Elguja Khintibidze

The Path of The Man in a Panther-Skin to England  and English Historical Sources

While searching the trace of The Man in a Panther-Skin’s plot in the English dramaturgy, I got interested in the stories related to Georgians promoted on the Court of Shah Abbas I in Persia; mainly, in the fact of the collaboration be­tween the Georgians promoted on the Shah’s Court in the late 16^th century, Alaverdi Khan in particular, and the team of Eng­lish diplomats led by Anthony Sherley at the end of the centu­ry.

The first foreigner to pay attention to my research about the plot of The Man in a Panther-Skin as a literary source of the English dramaturgy at the beginning of the 17^th century was an English writer and a scholar Anthony Anderson. While conversing with him about the issues for the first time, he me­tioned that he had read from some sources that Anthony Sherley received some support from the Christian wives of Shah

Abbas. He once again mentioned this fact during the presentation of my book (“Medieval Georgian Romance The Man in a Panther-Skin and Shakespeare’s Late Dramaturgy”) in November 2018 at the London, Royal Asiatic Society.

This fact provoked some questions such as:  where might  my English colleague have read about this fact? Is this information based upon any primary sources or it is just a conjecture? Who were those two Christian wives mentioned by Anderson? Were they Georgians? According to the old Georgian traditions, the book of MPS was one of the most valuable components of a dowery for Georgian brides.

I, along with my students and colleagues, have actively been involved in the research of the issue since the last year. The outcome was promt. My PhD student Nini Jighauri and I found the article dedicated to Anthony Sherley in the Diction­ary of National Biography that reads the following: “The two favourite wives of Shah Abbas were Christians and they procured for Shirley a very promising reception. He won, too, the regard of Aly-verd Beg, the chief of the army, and the rank of mirza, or prince, was conferred upon him” [4].

I carried on my research by studying the references in­dicated in the article dedicated to the biography of Anthony Sherley. These literary sources also refered to other records de­scribing Sherley’s voyage in Persia. The article about the Sherley family, by General Briggs [2, pp. 77-104] turned out to be of the greatest importance in terms of the issue posed above. The Shah’s Christian wives who helped Anthony Sherley were Georgians. Records about Shah’s two favourite wives – Geor­gians by nationality and Christians by religion – are also men­tioned in the volumes of the 18^th century English Universal History [8]. The question remains: what was the source sup­porting the notes permeating the English literature of the 17^th and 19^th centuries’, according to which the expedition led by Sherley was supported by the two Christian wives on the Court of the Shah.

English historical surveys, while discussing the issue, refer to Thomas Herbert, an English attaché on the Court of the Shah. Thomas Herbert issued two books on Persia in the 17^th century. Besides these books, regarding the issue, I studied the book by Anthony Shirley, describing the Author’s travel to Persia [9], published in London in 1613.

The facts concerning Shah’s two Georgian wives are more or less in accordance with one another and require de­tailed study in terms of detecting the Georgian trace on the Court of Shah Abbas.

Anthony Sherley about the Shah’s Georgian, Christian wives. Sir Anthony Sherley was a prominent English diplomat and a traveller of the 16^th-17^th century. At the end of 1598 he, accompanied by the delegation of 26 people, visited Shah Ab­bas’s Court. He contributed to the growth of the hostile atti­tudes toward Turkey in Persia. Sherley stayed there for 6 months and later was able to visit many European countries in the rank of the Persian ambassador.

Sherley was unable to return to England since his diplomatic mission to Persia was not agreed with Queen Elizabeth the First. Besides, the Earls sponsoring him were un­covered and punished for plotting against the Queen. Despite the fact that the political situation in England drastically changed after the death of the Queen, he failed to obtain per­mission to go back to his country. Anthony Sherley, who had a good command of several languages, was an intelligent person. He and the Earls sponsoring him had tight contacts with The Royal National Theatre in England. According to one English author of the 19^th century, Sherley provided the plot for the Royal Troupe; besides, by exaggerating certain facts, the auther states that even the early drafs of the Shakespeare’s late period plays were created by Sherley himself [11].

It is believed that Sherley definitely exaggerated his personal merits and contribution in the book printed in Lon­don in 1613, while describing his travels to Persia. However, the most important is that he narrates the facts he was the eyewitness of and presented the historical facts in the way they permeated the elite circles of the Shah’s court. Therefore, it can be assumed that his narrations, regarding these facts, which were not direclty related to his personal merits, were not ex­agerated.

There are only two wives of the Shah mentioned by Sherley and both of them are Georgian Christians. According to the author, the first one is the daughter of the King of Kartli – Simon. As Shirley puts it [9, pp. 44-45]: Shah Abass claimed the Georgian Princess, the daughter of the King of Kartli Simon (according to Sherley, the princess was ready to provide the love required). A little below that the author returns to this topic and writes that the Queen escorted by 2000 horsemen and her brother, the prince Byraike Myrza, arrived at the Shah’s court. Soon the marriage took place and both parties provided adequate ceremonies for the wedding. The God blessed both of them and in less than a year they had their firstborn son, Prince – Sophir Mirza who was still alive.

According to Sherley, the story related to the second wife is linked to the death of the first one. Following the narra­tion of some episodes from Shah’s life, he describes Abbas’s vis­it to one of the Khan’s land. To alleviate his boredom the Shah spent either eight or ten days hunting.  However, he aban­doned the place as he heard the news about his wife’s death of a sudden and severe illness. The Shah returned to Ispahan where he spent several days in pain and sorrow because of the immense loss he had suffered. Afterwards, he sent a messenger to another King of Georgia, Aleksandre, making a marriage proposal for his daughter with the intent to maintain the rela­tionship that might disappear after the passaway of the Queen. The person sent to the Georgian king was Xa-Tamas Coolibeague, who, returned to the Shah together with the lady mentioned above in several months [9, p. 57].

Thus, Anthony Sherley, in his vast review of adventures in Persia, mentions only Shah’s two wives – two Georgian Christian Princesses, the daughters of the Kings (according to Persian Court title – the daughters of Georgian Khans).

Two Georgian Christian wives supporting Sherley men­tioned in English historiography, are those princesses noted by Sherley himself in his survey described above. Furthermore, these historical surveys are not solely based on the notes pro­vided by Sherley. These sources mention the names of the princesses and tell the stories of their offsprings as well.

The English historiography about the Shah’s wives, who assisted Sherley.Shah’s favourite Georgian, Christian wives assisting Sherley during his travel are mentioned by a distant descendant of the Sherley family, Evelyne Philip Shirley in her historical review of the Sherley family (Shirley Evelyn Philip – 1812-1882): “Sir Anthony Shirley’s favourable reception at Kazveen, by Shah Abbas the Great, at this period King of Persia, has been ascribed by Major General Briggs, in his interesting Memoir on the Shirley Family, to the influence possessed by the ladies of the Court, (his two favourite wives being Christian) over that celebrated monarch” [10, p. 19].

General Briggs writes in his brief review “A Short Ac­count of the Sherley Family”: “The favourable reception of Sir Anthony Sherley and his company in Persia may be accounted for by the great toleration of Shah Abbass towards Christians, owing, perhaps, to the influence possessed by the ladies of the court over that monarch. Sir Thomas Herbert thus quaintly describes this circumstance; and no greater proof of their influ­ence could be afforded than that of Georgians receiving the title of Khan and Mirza at the king’s hands – titles which are now strictly confined to Moslems.

 ‘Abbass had several wives, who had several children, for whose education neither cost nor care was spared. Of the most promising he loved were Ismael, Tophy Mirza, Kodabun­da Sultan, and Iman Kooly, The two first by Gordina, daughter of Simon Khan, and the two latter by Martha, daughter of Scanda Mirza, both Georgians, both Christians; and so dear to Abbass‘ ”that is seemed he had then got the elixir of earthly happiness’ ” [2, p. 88].

The 17^th century Universal History (the reference made above) reveals similar facts, naming Thomas Herbert as its pri­mary source. The story starts with the treacherous deeds by the Shah towards his offsprings and develops as follows:

            “HERBERT, who travelled into Persia in the reign of Shâh Abbâs, gives a different account of this affair. He says, that Abbâs had four sons, the eldest Ismael, Sofi Mîrza, Koda­bânda Soltân, and Emangoli. The two first born of Gordina, daughter of Simon Khân: the two latter of Martha, daughter of Skander Mîrza, both Georgian Christians. Ismael, giving jeal­ousy by his delighting in arms, was poisoned. Sofi Mîrza (who is the Safi, or Sefi, of Olearius), although extolled, at first, for revealing a conspiracy, was at length thrown down, and crushed to death by kapiji. Emangoli (or Imâm Kûli), upon be­ing told by a witch, that he should not live long, grew fearful of his father’s temper, and died of melancholy. Kodabânda Soltân, surnamed Sofi, now the only son living, was a prince of great endowments; and had signalized himself so much in the wars, that his father doated on him, and the people admired him: but this popularity made Abbâs resolve to destroy him” [8, p. 443].

Thomas Herbert about Shah Abbas’s Georgian Christian Wives and their offsprings.Thomas Herbert, on whose information the English Historical Writing relies up­onwhen stating facts about the Shah and his two Christian wives and their offsprings, was a prominent politician of the 17^th century English Court. He served as an English attaché on the Persian Court during the Shah’s late years. Therefore, his records can be considered as the primary source for studying the history of the Safavid Dynasty. Thomas Herbert is the au­thor of two books on the History of Persia. I got acquainted with the book “A Description of the Persian Monarchy” pub­lished in London, in 1634. The book provides a separate chap­ter on the topic of Georgian-Persian relationship under the name of “A Late Tragicall History of the Georgians, Christians” [7, pp. 72-82], describing hard times the King of Kakheti – Ale­ksander, his son Konstantine and King Teumuraz had to go through. The book does not provide any notes concerning the Shah’s Georgian wives. The second book The Travels in Persia revised by Thomas Herbert himself was published four times during his life in 1634, 1638, 1665 and 1677.

In 1928, in London Sir William Foster released a criti­cal edition of Herbert’s publication of 1677 with his Introduc­tion and notes. This edition is a little shorter version of the original text. According to the publisher, he ruthlessly excised the descriptive passages of the places Herbert had never visited as well as some ideas of other authors and facts with nohistori­cal value [6, XII]. At the moment I have the publicationof the critical text issued in 2014 in which on the pages 160-167, the author starts the story of the Georgian Christian wives of the Shah Abbas start as follows (there are multiple citations of the beginning of this story found in English historical writings):

“Abbas by diverse wives had several children, for whose education neither cost nor care was spared. Of most hope were Ismael, Soffy-mirza, Codobanda-Sultan, and Eman­goly, four brave young Princes. The two first were begot on Gordina, daughter of Simon-cawn; the latter two of Martha, daughter of Scander-mirza, both Georgians, both Christians. The first lady was brought thence by Kurchiki-cawn, the other by Shaw-Tamas-Coolibeg, both being Persians, both favourites: all of them so dear to Abbas that it seemed he then had got the elixir of earthly happiness: his wives were so incomparably beautiful, his favourites so exactly faithful; and his sons so live­ly the characters of his person, policy, and courage – recipro­cally joying the aged King, and overjoying the warlike Per­sians” [6, pp. 160-161].

Afterwards, Herbert narrates about the Shah’s treach­erous deeds towards his sons: Ismail and Sefi-Mirza died upon the consent of their envious father at the age of 19, as the for­mer was famous for his military skillsand the latter - for his loyal service to the Court. Emangoly, who, according to a horo­scope was predicted to have a difficult life and who dreaded his treacherous father, died of deep melancholy.

Then the author develops a detailed narration concern­ing the tragic story of Kodabunda Sultan (later called Seffi). He gained respect for his commitment to the country and the Shah. With his courage and experience as well as his military skills, he was able to gain the recognition and the respect of the Oriental World. His jealous and envious father first slew his mentor and then blinded his wounded son, who came to the rescue of his mentor. Blinded Seffi was unable to reconcile himself with his fate, and following the steps of his father’s brutality, strangled his daughter Fatima (a favourite grand­daughter of elderly Abbas) to revenge on his father, and then killed himself. Herbert narrates the stories emotionally through philosophical explanations.

The author’s notes regarding the late period of the Shah’s life are considered as the significant primary source for studying the issues. Generally, Herbert’s notes are confirmed by the historians studying Georgian trace on the Court of the Shah, however, they refer only to his book – A Description of the Persian Monarchy [14, p. 10; 17, p. 105; 18, p. 82]. Howev­er, amongst the studies by Georgian scholars dedicated to this issue I was unable to find any reference to the Book – Travels in Persia. I hope that the notes about the two Georgian wives of Shah Abbas and their sons, preserved in the primary sources mentioned above will become the main subject of the critical study by Georgian historians and these versions will beplaced in juxtaposition with the notes about the Shah’s sons preserved in Persian, Georgian, Armenian and other sources. At this point, I find it reasonable to go back to the main topic of the research question.

Comments on English Original Sources.The cited notes on the primary sources of the English historiography concern­ing the Georgian trace at the Shah’s Court, compared to the opinion permeating into Georgian literary circles, evince not only novelties but also differences.

Accoridng to the dominant opinion in the Georgian lit­erary circles, Shah Abbas’s four wives, (a sister of Andukhapar Amilakhvar – Tamar, Pakhrijan-Begum – The King Simon’s sister. Elene – Teimuraz’s sister and Lela – Luarsab’s sister) were Georgians [21, p. 198; 17, p. 109]. The notes in the Eng­lish historiography are not in accordance with those presented in the Georgian historiography. These details require some crit­ical analyses on our part and there are several circumstances we should pay more attention to.

Different viewpoints of various primary sources on the Shah’s Georgian wives are not surprising at all. Non-Georgian authors, Persians amongst them, learnt about the names of these ladies through various social, religious, and cultural circles. It is understandable that the authors of various reports and some researchers not expressing any particular interest in the subject, refer to the Shah’s wives by one name only (given in the Persian environment). However, Georgian sources iden­tify the Georgian brides mostly through Georgian names.

According to Georgian as well as foreign historical sources, at the request of the Shah Abbas’s father Mohammad Khodabanda, the King of Kartli–Simon and the King of Kakheti – Aleksander sent their daughters to Persia to marry the Per­sian Prince Hamza-Mirza [20, p. 271; 13, p. 99; 19, p. 42; 15, p. 47]. Prince Hamza-Mirza died in 1587, which led to the en­thronement of Shah Abbas. We should also consider the fact that, according to the Muslim tradition, brothers often married the wives of a deceased brother. Olgan Pashan Khanum, one of the widows of Hamza-Mirza is referred to as one of Shah Abass’s wives by the English Wikipidia in the article on Shah Abbas [1].

Unlike the Georgian historical sources, the same article from the English Wikipidia refers to Fakhri-Jahan Khanum– the daughter of The King of Kartli Bagrat VII and Fatima Sultan Begumthe daughter of the Peykar Khan of Kakheti (“alias Peri Lala, nèe Tinatin, daughter of Peykar Khan of Kakheti”) as Shah Abbas’s wives. These data are also confirmed by the Georgian article about Shah Abbas from Wikipidia. The King of Kartli George X is refered to as the father of Fatima Sultan Begum[12].

One of the most compelling facts different from the ones publicized by Georgian scholalry circles, regarding Shah Abbass’ Georgian wives, has been revealed by the English his­toriographical notes according to which, Shah’s wives, the daughters of the Kings Simon and Aleksander, are without any doubt refered toas the Shah’s Georgian, Christian wives. This would not lead us to thinking that they (the Georgian brides) were Christians only by origin. I assume that this emphasis on their Christianity refers to the fact that they maintained their Christian faith even after marrying the Shah. This fact is supris­ing indeed as all Christians (with some exceptions), sojourning the Shah’s court were converted to Islam immediately on their arrival. This categorical implication to Christianity of these two wives by English historiography was not accidental. In the epi­sode discussing the Shah’s wives, Thomas Herbert mentions two Mahmadian servants of Shah Abbas –Kurchik-Khan and Shah-Thamas-Khulibeg, referring to them as Persions as if in contrast with the two Christian wives mentioned in the same passage (While, – Shah-Thamas-Khulibeg was a Georgian Christian by origin converted to Muslim [9, p. 73]. Apparently, these two wives remained Christians and were not converted to Islam at the Shah’s Court.

Marrying Christian wives without converting them to Islam was one  of the most important political and state  strategies of Shah Abbas that became apparent at the turn of 16^th-17^th centuries, when the Shah, along with European Monarchs attempted to create a coalition against the Turks.  He did his best to prove his loyalty and sympathy to the Christians. This idea was many times reinfornced on the basis of numerous facts throughout the history.

This period coincides with the reception of a big group of English travellers at the Shah’s court and the same period is reflected in the records by Anthony Sherley concerning the Christian wives of the Shah. Shah Abbas sent Anthony Sherley as a Persian ambassador to Europe in May of 1599. Anthony Sherley delivered the Shah’s letters to the Pope of Rome and to many European Monarchs as well as to a lot of Counts and Earls.

Along those letters, Sherley carried a diplomatic list emphasizing Shah’s benevolent and merciful attitude towards Christians that was reinforced by the Shah’s marriage to the daughter of the Georgian Khan Simon [3, p. 78; 16, p. 200]. The Chronicle of the Carmelitshas retained a note from the letter sent by the Pope of Rome Climentes VIII to the Shah’s Chris­tian wife in February of 1601, referring to her as a Beloved Sis­ter in Christ. In this letter the Pope reminds her of the words from The Epistles of Paul according to which a pagan spouse can be purified by a Christian spouse, and urges her to serve the Christian religion with loyalty and commitment [13, p. 103].

Finally, there are several discrepancies between the English original sources and the common opinions concerning the issue of the Shah Abbas’s Georgian wives. According to the English sources, the Georgian Christian wives of Shah Abbas are considered to be the daughters of the King Simon and the King Aleksander; however, Georgian historiography fails to name the daughters of the two Georgian Kings – Simon and Aleksander to be the Shah’s wives.

As already mentioned above, Simon and Aleksander sent their daughters (who later became the wives of the prince Hamza-Mirza) along with their sons, to Persia upon the de­mand of Shah Abbas’s father – Mohammad Khodabanda. The ladies mentioned by Sherley and Thomas Herbert are definitely not the wives of the Prince Hamza Mirza. One of Hamza Mir­za’s widow Olgan Pasha Khanum is referred to as the Shah’s wife by the English Wikipedia; however, Shah-Abbas’s Chris­tian wives were a lot younger than Olgan Pasha Khanum. Sherley narrates the stories regarding the Shah’s wives as if these were the events taking place during his stay at the Shah’s Court (around 1598-1601). The same idea was supported by the diplomatic list delivered by Sherley to Europe (1599) which mentioned the Shah’s Christian wife and the letter of the Pope sent to her in 1601. Finally, Thomas Herbert, in the context of the Shah’s Christian wives, mentions the advanced age of the Shah. 

Gordina, the Shah’s wife, mentioned by Thomas Her­bert was identified by Ser William Foster – the publisher of Herbert’s book –Travels in Persia(1928). He writes in the commentaries [5, p. 320]: ”Herbert’s ‘Gordina’ was apparently Thinatin, younger sister of Luarsab II, King of Kartli (Georgia)”. The English wikipidia mentioned Tinatin, (along with another name – Alias Peri Lala), as a maiden name of the Shah’s wife – Fatima Sultan Begum – in the biographical review of Shah Ab­bas I. This Princess was considered a daughter of Peykar Khan of Kakheti. According to the Georgian Wikipidia, Fatima Sul­tan Begum is Elene Bagrationi – a daughter of The King of Kartli Giorgi X. She must be Lela, mentioned by me above, the youngest sister of Luarsab II.

Changing a Georgian name of a daughter of the King Giorgi X at the Shah’s Court should not be surprising at all, however, the fact that Herbert calls her Gordina (repeated by English surveyors of Sherley’s biography) does raise some ques­tions.  Should we assume that the name (Gordina) is just a mis­pronunciation of theGeorgian princess’ nickname Gorgina (perhaps Georgian) permeating atthe Shah’s court or among the group of Englishmen soujourning at the Court at the time?

The most challenging is the question why the daughter of Giorgi X and the sister of Luarsab II, sent to the Shah’s Court is referred to as a daughter of the King of Kartli– Simon I. We should not assume that this is the mistake made by Herbert. Even Sherley regards this lady to be a daughter of King Simon. Anthony Sherley’s book is not the only source Herbert relies upon. It is apparent that he bases himself upon some other sources as well.

It is more reasonable to study this issue along with an­other discrepancy revealed in the notes provided by both Thomas Herbert and English historical literature. Thomas Her­bert, as well as Shirley, considersthe other Christian wife of the Shah – Martha to be the daughter of King Aleksander. Howev­er, according to all of the sources discussed above, Martha is regarded to be a sister of King of Kakheti – Teimuraz and a daughter of King of Kakheti–David I. She is a granddaughter of King of Kakheti Aleksandre II. Besides, the Shah’s Christian wife referred to as Gordina by Herbert must be a granddaugh­ter rather than a daughter of King Simon – the King of Kartli.

 It is less likely that this is the mistake made solely by Sherley and Herbert. The diplomatic list delivered by Sherley to Europe mentions the fact that the Shah married a Georgian, Christian Princess, a daughter of the Georgian Khan – Simon. [3; 16, p. 200].

 It is more likely that these Georgian Bagrationi prin­cesses from Georgia, sent at the request of Abbas, to the Shah’s court by Kings of Kartli and Kakheti Simon and Aleksander, were considered to be the daughters of the Kings. Indeed, they were Princesses and daughters of the Kings, however, the Kings who sent them were their grandfathers and not their fathers.[1]

Thus, the peculiarities of English original sources on Georgian Christian Princesses can be fully explained, however, there are some other details in the narration of Sherley and Herbert that still need more elaboration and critical discussion. It is possible that Sherley himself was the witness of only one Princess’ arrival at the Court. We should not exclude thepossi­bility that he may have tried to explain some fact relying upon his conjecture as well.[2]

ShahAbbas’ Georgian Christian Wives and a Path of the Man in a Panther-Skin’s to England.The English original sources, concerning the trace of Georgiansin Persiaat the turn of the 16^th-17^th century provide a substantial proof that the English mission, visiting the Shah’s Court in the late 16^th and early 17^th century (a delegation led by Anthony Sherley, Robert Sherley’s family, Thomas Herbert) had close connections with the Georgian circles at the Shah’s Court (Alaverdi Khan and his family, Shah’s Georgian wives, Shah-Thamaz Khulibeg, Konstantine Mirza…). My interest in the issue mentioned above is closely linked to my research regarding the path through which the plot of the MPS penetrated the English dramaturgy circles in the early 17^th century. The visit of the English delegation led by Anthony Sherley and their relation­ship with high-ranking Georgians sojourning the Shah’s Court provides a substantial and reliable evidence for the assumption with regards to the penetration of the plot of the MPS in the circles of the English dramaturgy.

The English historical writing describing Sherley’s trav­els asserts that the Shah’s two Georgian Christian wives provid­ed a substantial assistance to Sherley’s delegation. Even Sherley himself, in his book about his travells, published in London (1613), mentions these two wives with great sympathy and re­spect.

More detailed notes regarding the Shah’s two Georgian Christian wives and their sons were provided by Sir Thomas Herbert, an English military attaché in Perisain 1627-29. The reason the notes about the two wives provided by Herbert are the most significant is that his narration is based on the infor­mation provided by Robert Sherley, Anthony Sherley’s brother who was a direct witness of the events taking place at the time in Persia. Thomas Herbert visitied Persia with Robert Sherley and his family. He also accompanied Robert Sherley at a sever­al-day feast arranged by Alaverdi Khan’s son Imam-Khuli Khan (Georgian with origin). Thus, his notes and his interest in these two wives and their offspring are presumably related to the stories about the Sherley family.

Thus, presumably, the Georgian Christian wives of the Shah were among all highranking Georgians assisting and con­sulting Sherley and his companions with regard to the render­ing the plot of the great Georgian Romance The Man in a Pan­ther-skin from Georgian into English. The establishement of the close relationship between English intellectuals interested in literary, folk and historical tales, with Christian Princesses having just arrived from Georgia, once again confirms the con­jecture that these intellectuals were the ones to spread the great epicby Rustaveli among the English circles.

The fact that the MPS was one of the most valuable to­ken in the dowery of Georgian brides in old times has been causiously retained in the memory of every Georgian. It is highly likely that the Georgian princesses, the brides of the Shah, having abandoned their homeland forever carried not only the MPS as the part of their dowery but also the effection for the story of the Georgian Love Romance.

Bibliography

1.   Abbas the Great: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas the Great. (The page was refreshed on July 20, 2020)

2.   Briggs (Major-General), “A Short Account of the Sherley Family”:The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 6, #1 (1841).

3.   The Chronicle of the Carmelits and Papal mission in Persia XVII-XVIII centuries, v. I. London 1939.

4.   Dictionary of National Biography, v. 52, Djvu/132,1897.

5.   Foster W.,“Notes”: Tomas Herbert, Travels in Persia, London 2014.

6.   Herbert Thomas, Travels in Persia. 1627-1629, abridged and edited by Sir William Foster, C.I. E. with and Introduction and Notes, Broadway House, London 2014.

7.   Herbert Thomas, A Description of the Persian Monarchy, London 1634.

8.   The Modern Part of a Universal History (from the Earliest Account of Time. Compiled from Original Writers. By the Au­thors of the Antient Part), vol. V, London 1759.

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