AN EXAMINATION OF THE FORMATION OF WAQF INSTITUTION IN THE SAFAVID EMPIRE AND THE WAQFS OF SHAH ABBAS I

Abstract

This paper focuses on an understudied topic in Turkish academia: Safavid waqfs. It first gives general information about Safavid waqfs then traces the waqfs of Shah Abbas in the literature. To this end, it investigates a manuscript copy of Shah Abbas' waqfiyyah found in Iranian archives and analyses the content of this copy. Secondly, it asserts that the political, social, and economic aspects of Safavid waqfs are as crucial as of the Ottoman waqfs, and more studies are required to grasp the significance of the subject. Even the political features of these institutions were more comprehensive and prominent than other issues related to these institutions. Therefore, this paper lastly examines how the Safavid waqfs, between the reigns of Shah Ismail to Sah Abbas I, functioned politically by objectifying the waqfs of the latter ruler.