Ta'rikh-i Shaikh Uwais: An important source for the history of Adharbaijan in the 14th century

"Ta'rikh-i Shaikh Uwais: History of Shaikh Uwais. An important source for the history of Adharbaijan in the fourteenth century. Proefschrift ... door Johannes Baptist van Loon." [The Persian text of pp. 134-184 of "Ta'rik̲h̲-i S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Uwais" with an English translation, notes and a summary of pp. 1-134 by J. B. van Loon. With a foldout map of Adharbaijan and sorounding areas.]; Hardcovers; Collation complete - iv, 100 pages, 2 fold-out plates & 50 pages of persian text (thesis); Text in English + Persian text; Binding is tight and firm, spine a bit bumped to the top and bottom. Ex-owner's ink signature to the front free endpapers.

No period in Persian history has attracted the attentionof Western historians to a greater extent, or been studied more intensively than the time of the Mongolian domination, which began at about 1220 and finished round the middle of the 14th century. This interest is due largely to the personality and work of Genghis Khan who stood at the beginning of this period and who succeeded in knitting together the forces of Mongolian and Turkish tribes inhabiting the vast steppes of central Asia, and in building an Asian empire of an extent hitherto unknown. The study of this period, as far as it is part of Persian history, has definitely been stimulated to aconsiderable extent by the existence of several excellent histories written in Persian, partly by order of the Mongolian kings who were themselves residing in Persia. The history which is the subject of the present study, the Ta'rikh-i Shaikh Uwais, is one of the works of reference dealing with the decay of the Mongolian period in Persia, i.e. the first half of the 14th century. It owes its importance to its early origin, which we may put at the about 1360, and also to the fact that it deals especially with the history of one of the most important dynasties which became heir to part of the Mongolian empire, viz. the Jalayirs.

This review of Ta'rikh-i Shaikh Uwais is based on the only manuscript of this work still extant, now preserved in the University Library in Leiden (Netherlands). The manuscript bears the mark of Levinus Warner and belonged to the "Legatum Warnerianum", the collection of oriental books and manuscripts beqeuathed by him to the library of the University of Leiden in 1665. It is bound in a brown leather cover with a flap, and a few of the pages at the end are loose. The size of the book is eight by eleven by one inch. There are 184 pages, numbered in black pencil apparently in recent times. The manuscript is, unfortunately, in a rather defective state. Pages are missing not only at the end, but inside as well, although the whole book has been so neatly bound together that no suspicion would be aroused as to the numerous gaps which exist.