Chinggisid and Persian Office Culture in the Work of Muhammad Nakhchivani “Dastur al-katib”
Based on the Persian treatise “Dastur al-Katib” by Muhammad Nahchivani, the article reveals peculiarities of interaction of Persian and Chinggisid chancellery traditions in the state of Jalaiyrs. The aim is to consider correlation of local Persian, Muslim traditions and office culture of Chinggisid and post-Chinggisid states in process of documenting power decisions. The objectives of the study are to determine the structure of the yarliq samples presented in “Dastur al-katib”, compare them with the forms of Chinggisid act materials, and to determine a degree of influence of Chinggisid chancellery rules on Persian chancellery traditions. The source base consists of yarliqs samples and other materials from “Dastur al-Katib”, other medieval sources about Mongol Iran and other Chinggisid states, including the writings of Rashid al-Din, etc., the materials of medieval Chinggisid chancelleries. The authors use source studies, diplomatic and comparative historical methods. The analysis of these materials indicates that the Hulaguids, thanks to their military and political power, managed to introduce into chancellery practice of Iran Chinggisid canons, which persisted even after the fall of the Ilkhans’ power. Muhammad Hindushakh organically connects the Jalayirs with the Hulaguids and traces this connection to Chinggis Khan, which allows us to consider his work as one of the most recent monuments of Mongol imperial ideology. The authors conclude that in Iran in 13th-14th cc. the old Persian chancellery tradition and Chinggisid chancellery norms coexisted, and the latter symbolized the dominance of the ruling dynasty and adherence to political traditions laid down by Chinggis Khan.