Brill's Series of Primary Sources: Western Travelers in the Islamic World (Http: // Brill'

134 Book Reviews / Iran and the Caucasus 16 (2012) 134-136 Brill’s Series of Primary Sources: Western Travelers in the Islamic World (http: //www.primarysourcesonline.nl/c19/). Brill’s online Series of Western travel literature on the Islamic World contains more than 220 main written sources by Western travellers, missioners, merchants, diplomatic representatives from early mediaeval period till the 20th century. It is a huge collection of important primary sources for the political, cultural, economic, ethnographical and differ- ent other issues of the history of late mediaeval and early modern Islamic societies from Africa to India and from the Caucasus to Arabic peninsula. In this review, we will focus only on some main sources listed in the Series concerning Iran and especially the history of the Safavids. However, for the Timurid period one of the most valuable sources is the narrative of the embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the court of Timur at Samarcand in 1403-1406 whose travel laid through Iran. This narrative was translated from Spanish into English for the first time in 1859 by Clemente Ri Markham with notes, preface and an introduction on Timur Lang’s life. There is also the publication of the Spanish text with Russian translation by I. I. Sreznevskij in St. Petersburg in 1881. The next source to be introduced relates the 15th century’s history of Iran and includes the reports of Venetian ambassadors to the court of Uzun Hasan Aq Qoyunlu who was the ruler of Western Iran and Aturpa- takan (Azerbaijan). Those are Caterino Zeno, ambassador in 1471-1473; Giosofat Barbaro, ambassador in 1471-1478; and Ambrogio Contarini, ambassador in 1474-1476. All these reports include important materials on economic and social life of the 15th century Iran, as well as about the relations of Venice and Aq Qoyunlu court with purpose to form an anti- Ottoman united front. This work was translated from Italian into Eng- lish by William Thomas and S. A. Roy with Lord Stanley of Alderley’s introduction and published by “Halkuyt Society”, volume 49, in 1873 in London. It includes also the reports of other Italian travellers to Iran in 15-16 centuries, such as Ramusio, Angiolello and others. For the 17th century Iranian history there are relatively many important Western European sources. One of them is Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle’s Viaggi di Pietro Della Valle il pellegrino. He has been to Iran in 1617-1627. His book is one of the best contemporary accounts of the lands between Istanbul and Goa in early 17th century. His eighteen letters from Persia provide a very detailed and significant information on Shah ‘Abbas’s contradictory personality. His reports on the adminis- trative and military system of the Safavid state, as well as Iranian cus- tomes, culture and festivals are also of great importance. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/160984912X13309560274299 Book Reviews / Iran and the Caucasus 16 (2012) 134-136 135 Another remarkable source on the 17th century history of Iran is the detailed account of German traveller Adam Olearius who has been to Persia during the reign of Shah Safi (1629-1642). He was the first Euro- pean to give a realistic and correct map of Iran. His work consists of six books that have comprehensive description of Iranian cities, culture, customs, Shiite rituals, such as Ašura, etc. As to French sources of 17th century history of Iran Sir John Char- din’s Voyages should be mentioned. He was an Huguenot jeweler who ar- rived and lived in Iran during the 1660-1670s. His Voyages consist of three volumes of which the second is of great value for the history of Iran of that period. Chardin wrote the most detailed foreign account of Persia of his time. He knew excellent Persian and could use Persian documents while writing his account. Unlike other European travellers he in most cases presents a very exact and reliable information on Per- sian urban centres, their population, and Iranian way of life. Chardin gives the number of buildings, houses, caravans, meticulously describes the routes, stations, settlements and the landscape. His thorough and accurate description of Isfahan, the capital city of Safavids, is a really unique account. He describes in detail the court of the Safavid shah, the way of life of Isfahanis that differed from that of the other parts of Per- sian Empire. Chardin is generally a reliable witness, although his work does not lack exaggerations and misunderstandings. His work is truly considered to be an encyclopaedic account on the history of Iran of his time. Although not as significant as Chardin’s work, another important French account of this period is Jean-Baptiste Tavernier’s Six Voyages, which was first published in French in Paris in 1676 then translated into English in 1680 and into German, 1681. He has been to Persia in early 1630s, then in 1640s and 1660s. He gives remarkable details about the routes of the Eastern trade. Two of the English important sources that are presented in this Se- ries and concern the Iranian history of the first half of 18th century and particularly the period of the fall of the Safavid state, should be mentioned as well. The first is Scottish doctor Bell John’s Notes about his travels from St. Petersburg to diverse parts of Asia. He has travelled to Iran and especially has been to the northern regions and also to the Caucasus twice. First in 1715-1718 with Russian representative to Per- sian court A. Volinskij, and the second time he was in the staff of Peter I’s Caspian expedition. He travelled to Darband, Shemakhi, Mughan, Tabriz, Miane, Zanjan, Sultaniye, Kashan, Isfahan, and other Iranian cities. In his account, he gives interesting descriptions of the above .

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