The Commentaries of D. García de Silva y Figueroa on his Embassy to Shah ʿAbbās I of Persia on Behalf of Philip III, King of Spain

The Commentaries is the first complete English language translation, with complete annotations, of a unique and extraordinary memoir from the pen of the erudite Spanish soldier-diplomat D. García de Silva y Figueroa over the course of his embassy to Persia (1614–1624). The Commentaries transcend the travel-literature genre, emerging as a precocious European intellectual global history that is remarkable for its encyclopedic breadth, its historical depth, and its ethnographic and even artistic sensitivity. The Commentaries will be of interest to historians, ethnographers, and literary critics, or anyone with an interest in early modern European accounts of the encounter between the Portuguese and Spanish Empires and Safavid Persia during the early modern period. Dedication 6 Contents 8 General Editor’s Preface 10 Acknowledgments 13 List of Tables, Maps, and Plates 15 Measurements 17 Monies 19 Abbreviations 20 Introduction 22 Book I [The Voyage to India April–November 1614] 72 Book II Description of the Island and City of Goa 181 Book III [Goa to Hormuz 21 March–12 October 1617] 265 Book IV [Journey to Qazvīn and Meeting with Shah, 12 October 1617–1618] 308 Book V [Report on the Regions of the Persian Empire] 529 Book VI [Long-delayed Meetings with Shah ʿAbbās I in Eṣfahānand Return to Goa, 27 July 1618–15 December 1620] 652 Book VII [First Attempt to Return to Spain and Forced Return from Mozambique to Goa. Account of Loss of Qeshm and Hormuz. D. García de Silva y Figueroa’s Final Departure from Goa. 19 December 1620–28 April 1624] 791 Bibliography 884 Index 914 The Commentaries' is the first complete English language translation, with complete annotations, of a unique and extraordinary memoir from the pen of the erudite Spanish soldier-diplomat D. Garcia de Silva y Figueroa over the course of his embassy to Persia (1614-1624). 'The Commentaries' transcend the travel-literature genre, emerging as a precocious European intellectual global history that is remarkable for its encyclopedic breadth, its historical depth, and its ethnographic and even artistic sensitivity. 'The Commentaries' will be of interest to historians, ethnographers, and literary critics, or anyone with an interest in early modern European accounts of the encounter between the Portuguese and Spanish Empires and Safavid Persia during the early modern period