Sadiqi Beg, also referred to as Sadiqi Beg Afshar was a painter, poet, biographer, draftsman, soldier and miniaturist of the Safavid period. [1] Born in Tabriz in about 1533, he spent a number of years as a wandering dervish before settling in Qazwin where he occupied several positions in the royal court. Ultimately, he was dismissed from a post in the royal library in 1596, and he spent his final years focused on his own writing before his death in Isfahan in 1610. [2]
Sadiqi Beg was born in Tabriz, the historic capital of the Safavid dynasty, into the Khudabandalu Turkoman tribe in 940/1533. [3] He came from a notable line of Turkish soldiers that migrated from Syria to support Shah Isma'il who founded the Safavid dynasty in 1501. [4] [5] His father was assassinated when Sadiqi was young, and, despite his family’s noble history, he was left without an inheritance. [1] Consequently, Sadiqi Beg spent many years as a wandering dervish before deciding to pursue art and poetic science at the age of 32. [2] He moved to Qazwin in 1568 and asked his pupil and nephew Muzaffar Ali, reputedly an incredible figure painter, to teach him the style of the earlier well-known artist, Bihzad. [3] [6]
Sadiqi Beg was initially invited to serve under Shah Isma’il II whose short rule lasted from 1576-1577. Following this brief royal appointment, while Sultan Mohammad Khuadbanda was in power from 1577 to 1587, he left Qazwin to fight in the Battle of Astarabad (ca. 1581). [2] Following the battle, he lived in the Iranian cities Hamadan, Lahijan and Yazd. [7]
He remained absent from the royal court throughout the rule of Muhammad Khudabanda, from 1576-1588, and during this time he focused on single page works rather than large-scale manuscripts. [2] Eventually, when Shah Abbas I rose to power in 1581, Sadiqi returned to the court and became head of the royal library in Qazwin. [5] He was highly regarded by royal figures but disliked by his colleagues in the court, and he was dismissed from the library in 1596. However, despite losing this role, he retained the official title and salary and regularly consulted with Shah Abbas I on manuscripts and other royal subjects for the remainder of his life. [4] [2]
Several pieces attributed to Sadiqi Beg survive in modern museums and private collections, and his work is often characterized by its unique colors, distinct contours, and stiff subjects. Many of his most famous illustrations were created while working in the royal court, and he supervised the creation of several important royal volumes. Prior to Shah Isma’il II’s rule, he contributed a single painting to a copy of Asadi’s Garshāspnāma commissioned by the Safavid ruler Tahmasp. [2] Following this piece, he would go on to illustrate additional royal manuscripts for later rulers.
He heavily contributed to Shah Isma’il II’s Shānāma, and he is credited as the creator of seven of its surviving paintings. Similarly, he painted three pieces for a major Shānāma commissioned by Shah Abbas I. [2] This copy partially survives in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, although it remains incomplete and is missing several pages. [5] In addition to his manuscript illustrations, Safavid historian Iskandar Beg Munshi credits Sadiqi Beg with all of the drawing and many of the paintings in Qazwin’s royal palace and the assembly hall in Čhehel Sotūn. [8]
In 1593, just before leaving his royal employ, Sadiqi Beg personally commissioned and illustrated a copy of Kashifi’s Anvār-I Suhaylī (Lights of Canopus). The volume included 107 drawings, possibly all by Sadiqi himself, and it demonstrates his personal investment in the arts. [2] Some scholars such as B. W. Robinson attribute these miniatures exclusively to Sadiqi, although others, such as Basil Gray, believe they belong to several artists. However, it remains likely that he commissioned this work with personal funds. [2]
He was also known for popularizing the Iranian "calligraphic style of drawing." This method is evident in works such as Dragon and Clouds (ca. 1600) which is currently held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. [9] Examples of Sadiqi's work survive in several museums and private collections, and they are highly valued instances of Safavid era artwork. In 1996, a gouache miniature on gold paper, Portrait d'une Jeune Femme Assise sur un Rocher (1590), attributed to Sadiqi, sold at auction in Paris for 80,000 French francs (15,792 U.S. dollars; 12,604 euros; or 10,301 British pounds). The manuscript, in the collection of the Marquess of Bute, is inscribed to "Sadiqi Beg, the rarity of the age, the second Mani, the Bihzad of the time." [10]
Sadiqi's native language was Chaghatai, however he was proficient in two additional Turkish literary languages. The Majma’ al-khavass (Lives of Artists) is considered one of his most important written works, and it provides biographical sketches of some of the era's leading poets, artists and connoisseurs. [1] This work was inspired by Turkish poets Ali-Shir Nava’i, Baki, and Fuzuli, and it includes biographies of 330 poets alongside samples of their work. [4] Further, the Majma’ al-khavass is split into eight sections and includes details on contemporary rulers, Turkish Statesmen, and Persian Poets. [1]
In addition to this piece, he wrote the famous Qanun as-Suwar (Canons of Painting) between 1576 and 1602. This work is a treatise on painting techniques published in Persian verse, and he reportedly "painted thousands of marvelous portraits." [11] [12] Sadiqi Beg’s writings are an important tool for interpreting historical Persian miniature paintings as he details styles and provides instruction for making art. His Persian writing style was inspired by classic Persian artists, including Khaqani, Ẓahīr, Kamal od-Din Esmail, and Saadi Shirazi. [4] Uniquely, historians note that he avoided politics by abstaining from using religious denominations to refer to different techniques in his art, and he used classical styles while critiquing contemporary practices. [4] [3]
The Safavid dynasty was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the Persian Empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safavid order of Sufism, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Iranian Azerbaijan region. It was an Iranian dynasty of Kurdish origin, but during their rule they intermarried with Turkoman, Georgian, Circassian, and Pontic Greek dignitaries, nevertheless, for practical purposes, they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified. From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sasanian Empire to establish a national state officially known as Iran.
Tahmasp I was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum.
Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād, also known as Kamal al-din Bihzad or Kamaleddin Behzād, was a Persian painter and head of the royal ateliers in Herat and Tabriz during the late Timurid and early Safavid Periods. He is regarded as marking the highpoint of the great tradition of Islamic miniature painting. He was well known for his very prominent role as kitābdār in the Herat Academy as well as his position in the Royal Library in the city of Herat. His art is unique in that it includes the common geometric attributes of Persian painting, while also inserting his own style, such as vast empty spaces to which the subject of the painting dances around. His art includes masterful use of value and individuality of character, with one of his most famous pieces being "The Seduction of Yusuf" from Sa'di's Bustan of 1488. Behzād's fame and renown in his lifetime inspired many during, and after, his life to copy his style and works due to the wide praise they received. Due to the great number of copies and difficulty with tracing origin of works, there is a large amount of contemporary work into proper attribution.
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Farrukh Beg, also known as Farrukh Husayn, was a Persian miniature painter, who spent a bulk of his career in Safavid Iran and Mughal India, praised by Mughal Emperor Jahangir as "unrivaled in the age."
Safavid art is the art of the Iranian Safavid dynasty from 1501 to 1722, encompassing Iran and parts of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It was a high point for Persian miniatures, architecture and also included ceramics, metal, glass, and gardens. The arts of the Safavid period show a far more unitary development than in any other period of Iranian art. The Safavid Empire was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires since the Muslim conquest of Persia, and with this, the empire produced numerous artistic accomplishments.
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Mo'en Mosavver or Mu‘in Musavvir was a Persian miniaturist, one of the most significant in Safavid Iran. Not much is known about the personal life of Mo'en, except that he was born in ca. 1610-1615, became a pupil of Reza Abbasi, the leading painter of the day, and probably died in 1693. Over 300 miniatures and drawings attributed to him survive. He was a conservative painter who partly reversed the advanced style of his master, avoiding influences from Western painting. However, he painted a number of scenes of ordinary people, which are unusual in Persian painting.
The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and long-standing Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam.
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