Three Empires and Persian Historiography

Three Empires and Persian Historiography: The Thought of Muṣliḥ al-dīn Lārī uncovers the underexplored historical vision of a sixteenth-century scholar whose work spanned the Safavid, Timurid, and Ottoman worlds.

Centering on Lārī’s universal chronicle [Mir’atu’l-Advār wa Mirḳātu’l-Aḫbār], The Mirror of Epochs and the Staircase of Historical Reports, this book explores how a figure in philosophy, theology, and the sciences used history to navigate shifting imperial landscapes. Written in Persian and completed upon Sultan Selīm II’s accession to the throne, Lārī’s work offers a nuanced and often critical perspective on the Safavid dynasty, reverent accounts of the Timurid legacy, and a carefully constructed narrative of Ottoman rule. Through detailed textual analysis, the book demonstrates how Lārī positioned himself as both a cultural mediator and a political commentator, using historiography to reflect broader debates about legitimacy, identity, and intellectual authority in the early modern Islamic world.

A vital resource for scholars of Islamic historiography, Persianate studies, and Ottoman intellectual history, this book illuminates the enduring power of historical writing as a tool for negotiation, memory, and empire-making.

Author Biography

Nilab Saeedi is Research Associate at the Institute of Habsburg and Balkan Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences. She received her PhD in history in 2025 at Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul, with a focus on Islamic intellectual history. Her dissertation was awarded the “Best Doctoral Thesis of the Year” at Ibn Haldun University. She also holds an MA in Turkish literature from Ondokuz Mayıs University and a BA in linguistics. Her research interests include early modern Ottoman history, Persian historiography, and Islamic intellectual history. She has taught courses on art and literature and worked as a translator in Turkish, English, and Persian. She is a contributing editor for the Journal of the History of Ideas, where she interviews scholars of intellectual history and reviews their work.