Ibrahim Sultan (Timurid)

Timurid prince (1394–1435) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ibrahim Sultan (Persian: ابراهيم سلطان بن شاهرخ; Shawwāl 796 AH/August 1394 AD – Shawwāl 838 AH/May 1435 AD) was a Timurid prince who governed a region around modern Fars from 1415 to 1435 under his father Shah Rukh. He was grandson of the conqueror Timur and died on 3 April 1435, around twelve years before his father.

Born1394

Died3 April 1435 (aged 40–41)

IssueAbdallah Mirza
Several others

HouseHouse of Timur

Quick facts Born, Died ...

Ibrahim Sultan

Timurid Prince

Contemporary portrait of Ibrahim Sultan holding court in his throne-room. Shahnamah of Ibrahim Sultan Bodleian Library MS. Ouseley Add. 176 f.239b (detail).^[1]^[2]

Born

1394

Died

3 April 1435 (aged 40–41)

Issue

Abdallah Mirza
Several others

Names
Ibrahim Sultan Mirza

Father

Religion

Warfare

In 1423, Ibrahim Sultan fought against the penultimate ruler of the Jalayirid dynasty, Solṭān Moḥammad, son of Šāh Valad.^[4] He managed to expell him from Shushtar, forcing him to flee to Wasit and then to al-Ḥella in southern Iraq.^[4] Solṭān Moḥammad then tried to besiege Baghdad in 1424, but failed and died July 1424.^[4]

Ibrahim Sultan also fought directly in the campaigns of his father Shah Rukh against the Qara Qoyunlu. In particular, he faced the Qara Qoyunlu ruler Iskander in battle in 1429, where he was victorious.^[3]

Arts

Ibrahim Sultan commissioned at least four illustrated manuscripts, including Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi's biography of Timur,^[5] a copy of Nizami's Iskandarnāma (Book of Alexander) that was completed in 1435/36,^[6] a Shāhnāma (Bodleian Library MS. Ouseley Add. 176) that was prepared between the 1420s and early 1430s,^[7] and an Anthology that was finished in 1420 and dedicated to his brother, Prince Baysunghur.^[8]

Ibrahim Sultan was an accomplished artist, avid calligrapher and great collector of books. Known to be observant in matters of religion, he personally scribed pious inscriptions on two madrasas he founded in Shiraz and at least five copies of the Qur'an.^[9] There remains a handwritten Qur'an in two volumes by him written in Naskh script. Every page of this Qur'an, finished in June 1427, has profusely decorated margins of floral scrolls in gold and color. This two-part Qur'an is a splendid example of lavish manuscript production in the early Timurid period. They were stored in a small room on top of the Qur'an Gate in Shiraz. Travelers passing underneath the gates were believed to receive the blessing of the Holy Book as they began their trip or journey from Shiraz. In 1937 the two Qur'ans were taken from the gate and were taken to the Pars Museum in Shiraz, where they remain today.^[10]

Sultan Ibrahim is also said to have repaired the Masjid-i Atiq but that soon thereafter it was again ruined by an earthquake.^[11]

Personal life

Consorts

Ibrahim had four wives:

Mihr Sultan Agha, daughter of Alu Chuhra Sariktash;
Fatima Sultan Agha, daughter of Amirak Qauchin;
Jahan Begi Agha, daughter of Abdullah Taifi;
Begi Sultan Agha, daughter of Bayazid Sywish;

Sons

Ibrahim had four sons:

Sultan Ishaq Mirza – with Fatima Sultan Agha;
Sultan Muhammad Mirza – with Jahan Begi Agha;
Ismail Mirza – with Begi Sultan Agha;
Sultan Abdallah Mirza – with Mihr Sultan Agha;

Daughters

Ibrahim had two daughters:

Ruqaiya Begi Begum – with Mihr Sultan Agha;
Zainab Sultan Begum – with Fatima Sultan Agha;

References

[1]
Robinson, B. W. (1958). Descriptive catalogue of the Persian Paintings in the Bodleian Library. Oxford University Press. p. 21. Folios 239b,240a. Ibrahim Sultan holding court in his throne-room (fol. 239b), whilst outside, his Queen, on a balcony with her ladies, watches a gardener at work (fol. 240a). There is a little repainting on the clothes on fol. 239b. The authors of BWG (p. 68, top) consider that these two pages should not face each other, but that they have been disarranged by rebinding. Admittedly this was the case with the double-page compositions at the beginning of the volume, but there it is not unnatural that folios should become detached by wear and tear. Here, however, there seems no reason to assume that anything similar has taken place; on the contrary, it may be permissible to suppose that the artist, wishing to portray both Ibrahim Sultan and his Queen, preferred to place each in characteristic surroundings, and to connect the two halves of the miniature by the garden, parts of which can be seen through the windows of the throne-room.
[2]
"Bodleian Library MS. Ouseley Add. 176". digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
[3]
Soucek, Priscilla (2000). "The Theory and Practice of Portraiture in the Persian Tradition". Muqarnas. 17: 105. doi:10.2307/1523292. ISSN 0732-2992. JSTOR 1523292. The double-page battle scene in which Ibrahim Sultan, on the right, is shown confidently leading his troops toward a Turkman force, on the left, headed by Iskandar b. Kara Yusuf, who turns back biting his finger in consternation (figs. 3-4). This image is the frontispiece for a copy of Firdawsi's Shāhnāma and is thus not accompanied by any explanatory text, but it does correspond to descriptions of a battle that occurred on April 1429 which are contained in Timurid historical sources. Although neither of these key figures is labeled, each of them would have been recognized by a contemporary viewer because of this event's notoriety.
[4]
Jackson 2014.
[5]
Manz, Beatrice Forbes (2007). Power, politics, and religion in Timurid Iran. Cambridge University Press. pp. xiv–xv, 167. ISBN 978-0-521-86547-0.
[6]
Uluç, Lâle (2014-01-29). "An Iskandarnāma of Nizami Produced for Ibrahim Sultan". Muqarnas Online. 30 (1): 235–253. doi:10.1163/22118993-0301P0011. ISSN 0732-2992.
[7]
Abdullaeva, Firuza, and Charles Melville (2008). The Persian Book of Kings: Ibrahim Sultan Shahnama. Bodleian Library. ISBN 9781851243464.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
[8]
Uluç, Lâle (2014-01-29). "An Iskandarnāma of Nizami Produced for Ibrahim Sultan". Muqarnas Online. 30 (1): 236. doi:10.1163/22118993-0301P0011. ISSN 0732-2992.
[9]
"Qur'an of Ibrahim Sultan [Iran (Shiraz)] (13.228.1-2) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | the Metropolitan Museum of Art". Archived from the original on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
[10]
"Shiraz Municipality". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
[11]
"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2007-12-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
[12]
Robinson, B. W. (1958). Descriptive catalogue of the Persian Paintings in the Bodleian Library. Oxford University Press. p. 21 (124 a,b). Ibrahim Sultan holding court in his throne-room (fol. 239&), whilst outside, his Queen, on a balcony with her ladies, watches a gardener at work (fol. 240a).
[13]
Ibrahim Sultan hunting (frontispiece) 003v/3b (detail). The face of Ibrahim Sultan is authentic, and has not been repainted Robinson, B. W. (1958). Descriptive catalogue of the Persian Paintings in the Bodleian Library. pp. 16–17. Folios 2a, 3b. Ibrahim Sultan on a hunting expedition. He appears on horseback (foL 3b) spearing a lion, while his henchmen, assisted by a hound and a hunting cheetah drive a variety of game towards him (fol 2a). The general condition of this miniature is better than the last, but every single face has been overpainted except for three (one of which is fortunately that of Ibrahim Sultan himself) on folio 3b; the whole gives a splendid impression of movement.

Ibrahim Sultan (Timurid)

Warfare

Arts

Personal life

See also

References

Sources

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