| Title: | The Role of Azerbaijani Turkish in Safavid // Iran Iranian Studies. Vol. 46, No. 4. |
| Author: | Willem Floor and Hasan Javadi |
| Translator: | |
| Editor: | |
| Language: | English |
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| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of International Society of Iranian Studies |
| Year: | 2013 |
| Pages: | 13 |
| ISBN: | |
| File: | PDF, 0.19 MB |
| Download: | Click here |
Abstract: Turkic languages and dialects played a much more important role in Safavid Iran than is generally thought, while Azerbaijani Turkish in particular was widely spoken and written in Safavid Iran. It was not only the language of the court and the army, but it was also used in poetry, even by renowned poets who usually wrote in Persian. The Safavid shahs, many of whom wrote poetry in Turkish themselves, promoted its literary use. Also, Turkish was used in the court’s official correspondence, for both internal and external affairs.
About authors: Willem Floor is an independent scholar based in Washington; Hasan Javadi is a retired professor of Middle Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley.