Sei giorni con lo Shāh. Un commento alla lettera di un viaggiatore veneziano alla corte di ‘Abbās il Grande

Since the Mongol and the Timurid rule in Iran, Italian travelogues represented a major source of Persian history. This paper focuses on the report made by Giacomo Fava, a XVI century Venetian merchant, during his visit in the new capital town of the Safavid empire, under the reign of Shāh ‘Abbās. In particular, through the analysis of the account, who reached us under the form of a letter, the paper would present the experience Fava made in Isfahan, during the six days he spent with the Persian king. The paper will report and comment the impressions he had, the description of the town, of the Shah, of his palace and, above all, of the “solemn celebration” – a Šotor-qorbānī (the camel sacrifice) – he attended. As far as I know, this letter has never been presented, commented or published before, with the exception of the printed letter I consulted in Italian, the original language of the document, included in a XVI century collection of documents I found in an Italian archive. Another printed copy of the letter appeared in an 1608 edition of the Trésor Politique, but in a coeval French translation. This paper would try to give a contribution to the historical study of the travelogues and to the history of Venetian/Italian-Persian relations. The paper would offer a new and unknown document which is a part of the attempt to enhance the mutual knowledge of two so different worlds, such as Europe and “the Orient”. The latter, and especially the Persian one, which also shared some political, economic and military goals and strategies with the European powers.

Sin dalla dominazione mongola e timuride in Iran, i travelogues hanno rappresentato una tra le principali fonti della storia persiana. L’intervento qui proposto prende in esamina una lettera scritta da Giacomo Fava, mercante veneziano del XVI secolo, durante la sua visita nella nuova capitale dell’Impero Safavide, sotto il regno di Shāh ‘Abbās. In particolare, attraverso l’analisi del racconto, giunto a noi sottoforma di lettera, il paper intende presentare l’esperienza fatta da Fava durante i sei giorni che trascorse in compagnia del sovrano persiano, riportando, descrivendo e commentando le impressioni, sul sovrano, sulla città e sulle “celebrazioni solenni” – il Šotor-qorbānī – (il sacrificio del cammello) a cui prese parte. La lettera non è mai stata oggetto di pubblicazione in precedenza, se non in una edizione del Thésoro Politico del 1608. L’intento è di dare un contributo agli studi storici dei travelogues ed alla storia delle relazioni tra la Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia e la Persia safavide.