Language:
English
Year of publication:
2022
Titel der Quelle:
Entangled Religions; Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer
Angaben zur Quelle:
13,3 (2022) pp. 16
Keywords:
Aṛakʻel,
;
Bābāʼī ibn Luṭf,
;
Jews Persecutions
;
Jews Sources Persecutions
;
History
;
Muslim converts from Judaism History 17th century
;
Jews History 17th century
;
Iṣfahān (Iran)
Abstract:
The article deals with the persecution and expulsion of the Jews of Isfahanthat took place under Shah ‘Abbās II in the years 1656–1662. The events, which occurredat Grand Vizier Moḥammad Beg’s instigation, are told of in a number of contemporarysources, the most important of them being Bābā’ī ben Loṭf’sKetāb-e anūsī(in Judeo-Persian) and Arak‘el Davrižec‘i’sGirk‘ patmuteanc‘(in Armenian). The article tries to finda rationale for the differences found between these two accounts, focusing on how the twoauthors report the murder of a Jewish informer to the Grand Vizier that was perpetratedby other Jews. By analysing how they fashion a different narrative drawing on the sameevents, the article proposes that their opposite attitudes towards the murderers come fromtheir different intent and approach in writing their works. Bābā’ī’s account follows in thewake of the traditional biblical paradigm of sin and punishment, thus showing less sympa-thy for the plight of the Jews than one could expect, as from the author’s perspective theirsuffering was supposedly brought on them by their own sins. On the other hand, Aṙak‘el’smore empathic representation of the Jews and their tribulations could be understood inthe light of his own concern about his coreligionists being tempted to convert to Islam formaterial benefit or economic convenience. This is the reason why Aṙak‘el stresses how theJews held to their faith and were not lured by the money and gifts the Persians offeredthem to turn to Islam. He fashions the chapter he devoted to the history of the Jews of Is-fahan as a moral tale, complete with a hero and a villain and enhanced with some Jewishflavour details, to show his fellow Armenians how they, too, should resist the allurementof conversion
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