English: AN IMPORTANT LETTER FROM SULTAN MAHMUD II TO PRINCE 'ABBAS MIRZA

CONSTANTINOPLE, OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED 1817-18

Expressing the Ottoman desire for friendship with Iran, Turkish and Persian manuscript on paper, the gold tughra of Sultan Mahmud II in the centre surrounded by floral sprays very finely painted in two-colour gold, with 7 lines and 8 lines of text above and below in very elegant black diwani with important phrases picked out in gold thuluth, the text slightly curving upward toward in the lower section, with Persian interlinear translation in black nasta'liq, some original notes on the reverse, made of two large sheets of paper, creasing and folding marks otherwise in very good condition 65½ x 30¾in. (166.5 x 78.5cm.)

The exceptionally large size of this imperial document underlines its importance as a political document. It was sent from the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II (r.1808-1839) to the Qajar crown prince 'Abbas Mirza (d. 1833) and characterizes the diplomatically intense years preceding the Ottoman-Persian war of 1821-23. The diplomatic correspondence between Sultan Mahmud II and 'Abbas Mirza was regarding the Russian expansion in the Caucasus which both the Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran were trying to second guess. Although the disagreements between the two states led to the war and the subsequent Treaty of Erzerum in 1823, this letter expresses the Ottoman desire of friendship with Iran; a very important message in the tense political context of that time.

The letter also acknowledges the receipt of 'Abbas Mirza's letter to the Sultan, conveyed to him by the prince's envoy Muhib 'Ali Khan Khalaj in 1816-17. The present letter was carried to Tabriz by Muhib 'Ali Khan to 'Abbas Mirza at his return from Constantinople.

For further information on Ottoman-Qajar relations on the question of the Caucasus, please refer to Mehdi Bamdad, Sharh-e Hal-e Rejal-e. Iran, I-IV, Tehran, 1992.