBN:
978-90-04-76060-8
Publication:
20 Aug 2026
Cover Music in the Safavid Era (1501-1736)

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Amir Hosein Pourjavady earned his first Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from UCLA and his second Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from the CUNY Graduate Center. He has taught at both the University of Tehran and UCLA for several years. Dr. Pourjavady’s scholarship includes editions of several musical treatises, numerous articles, encyclopedia entries, book reviews, and CDs. His previous projects have produced significant results, notably his acclaimed book Music-Making in Iran from the Fifteenth to the Early Twentieth Century (Edinburgh University Press, 2024).
Acknowledgements
Note on Transliteration and Translation

Introduction

Part 1 Translations



1 Resāla-ye Karāmiya by Dawra Beg Karāmi

2 The Treatise on the Science of Music by Mir Ṣadr al-Din Moḥammad Qazvini

3 Zamzama-ye vaḥdat (The Murmur of Unity) by Bāqiyā Nāʾini

4 The Musical Codex by Amir Khān Gorji

Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Part 2 Persian Texts



۱ ‮رسالهٔ کرامیه / دوره بیگ سفره چی‬‎

۲ ‮رسالهٔ علم موسیقی / میرصدرالدّین محمّد قزوینی‬‎

۳ ‮زمزمهٔ وحدت / باقیای نائینی‬‎

۴ ‮[مجموعهٔ رسائل و تصانیف] / امیرخان گرجی‬‎
 ‮دیباچه‬‎
 ‮الرساله فی علم [الـ]موسیقی‬‎
 ‮رساله و تصانیف مرحوم آقا مؤمن مصنّف‬‎
 ‮رسالهٔ کمترین غلامان امیرخان‬‎
 ‮مجموعهٔ تصانیف‬‎
 ‮تصانیف اضافی در نسخهٔ پاریس‬‎
 ‮تصانیف نسخهٔ باکو‬‎

Anyone interested in history of music in Islamic world, Safavid intellectual life, Medieval music and Persian literature.
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