A Study of the Woman’s Position in the Jalairid Period in Iran, (Case Study: Paintings of Homay and Homayun)

Movahedian Attar, Fatemeh; Khaksar, Ali

doi:10.22034/rph.2023.2014741.1048

A Study of the Woman’s Position in the Jalairid Period in Iran, (Case Study: Paintings of Homay and Homayun)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Fatemeh Movahedian Attar ¹

Ali Khaksar ²

¹ M.A. Student, History of Islamic Art, Department of Advanced Research in Arts, Faculty of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Advanced Research in Arts, Faculty of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/rph.2023.2014741.1048

Abstract

The research title explores the identity of women during the Al-Jalair period The current article is a significant study aiming to understand the status and identity of women during the Al-Jalair period in Iranian society. This will be achieved through an analysis of the illustrations in the story “Homay and Homayun” in the court of Khajovi Kermani. Humai and Humayun is a romantic Masnawi in “Diwan Khajui Kermani” and is considered one of the most important manuscripts of the Al-Jalair period, dated 28 Jumadi al-Awl 798 AH, which includes the love story of Humai (Iranian prince) and Humayun (daughter of the Khaqan of China) and the two divans of “Kamalnameh” and “Rawzah al-Anwar”. This divan was written in the script of “Mir Ali Tabrizi” (the founder of the Nastaliq script) and illustrated by “Junid Naqash” (Sultani), the first Iranian figure painter. During the interregnum after the death of Abu Said Khan in 736 AH until the rise of Timur Gurkani (771-807 AH), the territory of the Mughal Ilkhans was divided among the influential rulers, the most famous of which was the Al-Jalair dynasty (740-836 AH). Although Iran’s political stability was disrupted by the emergence of small local dynasties in the 8th century AH, this led to the establishment of significant art centers in a short period. “Sultan Ahmad” (of Al-Jalair Sultans), although very hard-hearted in his reign, had a delicate artistic taste.
He supported artists and was a poet and painter himself. During his reign, the cities of Tabriz and Baghdad had schools of painting. After the conquest of Baghdad, Timur sent a group of painters from there to Central Asia, and the gentle, lyrical, and poetic painting style of the Jalarians was established as a classical style during the Timurid period. Based on this, the primary focus of the present study is to examine how women’s identity was depicted during the Al-Jalair period through the artworks of Homay and Homayun. Thus, this study utilized the descriptive-analytical method and historical and sociological approaches to examine the depiction of women’s identity in the paintings of Homay and Homayun. The analysis of Homay and Homayun’s paintings reveals that the creation of “Homay and Homayun” paintings, with their artistic coordinates, depicts a human identity distinct from previous periods of women. This creation is not solely based on the artist’s mentality and imagination but is also a reflection of the cultural and social conditions of the time. It reveals the prevailing spirit, portraying the woman’s identity not as a sexual object with a passive role, unlike existing depictions.

Keywords

Woman

Woman's position

Homai and Homayun

Junaid

Divan-e Khajovi Kermani

Subjects

The Wisdom of Islamic Art

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