A. Andreev, O. Yastrebova. Copies of Eight Letters of Shāh ‘Abbās II: the History of an Intelligence Mission

Artyom Andreev

St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: a.a.andreev@spbu.ru

Olga Yastrebova

St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
E-mail: lgd1987@yandex.ru 

Copies of Eight Letters of Shāh ‘Abbās II:
the History of an Intelligence Mission 

Abstract. This paper deals with the origin and contents of eight unique documents stored in Collection 77 “Relations between Russia and Persia” of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. These are copies of letters from Shah ‘Abbas II (1052/1642—1077/1666) to several European and Asian monarchs and rulers, namely, Pope Innocent X (1644—1655), Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III (1637—1657), Doge Francesco Molin of Venice (1646—1655), the King of Poland Władysław IV Vasa (1632—1648), the Mughal (Baburid) Padishah Shah Jahan (1037/1628—1068/1658), the ruler of Bukhara (1052/1642—1055/1645) and Balkh (1055/1645—1061/1651) Nadhr Muhammad Khan, Ottoman Sultan Ibrahim (1050/1640—1058/1648), Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich of Russia (1613—1645). Copies were obtained with the active participation of the interpreter of the Russian mission in Iran Bilal Baytsin, who bribed one of the Shah's officials. In 1649, copies of the letters were handed over by the Russian ambassador, Prince S. I. Kozlovsky, to the Ambassadorial Prikaz (Office), where they were attached to the embassy materials. The documents are of interest as sources on Iran's foreign policy, representing a unique cross-section of the Safavid activity in the international arena during one of its most eventful periods in 1645—1648. 

Keywords: Shah ‘Abbas II, Safavids, diplomatic documents, history of diplomacy, archival documents, Ottoman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, the Moghul Empire, residents 

Acknowledgments: The research was carried out at the expense of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation No. 23‑78‑10037 https://rscf.ru/project/23-78-10037/. The authors also express deepest gratitude to their colleagues Rybár Lukáš and Selim Güngörürler for their most generous assistance in studying the Ottoman and Mughal context related to the sources published in the article. 

DOI: 10.31250/1238-5018-2025-31-2-3-14 

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Received by the Editorial Board: 15.01.2025