The Religious-Political Essence of the Feast of Sacrifice in the Safavid Period: Based on Traveler Notes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69760/aghel.026003004Keywords:
Safavid state, Qurban Bayram, camel sacrifice, Pietro della Valle, Fedot Kotov, Isfahan, religious ceremonies, political legitimacy, 17th-century traveler accountsAbstract
The article examines the celebration of the Feast of Sacrifice in the seventeenth-century Safavid state of Azerbaijan on the basis of travelers’, missionaries’, and merchants’ accounts. Its main aim is to show that in the Safavid context Qurban Bayram functioned not only as a religious right, but also as a court ceremony, a public ritual, and a means of political legitimation. Using the comparative-historical method, the study analyzes the accounts of Pietro della Valle, Fedot Kotov, Jean Chardin, Raphael du Mans, and other observers within the framework of the Safavid religious-political system. The article demonstrates that the Feast of Sacrifice operated on two levels: while the slaughter of sheep and other animals continued at the family and neighborhood level in accordance with Islamic tradition, camel sacrifice in the capital and major urban centers assumed the form of a state ceremony. The decoration and public procession of the sacrificial camel, the participation of state representatives in the ritual, and the distribution of the meat among the population all reinforced its collective and political significance. The novelty of the study lies in interpreting Qurban Bayram in the Safavid state as a ritual institution situated at the intersection of Shia political ideology, courtly representation, and social integration. The findings show that the camel sacrifice ceremony was an important symbolic instrument in strengthening the religious and political legitimacy of Safavid royal authority.
References
Amanat, A. (2017). Iran: A Modern History. Yale University Press
Azarm M. (2023). Shadow Performance in Iran. Iranian Studies. 56(4): 793-809. https://doi.org/10.1017/irn.2023.37
Azərbaycan etnoqrafiyası (2007). III cild. Bakı: "Şərq-Qərb"
Bayramlı Z., Shabiyev B. (2016). Azərbaycan Səfəvi dövləti (XVI-XVII əsrlər). Avropa Press
Calmard, J. (1996). Shici Rituals and Power. The Consolidation of Safavid Shiʻism: Folklore and Popular Religion. London-New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd Publishers
Cammann, S. (1978). The interplay of art, literature, and religion in Ṣafavid symbolism. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 110(2), 124–136. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00134562
Ferrier, Ronald W., ed. (1996). A Journey to Persia: Jean Chardin's Portrait of a Seventeenth-Century Empire. London: I.B. Tauris,
Islamova Z. (2025). The Waqf System in Safavid Isfahan: Religious Authority, Urban Development, and Socio-Economic Transformation. Architecture Image Studies, 6(4), 734-748. https://doi.org/10.62754/ais.v6i4.677
Jackson, A.V.W. (1906). Persia Past and Present: A book of Travel and Research. New York: Macmillan
Matthee, R. (2012). Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan. London: I.B. Tauris
Mensimova, Z. İ. (2020). Azerbaycan’da Yaşayan Kurban Bayramı Geleneklerimiz (Kuzey Bölgesi Geleneklerinin Örneğinde). BENGİ Dünya Yörük-Türkmen Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2020 (1 - AZERBAYCAN SAYISI), 32-48. https://izlik.org/JA58YG82TE
Newman, A.J. (2006). Safavid Iran: Rebirth of a Persian Empire. London: I.B. Tauris
Özban S. (2007). Portekizli Seyyahlar: İran, Türkiye, Irak, Suriye ve Mısır Yollarında. İstanbul: Kitap Yayınevi
Pietro della Valle, Mario Schipano (1843). Viaggi di Pietro della Valle. II pellegrino, part-II. La biblioteca di New York
Rahimi B. (2004). The Rebound Theater State: The Politics of the Safavid Camel Sacrifice Rituals, 1598–1695 C.E. Iranian Studies. 37(3):451-478. doi:10.1080/0021086042000287532
Savory, R. (1980). Iran under the Safavids. Cambridge University Press
Şarden J. (1994). Parisdən İsfahana səyahət. Baku: Elm Press
Taşkın, O. (2025). Vakıf, Kent ve İdeoloji: Şah I. Abbas’ın İsfahan’ı ve Osmanlı Külliyesinin Karşılaştırmalı Bir Analizi. Osmanlı Medeniyeti Araştırmaları Dergisi, 27, 362-397. https://doi.org/10.21021/osmed.1690781
Введенский А.М. (2023). Датировка путешествия Афанасия Никитина за три моря: новый взгляд // Slověne. 2023. Т. 12, № 2. C. 72–82. https://doi.org/10.31168/2305-6754.2023.2.12
Хождение купца Федота Котова в Персию (1958). Москва: Изд. вост. Литературы
Челеби Эвлия (1983). Книга Путешествий Сейахатнаме. Земли Закавказья и сопредельных областей Малой Азии и Ирана. Москва: Наука
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which allows others to share, adapt, and build upon the work for any purpose, provided appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source. Authors are permitted to enter into separate agreements for non-exclusive distribution of the published version (e.g., post to a repository or publish in a book), with acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
