Gifts and livelihoods of Safavid emissaries in early seventeenth‑century Spain

Resumen

During the first quarter of the seventeenth century, goods and people circulated between Safavid Iran and the Spanish monarchy at unprecedented levels. However, relatively little analysis has been devoted to the circulating of objects and artefacts and to the people involved in practices of international diplomacy between these kingdoms, even though the diplomatic entanglements created by sending emissaries and ambassadors from Safavid Iran to the Spanish court gave rise to multiple problems. This article aims to highlight, on the one hand, the problems faced by these emissaries on their missions to the peninsular territories, specifically focusing on the case of Khvāja Safar, and, on the other hand and linked to the circulation of goods, the problems the court of Madrid faced when selecting and preparing its gift to Shāh ʿAbbās. As these two examples show, the diplomatic practices of the European courts, and especially the court of Madrid, differed from the Islamic customs in the early modern period. This contribution consequently aims to explore the difficulties that the Spanish court encountered in dealing with transcultural procedures and to showcase the socio‑political and cultural complexity that affected relations between the two kingdoms.