Books by Tilmann Trausch
This study focusses on the applicability of different categories to structure the historiographic... more This study focusses on the applicability of different categories to structure the historiographic field of pre-modern Iran. Should modern research classify chronicles solely on the basis of the dynasty in whose members’ name they were written? Based on chronicles written between 1501 and 1578 at the courts of Herat and Qazvin, this study shows how the history of the Islamicate World down to the Safavid rulers was told. The external form of chronicles is the subject of this study: volume, structure, and style, which show significant differences between the individual texts. While the chronicles from Herat tell history in great detail as a coherent narrative in wordy style, the texts from Qazvin present a scant summary in episodic form and straightforward language. Apart from the dedication, the presumed Safavid chronicles to not have all too much in common. Thus, an analysis of the external forms of these narratives shows the rather limited influence of the family of patrons on large parts of the historiographical texts written under their rule. In return, it illustrates the influence of concrete contexts and long-term structures on the writing of history in pre-modern Iran and thus provides new perspectives for historiographical research.
Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna 2015.
This study is my MA-thesis from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany: for its neighbor... more This study is my MA-thesis from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany: for its neighbors, the Ottoman Empire was a political, military, and religious challenge, as is shown, inter alia, by the way the Ottomans were represented in the chronicles written in the realms of neighboring rulers. Regarding the historiographies of Christian Europe, the image of the Turk was shaped in particular by faith and war: the Turk as a bloodthirsty Antichrist. For the Safavids, the Ottomans were just as challenging. Based on three chronicles of 16th- and early 17th-century Iran, this study details the view of contemporary court chroniclers from Safavid Iran on its powerful neighbor. Did they give a comprehensive or even vivid image of the Ottomans? And was such an image at all intended? Which factors influenced the representation? This study is intended to second the large amount of imagological studies on the Ottoman Empire from the point of view of the Christian Occident with one from the Muslim Orient.
Klaus Schwarz-Verlag, Berlin 2008.
Edited Volumes by Tilmann Trausch
Tilmann Trausch (ed.), Norm, Normabweichung und Praxis des Herrschaftsübergangs in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 3), Göttingen 2019., 2019
Modern imaginations of premodern transitions of power are shaped by the idea of the father-son tr... more Modern imaginations of premodern transitions of power are shaped by the idea of the father-son transition; this is not without reason, as patrilinearity plays a major role in notions of legitimate rule in premodern cultures. However, the etic emphasis on the centrality of rulers’ sons simplifies the complexity of historical realities. While origins serve as a normative argument and means of coping with contingency, in practice, suitability and success also play a central role. Thus, from a transcultural perspective, premodern transitions of power can be located in the tensionfield between norm and practice, rule and recognition, system and reform, and role and person. Against this background, the present volume examines the contemporary handling of such transitions in which the successor was not his predecessor’s son.
Entscheiden und Regieren. Konsens als Element vormoderner Entscheidungsfindung in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 9), Göttingen 2019., 2019
Together with Linda Dohmen:
No ruler rules alone, but only in association with others. However... more Together with Linda Dohmen:
No ruler rules alone, but only in association with others. However, according to modern ideas pre-modern realms still seem to be characterized by the formally unlimited power of their rulers with respect to decision-making processes. Therefore, the volume explores ‘consensual’ elements of pre-modern political decision-making processes and offers examples of different manifestations from early imperial China to late medieval France. Who is involved in decision-making, and who makes the actual decision? Finally, the chapters explore ideal concepts of political decision-making processes which served as guidelines to rulers and their elites and to which the sources refer when presenting the actors and their actions.
Special Issues by Tilmann Trausch
The splendour of ‘centralised power’ has long fascinated historical research. The more strongly a... more The splendour of ‘centralised power’ has long fascinated historical research. The more strongly and autocratically a ruler managed to rule his subjects, the more his polity and policy making were praised as being modern. As a consequence, the complex structure of the Roman Empire in Central Europe was conceived as doomed to fail, while the strong monarchies in late-medieval Western Europe were regarded as forerunners of the modern nation-states. In the Middle East, the motif of ‘centralised power’ prevailed as well, obscuring the fact that the ruler was not only above his followers and the lynchpin of government, but also at their mercy. In addition, the modern-day European integration process and the work of supra-national institutions rendered the value of the tiresome business of decision-making between equals evident, while the ‘centralised power’ of the traditional autocrats of the Arabic world has crumbled only very recently.
Thus, the assessment of power and governance in the pre-modern past has transformed. The participation of peers in power waging and decision making is no longer seen as an obstacle towards modernisation, but as a distinct way of integrating and steering a political entity. Over the last two decades, historical research in many parts of the world has employed this particular approach to political history. This volume intends to elevate this question to a global level, with contributions ranging from medieval Central Europe to Japan.
Special Issue of the Medieval History Journal (http://mhj.sagepub.com/), eds. Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications
Papers by Tilmann Trausch
in: Rudi Matthee (ed.), The Safavid World (Routledge Worlds), London/New York: Routledge 2021, pp... more in: Rudi Matthee (ed.), The Safavid World (Routledge Worlds), London/New York: Routledge 2021, pp. 182-199.
Iranian Studies, 2021
This article examines how Zeyā al-Din Barani may have imagined that contemporary audiences would ... more This article examines how Zeyā al-Din Barani may have imagined that contemporary audiences would consume his Tārikh-e Firuz Shāhi. Would it only be read visually or also read aloud (directed at the ear rather than the eye), and thus be received aurally, or would it even be performed in front of a larger audience? The plot and protagonists of Barani’s story on Moʿezz al-Din Keyqobād present a tragedy that develops around a sultan doomed to fail. An examination of the set-up of Barani’s narrative reveals that it contains numerous textual devices that would enable a storyteller to perform the story, using the text as a kind of tumār. As tragedies are written for the stage, not the study, these features of the text indicate that matters of orality, which are crucial for many genres of premodern Persianate courtly literature, are also relevant to the Tārikh-e Firuz Shāhi.
The paper is accessible via the eprint link:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/KWUWPXPERQ2RPUIMYCV6/full?target=10.1080/00210862.2021.1894777
The objects under investigation in this volume are premodern transitions of power of a particular... more The objects under investigation in this volume are premodern transitions of power of a particular kind: transitions that were not just recorded, in words or images, by contemporaries, but those that such contemporaries felt a need to explain and to classify. This appears to have been the case when a transition of power deviated, for whatever reason, from the ‘usual’, the ‘imaginary norm’ in its socio-political context. The contributors to this volume have defined as ‘imaginary norm’ a transition from father to son. In doing so, they are of course aware that any transition was an inevitable and critical moment of upheaval, or at best of change, in any autocracy; and that all transitions required extra efforts at mediation. Even in a smooth dynastic handover the successor had to obtain acceptance. The crucial difference is that this form of succession required much less justification. Although individual chapters investigate case studies from different points in time, space and culture – the greatest deviation from the ‘imaginary norm’ is probably the Mamluk concept of Herrschaft in chapter 5 – they all share numerous similarities and overlaps, even those that were not connected through a contact zone. In the introduction, Tilmann Trausch described one of the basic assumptions of the authors in this volume: we think of the ‘imaginary norm’ as a reaction pattern to challenges that share basic similarities.
Modern imaginations of premodern transitions of power from one ruler to another are shaped by the... more Modern imaginations of premodern transitions of power from one ruler to another are shaped by the idea of the transition from father to son. This is not without good reason, as the sources give us ample evidence to believe that this was what contemporaries would have considered as the ‘usual’ way of succession. We can hardly deny the fact that the idea of patrilineality played an important role in many, if not most, premodern realms. And while there were times and regions in which the rulers’ sons played only a minor or no role at all in matters of succession, these instances have not been able to fundamentally change the potency of the imagination of the father-son-transition and its significance for modern ideas of premodern notions of ‘legitimate’ rule. However, a dualistic and often etic distinction between the crucial or non-crucial significance of the rulers’ sons simplifies the complexity of historical realities. While on the textual level of the often normative sources one can usually easily identify statements emphasizing the self-evident prerogative of the ruler’s son, there are very few realms in which other relations, such as uncles, brothers, or cousins, and sometimes mothers, wives, sisters, or daughters, did not also succeed a former ruler.
Tilmann Trausch, Vom Vater auf den Sohn – oder jemand anderen. ‚Unübliche‘ Formen des Herrschaftsübergangs in transkultureller Perspektive, in Tilmann Trausch (ed.), Norm, Normabweichung und Praxis des Herrschaftsübergangs in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 3), Göttingen 2019, 11-59
In the early thirteenth century, former Ghurid military slaves from the inner Asian steppes found... more In the early thirteenth century, former Ghurid military slaves from the inner Asian steppes founded the Sultanate of Delhi. While turko-nomadic traditions shaped the military elites of their realm as well as the elite mensʼ names for good parts of the thirteenth century, the names of the sultans themselves do not reflect their personal or familiarly background. Quite the contrary, the rulers of Delhi bore names that Quranic figures, famous Muslims from the early days of Islam, figures of Iranian mythology and pre-Islamic Iranian kings have born before them. These names are supposed to identify the sultans as bearers of the two cultural traditions that shape the pre-modern Persianate world, the Arabic-Islamic and the Imperial Iranian tradition.
Next to their personal names (ism), the sultans bear agnomen, avonyms, and bynames (laqab) which emphasise their relationship to the Islamic faith as well as various honorific titles that contribute to the name’s legitimatory potential. Additionally, both bynames and titles may be read as an expression of a political program. The sultans identify themselves as Helper of the Commander of the Faithfull, Right hand of the Califate, Shadow of God on the Worlds, Second Alexander, and Father of the War against the Unbelievers, thus again drawing both from the Arabic-Islamic and the Imperial Iranian tradition.
These names, however, are throne names, and before the sultans ascended the throne in Delhi, they bore other names before them, and usually more than one. When a man who later became sultan in Delhi was renamed or renamed himself, both his personal name and his bynames could be concerned. However, not all of these names are known today, especially the birth names of those sultans with a personal background in Ghurid military slavery. As un-Islamic names, they are not mentioned in the sources.
The source material on the sultanate is scarce, heterogeneous, and at times confusing with respect to names. Chronicles dominate the scene, and they repeatedly use names retrospectively, calling a man who would later become sultan by his throne name even in the passages on his youth, which is why his earlier names are lost. Finally, the sources’ use of names shows a direct connection between name and type of text, as there are more or less systematic differences between the historiographic ascriptions and the self-descriptions on coins. This concerns the agnomen (kunya) and certain titles in particular.
The onomastics of the sultanate of Delhi is a largely undealt field of research today. Who gave a ruler’s son his name is as unknown as are the procedures of choosing it. Based on the scarce source material, it is quite difficult to assess what exact form of a name a sultan of Delhi bore at a certain point of his life. Thus, one should interpret certain elements of the names of the sultans of Delhi only with great care. However, while these elements may differ in detail and with respect to whom they are ascribed to, their set of arguments is quite stable. According to them, the sultans’ legitimacy arose from their alleged cultural rooting in the Persianate world, their strong connection to the Islamic faith, and their credits for the well-being of their Islamic polity in northern India.
Tilmann Trausch, Aibak, ʿAlī, Alexander. Namen als Beitrag zur Herrscherlegitimation im Sultanat von Delhi, in: Matthias Becher/Hendrikk Hess (eds). Machterhalt und Herrschaftssicherung. Namen als Legitimationsinstrument in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 8), Göttingen 2019, 193-234.
Regieren im Konsens? Vormoderne politische Entscheidungsprozesse in transkultureller Perspektive, in: Linda Dohmen/Tilmann Trausch (eds.), Entscheiden und Regieren. Konsens als Element vormoderner Entscheidungsfindung in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 9), Göttingen 2019, 11-56., 2019
Together with Linda Dohmen and Paul Fahr:
The fact that no premodern ruler could rule alone is... more Together with Linda Dohmen and Paul Fahr:
The fact that no premodern ruler could rule alone is widely accepted in many academic disciplines of historical and cultural studies. In order to maintain their rule over a longer period of time, rulers needed the support of their elites – support which ultimately resulted from these elites’ assent to this rule. Concerning the medieval Frankish-German Empire Bernd Schneidmüller has put this idea of an interwoven relationship between ruler and elites into a nutshell by coining the phrase ‚Rule by Consensus‘ (‘Konsensuale Herrschaft’). In other academic disciplines as well, there is a grown awareness that pyramidical models do not suffice to adequately explain the political practice of pre-modern rulership. However, the elitesʼ assent can occur in various forms and for different reasons in different realms, beyond what the Latin term consensus catches. Thus, the papers in this volume focus on a ubiquitous yet decisive aspect of premodern rule: processes of decision-making and the role consensual ideas and practices played therein from a transcultural perspective. Based on previous research on decision-making and stimulated by the discussions within an interdisciplinary working group, a model of decision-making is set up, according to which the decision-processes may be divided ideal-typically into the following stages: 1) the stage before the actual decision, the phase of ‚deciding‘, 2) the actual ‚decision‘ itself, and 3) the phase of ‚positioning oneself‘ against the decision and its possible consequences. With respect to the surviving sources it often proves challenging to really grasp these phases, as they often form part of political narratives and are modeled along contemporary normative ideals. In this respect, it has to be taken into consideration that the sources themselves are often the result of an act of ‚positioning‘, and that their narratives and choice of words position themselves against the background of their origins. If we do take this into consideration, however, the scrutiny of premodern decision-processes offers new insights into and perspectives on the relationship of rulers and elites in pre-modern times.
In the later decades of the fifteenth century, adherents of the Safavid order started raiding the... more In the later decades of the fifteenth century, adherents of the Safavid order started raiding the regions of the northern Caucasus and eastern Anatolia. As most of these raids involved Christian principalities, they have earned the Safavid shaikhs Joneyd and Haydar the reputation as ghāzis, as fighters for faith against the infidels. This paper explores how scribes from the sixteenth-century Safavid courtly sphere integrated the order’s early military activities into their narratives of the Safavid past. Further, it examines what sound information may be derived from the narratives on these poorly documented events. The paper concludes with the suggestions that a) those doing in history in Safavid times were much less concerned with Islamic ʻHoly Warʼ than modern historians are, and b) their narratives indicate that attempts to establish territorial rule may have outweighed the fight for faith motif.
In: Journal of Persianate Studies 10.2 (2017), pp. 240-68.
The splendour of ‘centralised power’ has long fascinated historical research. The more strongly a... more The splendour of ‘centralised power’ has long fascinated historical research. The more strongly and autocratically a ruler managed to rule his subjects, the more his polity and policy making were praised as being modern. As a consequence, the complex structure of the Roman Empire in Central Europe was conceived as doomed to fail, while the strong monarchies in late-medieval Western Europe were regarded as forerunners of the modern nation-states. In the Middle East, the motif of ‘centralised power’ prevailed as well, obscuring the fact that the ruler was not only above his followers and the lynchpin of government, but also at their mercy. In addition, the modern-day European integration process and the work of supra-national institutions rendered the value of the tiresome business of decision-making between equals evident, while the ‘centralised power’ of the traditional autocrats of the Arabic world has crumbled only very recently.
Thus, the assessment of power and governance in the pre-modern past has transformed. The participation of peers in power waging and decision making is no longer seen as an obstacle towards modernisation, but as a distinct way of integrating and steering a political entity. Over the last two decades, historical research in many parts of the world has employed this particular approach to political history. This volume intends to elevate this question to a global level, with contributions ranging from medieval Central Europe to Japan.
Together with Thomas Ertl. In: Command versus Consent. Representation and Interpretation of Power in the Late-Medieval Eurasian World, ed. by Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications, p. 167-90
According to the “classical” paradigm, Ismaʿil I, driven by juvenile thrill and religious self-co... more According to the “classical” paradigm, Ismaʿil I, driven by juvenile thrill and religious self-confidence, steered the military power of his fanatically devoted supporters to overthrow the Aq Qoyunlu and Timurids, uniting the core lands of the Persianate world under his rule. Thus, it is no coincidence that discussions on strong rulers, centralised power and 'modern' polities often centre on the first Safavid ruler. Undoubtedly a capable and charismatic leader, Ismaʿil I constitutes an almost ideal object of projection for the idea of a strong ruler ruling his subjects autocratically and centralistically; an ideal type tended to be seen as 'modern' in historical research on the Persianate world, too. Correspondingly, Ismaʿilʼs I realm is commonly, and not without justification, regarded as the first forerunner of the modern Iranian nation-state. However, one should still (re-)assess Ismaʿilʼs I role in Safavid political practice in more general terms: There were many political players, with which the ruler had to come to terms to actually exercise his God-given right to rule.
In: Command versus Consent: Representation and Interpretation of Power in the Late Medieval Eurasian World, eds. Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications
This article is a part of the second volume of the Handbuch der Iranistik (HdI), which is designe... more This article is a part of the second volume of the Handbuch der Iranistik (HdI), which is designed to summarize contemporary trends and the state of the art in Iranian Studies. It addresses researchers and students in Iranian Studies and other branches of Middle Eastern Studies as well as other interested persons. On the one hand, the article deals with the subject, research history, and methodology of research on the courtly historiography of the Persianate World; on the other hand, it deals with the environment, concept, functions, forms and historical development of as well as scientific approaches to courtly historical writing in Persian between the 10th and early 19th century.
In: Handbuch der Iranistik Vol. II, ed. by Ludwig Paul, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2017, S. 67-73.
Since the very beginnings of modern Middle Eastern Studies, chronicles have formed one of its mos... more Since the very beginnings of modern Middle Eastern Studies, chronicles have formed one of its most intensively used genres of sources. This is especially true for the Iranian World, which has left particularly few textual remains. Whereas the respective approaches to pre-modern Persian chronicles changed substantially within the last one and a half centuries of research, the approach to one aspect of these texts has remained comparably stable: the historical detail, the most bitsy information these texts contain, forming the very basis of the normative narrative of the chroniclers’ patron’s rule. While the end of the age of scientism is debated more than ever, the handling of the historical detail has stayed remarkably untouched – it is still presumed true all too often. Subject of this article are the chronicles written at the courts of Herat and Qazvin within the first decades of the 16th century under early Safavid rule. The study deals with the question of how stable these historical details really are, since the texts actually differ considerably in detail with respect to their stylising descriptions of one and the same historical event. As I think, these details are not stable, but, quite the contrary, surrounded by an aura of coincidence, which has to be taken into account when writing the political history of early modern Iran.
In: Asiatische Studien/Études asiatiques. Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft/ Revue de la Société Suisse – Asie, Berlin: De Gruyter, S. 115-55
One of the core functions of chronicles was to archive past events. By way of the events archived... more One of the core functions of chronicles was to archive past events. By way of the events archived, they should convey normative messages, which should ultimately legitimize the status quo – chronicles are meant to reach someone. One of the more crucial questions of recent historiographical research is whom they were meant to reach. How could recipients be reached? Who had access to chronicles? Were they read in archives or libraries? Were they recited like poems or epics in coffee-houses or other public places? It is always worth a try to read chronicles from the perspective of whoever was meant to receive them. The way to these recipients leads through the strategies to address them. When events from the reign of Shah Ismail are depicted, there is a kind of text-element which is not to be found in contemporary chronicles but only in later ones, beginning in the middle of the 16th century and increasingly towards its end. These elements have two central similarities: They deal only indirectly with the main plot and they do not substantially alter the argumentative strategies of the earlier texts. If examined more closely, they fulfil a few tasks that are known to and quite valuable in modern narratology for fiction. Most notably, they broaden the sort of potential entertainment, from entertainment through the style of rhymed prose to entertainment through content.
In: Şehrâyîn. Die Welt der Osmanen, die Osmanen in der Welt. Wahrnehmungen, Begegnungen und Abgrenzungen. Festschrift für Hans Georg Majer, ed. by Yavuz Köse, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, p. 418-35
The Riḥla of the famous Moroccan Ibn Baṭṭūṭa describes his travels, which led him through the who... more The Riḥla of the famous Moroccan Ibn Baṭṭūṭa describes his travels, which led him through the whole Islamic world and beyond that to the South Seas and China, in an elaborate and rousing way: different people and their mannerisms, famous metropolises, the flora and fauna of distant territories and, last but not least, his adventures on the road. All this made the Riḥla, besides its being an entertaining and enthralling text, one of the main sources on the relatively poorly documented Islamic World of the 14th century. It retained this status until today. The fact that over the years more and more forgeries and plagiarisms could be proven to Ibn Baṭṭūṭa has not principally altered the approach to regard this text as an authentic travelogue as long as no opposite is definitively proven. This article deals with the issue of what one needs to write a travelogue; this is, besides writing skill and imaginativeness, information. It focuses on the question where this information comes from or, to get to the heart of it, whether one needs to have travelled. The subject of this study is one of the most significant parts of the Riḥla, Ibn Baṭṭūṭaʼs description of the Delhi Sultanate. If he probably never was in India, how could he have gained his vast amount of information about this distant region? The answer to this question is, as I think, the Tārīkh-i Fīrūz Shāhī of the Indian court scribe Ḍiyā’ al-Dīn Baranī.
In: Asiatische Studien/Études asiatiques. Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft/ Revue de la Société Suisse – Asie, LXIV 1, Bern: Peter Lang, p. 139-72
Encyclopaedia Entries by Tilmann Trausch
Budāq Monši Qazvini
(b. 1510-11), author of the Jawāher al-aḵbār, a universal history of a subst... more Budāq Monši Qazvini
(b. 1510-11), author of the Jawāher al-aḵbār, a universal history of a substantial part of the Persianate world, and member of the Safavid financial administration during the reign of Shah Ṭahmāsb I.
In: Encyclopaedia Iranica, online edition
Available at: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/budaq-monshi
Uploads
Books by Tilmann Trausch
Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna 2015.
Klaus Schwarz-Verlag, Berlin 2008.
Edited Volumes by Tilmann Trausch
No ruler rules alone, but only in association with others. However, according to modern ideas pre-modern realms still seem to be characterized by the formally unlimited power of their rulers with respect to decision-making processes. Therefore, the volume explores ‘consensual’ elements of pre-modern political decision-making processes and offers examples of different manifestations from early imperial China to late medieval France. Who is involved in decision-making, and who makes the actual decision? Finally, the chapters explore ideal concepts of political decision-making processes which served as guidelines to rulers and their elites and to which the sources refer when presenting the actors and their actions.
Special Issues by Tilmann Trausch
Thus, the assessment of power and governance in the pre-modern past has transformed. The participation of peers in power waging and decision making is no longer seen as an obstacle towards modernisation, but as a distinct way of integrating and steering a political entity. Over the last two decades, historical research in many parts of the world has employed this particular approach to political history. This volume intends to elevate this question to a global level, with contributions ranging from medieval Central Europe to Japan.
Special Issue of the Medieval History Journal (http://mhj.sagepub.com/), eds. Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications
Papers by Tilmann Trausch
The paper is accessible via the eprint link:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/KWUWPXPERQ2RPUIMYCV6/full?target=10.1080/00210862.2021.1894777
Tilmann Trausch, Vom Vater auf den Sohn – oder jemand anderen. ‚Unübliche‘ Formen des Herrschaftsübergangs in transkultureller Perspektive, in Tilmann Trausch (ed.), Norm, Normabweichung und Praxis des Herrschaftsübergangs in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 3), Göttingen 2019, 11-59
Next to their personal names (ism), the sultans bear agnomen, avonyms, and bynames (laqab) which emphasise their relationship to the Islamic faith as well as various honorific titles that contribute to the name’s legitimatory potential. Additionally, both bynames and titles may be read as an expression of a political program. The sultans identify themselves as Helper of the Commander of the Faithfull, Right hand of the Califate, Shadow of God on the Worlds, Second Alexander, and Father of the War against the Unbelievers, thus again drawing both from the Arabic-Islamic and the Imperial Iranian tradition.
These names, however, are throne names, and before the sultans ascended the throne in Delhi, they bore other names before them, and usually more than one. When a man who later became sultan in Delhi was renamed or renamed himself, both his personal name and his bynames could be concerned. However, not all of these names are known today, especially the birth names of those sultans with a personal background in Ghurid military slavery. As un-Islamic names, they are not mentioned in the sources.
The source material on the sultanate is scarce, heterogeneous, and at times confusing with respect to names. Chronicles dominate the scene, and they repeatedly use names retrospectively, calling a man who would later become sultan by his throne name even in the passages on his youth, which is why his earlier names are lost. Finally, the sources’ use of names shows a direct connection between name and type of text, as there are more or less systematic differences between the historiographic ascriptions and the self-descriptions on coins. This concerns the agnomen (kunya) and certain titles in particular.
The onomastics of the sultanate of Delhi is a largely undealt field of research today. Who gave a ruler’s son his name is as unknown as are the procedures of choosing it. Based on the scarce source material, it is quite difficult to assess what exact form of a name a sultan of Delhi bore at a certain point of his life. Thus, one should interpret certain elements of the names of the sultans of Delhi only with great care. However, while these elements may differ in detail and with respect to whom they are ascribed to, their set of arguments is quite stable. According to them, the sultans’ legitimacy arose from their alleged cultural rooting in the Persianate world, their strong connection to the Islamic faith, and their credits for the well-being of their Islamic polity in northern India.
Tilmann Trausch, Aibak, ʿAlī, Alexander. Namen als Beitrag zur Herrscherlegitimation im Sultanat von Delhi, in: Matthias Becher/Hendrikk Hess (eds). Machterhalt und Herrschaftssicherung. Namen als Legitimationsinstrument in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 8), Göttingen 2019, 193-234.
The fact that no premodern ruler could rule alone is widely accepted in many academic disciplines of historical and cultural studies. In order to maintain their rule over a longer period of time, rulers needed the support of their elites – support which ultimately resulted from these elites’ assent to this rule. Concerning the medieval Frankish-German Empire Bernd Schneidmüller has put this idea of an interwoven relationship between ruler and elites into a nutshell by coining the phrase ‚Rule by Consensus‘ (‘Konsensuale Herrschaft’). In other academic disciplines as well, there is a grown awareness that pyramidical models do not suffice to adequately explain the political practice of pre-modern rulership. However, the elitesʼ assent can occur in various forms and for different reasons in different realms, beyond what the Latin term consensus catches. Thus, the papers in this volume focus on a ubiquitous yet decisive aspect of premodern rule: processes of decision-making and the role consensual ideas and practices played therein from a transcultural perspective. Based on previous research on decision-making and stimulated by the discussions within an interdisciplinary working group, a model of decision-making is set up, according to which the decision-processes may be divided ideal-typically into the following stages: 1) the stage before the actual decision, the phase of ‚deciding‘, 2) the actual ‚decision‘ itself, and 3) the phase of ‚positioning oneself‘ against the decision and its possible consequences. With respect to the surviving sources it often proves challenging to really grasp these phases, as they often form part of political narratives and are modeled along contemporary normative ideals. In this respect, it has to be taken into consideration that the sources themselves are often the result of an act of ‚positioning‘, and that their narratives and choice of words position themselves against the background of their origins. If we do take this into consideration, however, the scrutiny of premodern decision-processes offers new insights into and perspectives on the relationship of rulers and elites in pre-modern times.
In: Journal of Persianate Studies 10.2 (2017), pp. 240-68.
Thus, the assessment of power and governance in the pre-modern past has transformed. The participation of peers in power waging and decision making is no longer seen as an obstacle towards modernisation, but as a distinct way of integrating and steering a political entity. Over the last two decades, historical research in many parts of the world has employed this particular approach to political history. This volume intends to elevate this question to a global level, with contributions ranging from medieval Central Europe to Japan.
Together with Thomas Ertl. In: Command versus Consent. Representation and Interpretation of Power in the Late-Medieval Eurasian World, ed. by Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications, p. 167-90
In: Command versus Consent: Representation and Interpretation of Power in the Late Medieval Eurasian World, eds. Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications
In: Handbuch der Iranistik Vol. II, ed. by Ludwig Paul, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2017, S. 67-73.
In: Asiatische Studien/Études asiatiques. Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft/ Revue de la Société Suisse – Asie, Berlin: De Gruyter, S. 115-55
In: Şehrâyîn. Die Welt der Osmanen, die Osmanen in der Welt. Wahrnehmungen, Begegnungen und Abgrenzungen. Festschrift für Hans Georg Majer, ed. by Yavuz Köse, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, p. 418-35
In: Asiatische Studien/Études asiatiques. Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft/ Revue de la Société Suisse – Asie, LXIV 1, Bern: Peter Lang, p. 139-72
Encyclopaedia Entries by Tilmann Trausch
(b. 1510-11), author of the Jawāher al-aḵbār, a universal history of a substantial part of the Persianate world, and member of the Safavid financial administration during the reign of Shah Ṭahmāsb I.
In: Encyclopaedia Iranica, online edition
Available at: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/budaq-monshi
Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Vienna 2015.
Klaus Schwarz-Verlag, Berlin 2008.
No ruler rules alone, but only in association with others. However, according to modern ideas pre-modern realms still seem to be characterized by the formally unlimited power of their rulers with respect to decision-making processes. Therefore, the volume explores ‘consensual’ elements of pre-modern political decision-making processes and offers examples of different manifestations from early imperial China to late medieval France. Who is involved in decision-making, and who makes the actual decision? Finally, the chapters explore ideal concepts of political decision-making processes which served as guidelines to rulers and their elites and to which the sources refer when presenting the actors and their actions.
Thus, the assessment of power and governance in the pre-modern past has transformed. The participation of peers in power waging and decision making is no longer seen as an obstacle towards modernisation, but as a distinct way of integrating and steering a political entity. Over the last two decades, historical research in many parts of the world has employed this particular approach to political history. This volume intends to elevate this question to a global level, with contributions ranging from medieval Central Europe to Japan.
Special Issue of the Medieval History Journal (http://mhj.sagepub.com/), eds. Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications
The paper is accessible via the eprint link:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/KWUWPXPERQ2RPUIMYCV6/full?target=10.1080/00210862.2021.1894777
Tilmann Trausch, Vom Vater auf den Sohn – oder jemand anderen. ‚Unübliche‘ Formen des Herrschaftsübergangs in transkultureller Perspektive, in Tilmann Trausch (ed.), Norm, Normabweichung und Praxis des Herrschaftsübergangs in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 3), Göttingen 2019, 11-59
Next to their personal names (ism), the sultans bear agnomen, avonyms, and bynames (laqab) which emphasise their relationship to the Islamic faith as well as various honorific titles that contribute to the name’s legitimatory potential. Additionally, both bynames and titles may be read as an expression of a political program. The sultans identify themselves as Helper of the Commander of the Faithfull, Right hand of the Califate, Shadow of God on the Worlds, Second Alexander, and Father of the War against the Unbelievers, thus again drawing both from the Arabic-Islamic and the Imperial Iranian tradition.
These names, however, are throne names, and before the sultans ascended the throne in Delhi, they bore other names before them, and usually more than one. When a man who later became sultan in Delhi was renamed or renamed himself, both his personal name and his bynames could be concerned. However, not all of these names are known today, especially the birth names of those sultans with a personal background in Ghurid military slavery. As un-Islamic names, they are not mentioned in the sources.
The source material on the sultanate is scarce, heterogeneous, and at times confusing with respect to names. Chronicles dominate the scene, and they repeatedly use names retrospectively, calling a man who would later become sultan by his throne name even in the passages on his youth, which is why his earlier names are lost. Finally, the sources’ use of names shows a direct connection between name and type of text, as there are more or less systematic differences between the historiographic ascriptions and the self-descriptions on coins. This concerns the agnomen (kunya) and certain titles in particular.
The onomastics of the sultanate of Delhi is a largely undealt field of research today. Who gave a ruler’s son his name is as unknown as are the procedures of choosing it. Based on the scarce source material, it is quite difficult to assess what exact form of a name a sultan of Delhi bore at a certain point of his life. Thus, one should interpret certain elements of the names of the sultans of Delhi only with great care. However, while these elements may differ in detail and with respect to whom they are ascribed to, their set of arguments is quite stable. According to them, the sultans’ legitimacy arose from their alleged cultural rooting in the Persianate world, their strong connection to the Islamic faith, and their credits for the well-being of their Islamic polity in northern India.
Tilmann Trausch, Aibak, ʿAlī, Alexander. Namen als Beitrag zur Herrscherlegitimation im Sultanat von Delhi, in: Matthias Becher/Hendrikk Hess (eds). Machterhalt und Herrschaftssicherung. Namen als Legitimationsinstrument in transkultureller Perspektive (Macht und Herrschaft 8), Göttingen 2019, 193-234.
The fact that no premodern ruler could rule alone is widely accepted in many academic disciplines of historical and cultural studies. In order to maintain their rule over a longer period of time, rulers needed the support of their elites – support which ultimately resulted from these elites’ assent to this rule. Concerning the medieval Frankish-German Empire Bernd Schneidmüller has put this idea of an interwoven relationship between ruler and elites into a nutshell by coining the phrase ‚Rule by Consensus‘ (‘Konsensuale Herrschaft’). In other academic disciplines as well, there is a grown awareness that pyramidical models do not suffice to adequately explain the political practice of pre-modern rulership. However, the elitesʼ assent can occur in various forms and for different reasons in different realms, beyond what the Latin term consensus catches. Thus, the papers in this volume focus on a ubiquitous yet decisive aspect of premodern rule: processes of decision-making and the role consensual ideas and practices played therein from a transcultural perspective. Based on previous research on decision-making and stimulated by the discussions within an interdisciplinary working group, a model of decision-making is set up, according to which the decision-processes may be divided ideal-typically into the following stages: 1) the stage before the actual decision, the phase of ‚deciding‘, 2) the actual ‚decision‘ itself, and 3) the phase of ‚positioning oneself‘ against the decision and its possible consequences. With respect to the surviving sources it often proves challenging to really grasp these phases, as they often form part of political narratives and are modeled along contemporary normative ideals. In this respect, it has to be taken into consideration that the sources themselves are often the result of an act of ‚positioning‘, and that their narratives and choice of words position themselves against the background of their origins. If we do take this into consideration, however, the scrutiny of premodern decision-processes offers new insights into and perspectives on the relationship of rulers and elites in pre-modern times.
In: Journal of Persianate Studies 10.2 (2017), pp. 240-68.
Thus, the assessment of power and governance in the pre-modern past has transformed. The participation of peers in power waging and decision making is no longer seen as an obstacle towards modernisation, but as a distinct way of integrating and steering a political entity. Over the last two decades, historical research in many parts of the world has employed this particular approach to political history. This volume intends to elevate this question to a global level, with contributions ranging from medieval Central Europe to Japan.
Together with Thomas Ertl. In: Command versus Consent. Representation and Interpretation of Power in the Late-Medieval Eurasian World, ed. by Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications, p. 167-90
In: Command versus Consent: Representation and Interpretation of Power in the Late Medieval Eurasian World, eds. Thomas Ertl and Tilmann Trausch, New Delhi; London: Sage Publications
In: Handbuch der Iranistik Vol. II, ed. by Ludwig Paul, Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2017, S. 67-73.
In: Asiatische Studien/Études asiatiques. Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft/ Revue de la Société Suisse – Asie, Berlin: De Gruyter, S. 115-55
In: Şehrâyîn. Die Welt der Osmanen, die Osmanen in der Welt. Wahrnehmungen, Begegnungen und Abgrenzungen. Festschrift für Hans Georg Majer, ed. by Yavuz Köse, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, p. 418-35
In: Asiatische Studien/Études asiatiques. Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Asiengesellschaft/ Revue de la Société Suisse – Asie, LXIV 1, Bern: Peter Lang, p. 139-72
(b. 1510-11), author of the Jawāher al-aḵbār, a universal history of a substantial part of the Persianate world, and member of the Safavid financial administration during the reign of Shah Ṭahmāsb I.
In: Encyclopaedia Iranica, online edition
Available at: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/budaq-monshi
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etab027
http://sehepunkte.de/2017/07/forum/studien-zum-delhi-sultanat-1206-1526-220/
https://www.liportal.de/iran/