Two Communications
By W. M. Floor, Abengoiirou, Elfenbeinküste
A. Note to Mahjüb's Wer ist Naqib ul-Mamalik (ZDMG- 114 (1964),
pp. 319—24)
M. J. Mahjüb in a short article^, translated by Fritz Meier, with a
commentary by Richaed Geamlich^, draws our attention to an inter¬
esting subject, viz. the office of naqib (niqäbat). His analysis of the
niqäbat, however, does not cover all aspects of the naqib's functions and
certainly needs correction as far as the situation in Qäjär Persia is con¬
cerned. The same is true of Geamlich's commentary, which, even when
pointing out defects in Mahjüb's account, is itself somewhat erroneous^.
In Qäjär Persia two offices existed whose holders were both known
as naqib*. So as to avoid misunderstanding I shall refer to the one as
raHs-i sädät, and to the other as naqib.
The official known as naqibu's -sädät, naqibuH-ashräf , or ra'is-i sädät^
was the successor to an ancient oflice, that of naqlbu'n-naqä'ib, which
office was created by the Abbassids*. The sayyids or ashräf were put
under the supervision of this "marshal of nobility". Apart from the
naqibu'n-naqäHb or grand marshal, there was a naqib in each important
provincial town. It was his task to keep a register ofthe nobUity (ashräf),
i.e. to register their births and deaths ; to examine the vahdity of their
genealogies; to administrate the properties belonging to the class of
1 Dästänliä-yi 'ämmiyäna-yi färsi. In: Suhan 11 (1339/1960), pp. 1144—46.
2 Drei modeme Texte zum persischen „Wettreden". In: ZDMG 114 (1964),
pp. 289—327.
ZDMG 114 (1964), p. 314, note 18.
* J. Gbeenfield: Die Verfassung des Persischen Staates. Berlin 1904,
p. 120.
5 Ibid.: I'timädu's-Salfana, Rüznäma-yi I'timädu's-Saltana._ Ed. Ibaj
Ai-SHÄB. Tehrän 1967, p. 406; Ibid.: Kitäbu'l-Ma'äthir va'l Äthär. 1889,
p. 241; Yahyä Dawlatäbädi: Hayät-i Yahyä. 4 vols. Tehrän n.d., vol. 1,
p. 246; according to I'timädu's-Saltana: Ma'äthir, p. 241 the naqlbu'l-
ashräf and the ra'is-i sädät had several colleagues, whose function is not
olear and probably only held honorary functions. He mentions hisämu's-
sädät (pp. 197, 233), saifu's-sädät (p. 234), sadru's-sädät (p. 236), qavämu's- sädät (p. 237), and naqibu's -sädät (p. 241).
* Article sharif in E I.
80 W. M. Floor
ashräf, and to watch over thek conduct. He also appers to have wielded
some judicial powers''.
The office of naqibu'n-naqä'ib continued to exist after the fall of the
cahphate and is found under the Seljuqs, Timurids; its function were
almost the same as under the Abbassids^. It is not known when and why
the naqibu'n-naqä'ib disappeared from the ranks of the Safavid adminis¬
tration. The post existed neither under the Zands nor under the early
Qäj ars*.
It was only in 1860 that Nä§iru*d-Din Shäh recreated the office of
ra'is-i sädät^". The first "marshal of nobihty" after some 300 years was
Äqä Sayyid Muhsin Müsavi Shiräzi. His main task was to provide for
destitute sayyids. Many ofthe poor sayyids specialized in commemorating
the sufferings of their ancestors, the Imams ; they formed the greater
part ofthe rawda khwäns (eulologists). During the holy month of Muhar¬
ram, officials of the ra'is-i sädät visited the houses where ta'ziyas were
staged. To defray expenses arising from the ra'is-i sädät's responsibility
for the sayyids, they received contributions from sponsors of the plays.
The ra'is-i sädät divided the money among the poor sayyids^''-. It is
doubtful whether the ra'is-i sädät was in charge of all the sayyids of
Qäjär Persia and whether he was responsible for their conduct^^. In
effect, the ra'is-i sädät seems to have been the right hand of some
powerful government official, who occupied himself with sayyids be¬
cause of financial benefitsi^.
The naqib about whom Mahjüb wrote was the naqibu'l-mamälik^*.
The function of naqib dates back to the Safavid period and appears to
' Ihid.: Ma'äthir, pp. 116, 117.
' On the Seljuq period see: H. Hoest: Die Staatsverwaltung der Qroß-
seljüqen und Khwörazmshahs (1038—1231). Wiesbaden 1964, p. 98. On the
Timurid period see: H. R. Roemeb: Staatsschreiben der Timuridenzeit.
Wiesbaden 1952, p. 149.
° There is reason to believe that the office existed under the early Safavids
(see Roemer, pp. 21—26). However, neither the Tadhkirat al-Muluk. Ed.
V. Minoesky. London 1943, nor Muhammad Häshim Ä^if. Ed. M. Mushiri.
Tehrän 1969, mention the office of naqibu'n-naqä'ib.
1» Ma'äthir, p. 117.
'1 Ibid., Dawlatäbädi, vol. 1, p. 246.
12 Sayyid Muhsin appearantly was only in charge of the Shiräzi sayyids
in Tehrän, Ibid. The other groups of sayyids may have been under the
authority of the officials mentioned in note 5; see also Rüznäma, p. 1018.
It appears that tho niqäbat also existed at the provincial level for mention
is made of a naqibu'l-ashrdf khuräsäni, Rüznäma, p. 427.
" Ibid., pp. 800, 1018; Greenfield, p. 120.
" Grämlich in: ZDMG 114 (1964), p. 314, note 18, mistakenly calls the
naqib: naqibu-'l-ashräf .
Two Communications 81
have lost several of its prerogatives under the Qäj ars. Under the Safavids
the naqib was in charge of the guilds (as assistant to the kaläntar) and of
the darvishes and some other vagrant groups^^.
In Qäjär times, however, the naqib no longer had anything to do with
the guilds, which were entirely in charge of the kaläntar^^. The naqib
was reduced to a minor state official who derived parts of his income
from his supervision over two darvish orders. At court his function was
to entertain the Shah with interesting stories and give speeches of
welcome^'. Attbin mentions that Mirzä Ghuläm Husain Khän Naqibu'l-
Mamähk was the favourite storyteller of Nä?iru'd-Din Shäh^*. Another
naqib of some renown was Häj j Mirzä Ahmad NaqibuT-Mamähk Shiräzi,
who was a poet in his own right and a copious translator of french
Uterattu-e into Persian".
As far as the naqib's interference with vagrant people was concerned,
he had nothing to do anymore (under the Qäjärs) with artists, street
clowns, etc. as Geamlich asserts^'.
This latter category was in charge of other officials, such as the Ivii
bäshi^^. The only remaining hnk which the naqib had with the darvishes
was that he supervised the wordly conduct of the members of two
darvishorders, the Khäksärs and the Faqr-i 'Ajams. He was not con¬
cerned with other darvish orders, such as the Dhahabis and Ni'matul-
lahis^^. As Geamlich rightly points out the naqib was not the qutb (pole)
of these two darvish orders, as Mahjüb has suggested^^. In spiritual
affairs the Faqr-i 'Ajam were under the authority of five pir-i du'äs who
were chosen from amongst the sayyids in the order. The qutbs or poles,
of whom there were two, were known as sähib-i 'alam^*.
Each large city had its naqib, whose office, at least in Isfahän, was
hereditary^^. The post was abolished by Ridä Shäh.
>5 See W. M. Flooe: The Guilds in Qäjär Persia, chapter six (awaiting publication).
1" Minobsky, p. 125.
" E. Aubin: La Perse d'aujourd'hui. Paris 1908, p. 238.
" Ibid.
1' Ahmad Guxchin Ma'äni: Shahr-i äshüb dar shi'r-i färsi. Tehrän. 1968,
p. 89; HÄjj MiBZÄ Hasan Husaini Fasä'I: Tärikh-i Färsnäma, Tehrän
1896, part 2, pp. 45, 46.
2» ZDMG 114 (1964), p. 314, note 18.
21 W. M. Floor: The Lutis, a social phenomon of Qajar Persia. In: WI 13
(1971), p. 103—120.
22 Aubin, p. 238, 242; ZDMG 114 (1964), p. 314, note 18.
23 Ibid., pp. 314, 319. 24 Aubin, p. 242.
25 MiRZÄ Husain Khän : Jvghräfiyä-yi Isfahän. Ed. M. Sitüda. Tehrän
1967, p. 80, Rüznäma, p. 503 mentions a naqib-i Kirmänshähi; see also
Aubin, p. 238.
6 ZDMG 123/1
82 W. M. Floor, Two Communications
B. Note onjarid bäzi
Oppenheimek's contention, made 45 years ago, that the jarid bäzl
was unknown in Persia, has not yet been corrected in the latest edition
ofthe Encyclo'paedia oj Islam 1970 (art. djerid). It is to be regretted that
neither Oppenheimee nor the author of the article in the EI were not
famihar with the more important travelogues of the 17th to 19th cen¬
turies, which contain interesting information on this subject.
Much information about the jarid bäzi has been collected by C. Diem:
Asiatische Reiter spiele . BerUn 1942, pp. 86—100. Diem traces the
beginning of the game to the Mediterranean culture area, quo tmg verses
from Virgil's Aeneid in his support (p. 89). He mentions that in Persia
the game was being played until 1840; however there are later references,
for example J. E. Polak: Persien, das Land und seine Bewohner.
2 vols. Leipzig 1865, vol. 1, p. 178. The game is even referred to as late
as 1907, in a Kurdish song quoted by Aubin [La Perse, p. 92).
/ ^-
Neue chwaresmologische Arbeiten
Von Helmut Humbach, Mainz
I.
Auch nach der im Jahr 1951 durch Z. V. Togan erfolgten Faksimile¬
publikation der in Konya aufbewahrten, chwaresmisch glossierten Hand¬
schrift der Muqaddimat al-Adab^ machte die Iranistik nur bescheidenen
Gebrauch von den darm enthaltenen wertvollen sprachhchen Materiahen.
Aus der Hand von W. B. Henning erschien zwar eine Anzahl von kleinen,
aber grundlegenden Beiträgen zu üu-er Auswertung^, wie auch einige
Artikel von M. N. Bogoljubov die Ubersicht über gewisse, vorwiegend
grammatikalische Detailprobleme erleichtern^, doch hielt es lange Zeit
niemand für nötig, die Materiahen in ihrer Gesamtheit einem etwas
breiteren Kreis zu erschheßen. Das zu unternehmen bheb einem Außen¬
seiter vorbehalten, dem Turkologen J. Benzing, der im Jahr 1968 eine
Ausgabe der chwaresmischen Muqaddima veröffenthchte*. Iranistische
Fachgelehrte beklagen zwar, daß sich nunmehr jedermann mit dem
Chwaresmischen beschäftigen könne („everyone has become a Khwarez-
mologist"), doch gereicht gerade diese für eine ganz bestimmte Ein¬
stellung typische Klage dem Außenseiter zur Ehre. Man wird ihn zu¬
gegebenermaßen unter vielem anderem auch darum kritisieren können,
daß er seiner Ausgabe ohne Berücksichtigung ihrer durch die Verhält¬
nisse erzwungenen Vorläufigkeit allzusehr die äußere Form der End¬
gültigkeit gegeben hat. Aber es ist doch sein unbestreitbares Verdienst,
den Bann gebrochen zu haben, der so lange auf der Beschäftigung mit
dem Chwaresmischen lag.
1 Khorezmian Glossary of the Muqaddimat al-Adab. Edited by Zeki Velidi
Togan. Istanbul 1951.
2 AM N.S. 5,1 (1955), pp. 43—49. — Zeki Velidi Togan'a Armagan.
Istanbul 1955, pp. 4:21— 4:SQ. — Mitteliranisch, pp. 81—87, 109—120 {Hand¬
buch der Orientalistik I, IV, 1. Leiden 1958).
3 Uöenye Zapiski Leningradskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta 305,
12 (1961), pp. 81—84; 306, 16 (1962), pp. 6—15. — Narody Azä i Afriki 1961,
4, pp. 182—187. —Kratkie Soobsöenija Instituta Narodov Azii 67 (1963),
pp. 99—103.
* Johannes Benzing: Das chwaresmische Sprachmaterial einer Hand¬
schrift der „Muqaddimat al-Adab". I. Text. Wiesbaden 1968.
6«
