Place · settlement

Soltaniyeh

What the sources say here: 3 passages

Sultaniyeh, a royal city founded by Hulagu's descendants

Editorial contextPassing Sultaniyeh, Chardin saw fine public buildings, about 3,000 houses and vast ruins of churches, mosques and towers stretching west. Some said no one knew its founder; others said Arghun Khan, grandson of Hulagu, laid its foundations and his son finished it and named it 'the Royal City'. He adds on the same page that it was later wrecked by Tamerlane and by other Turkish and Tartar princes.

Others on the other side affirm, that the foundations of it were laid when the Sun was in Leo, by the order, and in the Reign of Ergon Can, the Son of Abkei-Can, and Grand-child of Halacou-Can; and that because it could not be finish'd in his days, his Son Jangou-Sultan compleated the work and call'd it Sultania, or the Royal City.

Jean Chardin (English translation, London, 1691)

See the original page (p. 376)

About Mongol Ilkhans (Tartar khans of Persia)

Keep in mind

Chardin gives competing traditions about the founder; he saw the ruins himself.

Continue in this sourceChardin's journey through Crimea and the Caucasus to Persia1660 to 1679 · 13 passages

Buildings Soltaniyeh, Iranc.1290 to 1316

A Mongol capital and a tomb of cut stone

Editorial contextMustawfi credits the founding of Sultaniyyah to the Mongol Ilkhan Arghun and its completion to his son Uljaytu, who named it after himself. He gives the circuit of the walls built and planned, and describes a castle of cut stone at the centre that is Uljaytu's tomb. Elsewhere on the page he says the new capital drew settlers of all nations and that only Tabriz had as many great buildings.

The city was founded by Arghun Khan, grandson of Hulagu the Mongol, and his son Uljaytu Sultan completed it, naming it Sultaniyyah after himself … The walls which Arghun built were 12,000 paces in circuit … In the centre stands a Castle built of cut stone, which is the tomb of Uljaytu Sultan

Hamdallah Mustawfi (translated by G. Le Strange, 1919)

See the original page (p. 61)

About Mongols (Ilkhans Arghun and Uljaytu)

Keep in mind

Mustawfi served the dynasty and knew the city well; the 'castle' is the great domed mausoleum still standing today.

Continue in this sourceMustawfi's Delight of Hearts: a geography of Mongol Iran1300 to 1333 · 4 passages

Daily life Sultaniyeh1806

The Shah's falcons from beyond Astrakhan

Editorial contextInvited to hunt with Fath Ali Shah near Sultaniyeh, Jaubert notes that the Persians kept up falconry, an expensive taste he thinks they probably got from the Tartars. The Shah's many falcons came from the lands north-east of Astrakhan, each with its own name and trainer.

probably came to them from the Tartars. The Shah owns a great number of birds of this kind, from the countries north-east of Astrakhan, which are trained with much art. Each falcon has its own name and its own trainer.
Working translation
Original wording
leur vient probablement des Tartares. Le Chah possède un grand nombre d'oiseaux de cette espèce, provenant des pays situés au nord-est d'Astrakhan, et qui sont dressés avec beaucoup d'art. Chaque faucon a son nom propre et un instituteur particulier.

Pierre-Amedee Jaubert

See the original page (p. 347)

About Qajar court; falcon-rearing peoples north-east of Astrakhan

Keep in mind

The Tartar origin of Persian falconry is Jaubert's guess.

Continue in this sourceJaubert's journey in Armenia and Persia1805 to 1808 · 7 passages

1 source and maps name this place

c. 1329–1330approximate
The Wonders Described
WJordanus Catalani of Séverac, Dominican, bishop of…mixedW245