The decrees issued by Safavid Shah Abbas I regarding the Ali ibn Musa al-Reza’s (AS) Holy Shrine

Introduction

Mashhad, especially the Holy Razavi Holy Shrine, developed during the Safavid dynasty era. More attention was paid to this city when Shah Abbas I ruled (996-1038 AH). In the first few years of his rule, the Uzbeks conquered Khorasan and Mashhad, but Shah Abbas regained them in 1007 AH. He generally expelled Uzbeks from Mashhad and then, until his death, he pursued his expansionist policies for the development of the city of Mashhad and the Razavi Holy Shrine. His usual pilgrimages, unlike other Safavid kings, who went to religious and pilgrimage cities during military expeditions or hunting expeditions, Shah Abbas I considered it necessary to visit holy sites, therefore he left the capital Isfahan, many times for pilgrimage.

His first pilgrimage in 996-997 AH to the city of Mashhad coincided with the beginning of his reign. During this trip, next to visiting the Razavi Holy Shrine, he stayed in Khorasan for a while to confront the Uzbek attacks and appointed rulers for the regions that had not been conquered by the Uzbeks (Afushte-i Natanzi, 1373, pp. 313-314). Ten years after this trip, in 1007 AH, he went to visit the Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Reza (AS) shrine after the Uzbek invasion, which had caused great destruction in Khorasan and Mashhad (Munshi, 1382, vol. 2, pp. 911-912). This grave situation made the king appoint Yusuf Khan, son of Aghlan Badagh Chegni, to serve Imam Reza (AS) to put things in order and establish a guesthouse, a tavern, and a kitchen and appointed Qazi Sultan Turbati as the guardian and Mir Mohammad Jafar and Mulam Mohammad Kazim as instructors in the Astan Quds Razavi (Munjim Yazdi, 1400, pp. 275 and 259). During this trip, he became the Astan Quds Razavi’s custodian as an important post (Monshi, 1377, vol. 2, p. 962). He went to Khorasan again on the first of Safar 1008 AH for pilgrimage and near the city of Mashhad, out of respect for Imam Reza (AS), he dismounted from his horse and walked the rest of the way, and spent the entire winter of that year in Mashhad, praying, visiting, and serving at the Shrine of the eighth Imam day and night (Monshi, 1377, p. 962). In 1010 AH, while the Safavid internal government was consolidated and the Uzbek forces were suppressed, Shah Abbas I made his most famous pilgrimage, where he walked the distance from the royal palace of Ali Qapu in Isfahan's Naghsh-e Jahan Square to the city of Mashhad and the Razavi Shrine in 28 days. During this holy journey, he ordered that any of the officials, princes of the court, the government staff, and relatives who wished to accompany him on this journey could come on horseback because his vow to go on pilgrimage on foot did not apply to others (Monshi, 1377, pp. 982-983).

After arrival, he settled in this city during the Rajab, Sha’ban, and Ramadan months, and attended all religious ceremonies, including the Night of Power, at the Razavi Shrine. As to keeping the night vigil, to show his sincerity and devotion he took the duties of the servants, like sweeping the carpets and extinguishing the candles, (Monshi, 1377, pp. 983-984).

This trip promoted the prosperity and prosperity of Mashhad and the Razavi Shrine, and increased the Shia sects' influence and political authority of the Safavid state on the eastern borders, by doing so, Safavid kings, considered him a descendant of the seventh Imam, Hazrat Musa ibn Jafar (A.S.), father related, and a descendant of Hazrat Ali (A.S.) mother related. This pilgrimage strengthened the public belief that the Safavid kings were related to the Sadat lineage, and people gave Shah Abbas I the status of a saint, who expressed his complete belief and devotion to the eighth Imam (A.S.). He went to Mashhad many times during his reign for a pilgrimage; including in 1011 AH, through the desert and wilderness, which was welcomed by the ruler of Tarshish ending in a twelve-day stay at the Razavi Shrine (Munjum Yazdi, 1400, pp. 334-335). In 1016 AH, after domestic and foreign victories, on his way to Mashhad, he exempted a village in Damghan region from taxes and tributes and dedicated it entirely to the pilgrims of Imam Reza (AS); changed the two gates of the shrine, and made the Golsab spring water flow in the shrine site for the welfare of the people (Munjum Yazdi, 1400, p. 441).

Considering the policies of Shah Abbas I regarding the development of the Razavi Holy Shrine, here it is sought to answer the questions:

 How many decrees were issued regarding the Razavi Holy Shrine during the reign of Shah Abbas I?

What were the outward characteristics of these decrees and what were the orders contained in their content?

The method adopted here is historically based on examining the available documents. Naturally, some of the Shah's orders may have been mentioned in historical sources; but the statistical population of this article is only the decrees that are available in the Astan Quds Documents Center.

Eight decrees, one decree code, and seven copies of decrees from Shah Abbas I of Safavid are identified in the justification books, available in the Astan Quds Razavi Document Center. Two decrees from this collection are published by Busse in the book "Research on the Organization of the Islamic Court". Later, Modarresi Tabatabaei published the same in the article "Five Decrees Related to Mashhad and Astan Quds Razavi", and in the book "Selected Documents of Decrees and Figures of Astan Quds Razavi", he believes that these two decrees were published as well. Shahidi also included the text of three decrees recorded in the justification books in the book "The Decrees of Astan Quds Razavi in ​​the Safavid Period". Except for "Busse", the researchers sought to introduce the documents merely as a source of information with no analysis. Busse has mentioned these two decrees next to others to examine the documents to present a perspective of the organization of the Islamic Divan from the Aq Qoyinlu, Qara Qoyinlu, and Safavid period, with a focus on the judicial structure. The objective here is to assess the issued decrees in more detail in terms of their appearance and content concerning the policies of Shah Abbas I.

Table 1: List of Decrees

Table 2: List of decrees recorded in the justification books

A- The documental study of decrees’ structure

Suleimani's sources have divided decrees, Manashir, and Ahkams into Nishan, Parvanche, and Narm in the Safavid era. Parvanche began with "Hu" and "Al-Mulk Allah" and its abbreviation is "Humayun's decree became" (Jafarian, 1388, pp. 29 and 30). Due to the Parvanche document structure, all decrees in question are Parvanche, often used for decrees with financial content. Therefore, issuing Parvanche was necessary to implement financial orders.

In the Safavid period, the use of the terms"Parvane" and "Parvanche" expanded (Mirza Rafi'a, 1380, pp. 52,53,58,78,84,100; Nasiri, 1371, p. 34; Mirza Sami'a, 1368, pp. 24,26,44).

In the eight decrees decree four is exempt because it does not have "Hu". In other documents, it begins with “Hu, al-Mulk al-Lillah” and all of them are in gold. In three documents, “Hu” is not visible due to the document being damaged (documents no. 1, 2, and 8).

In all the decrees examined, the seal of Shah Abbas is stamped with the inscription “Bande Shah Wilayat Abbas, Allahumma sal ‘alayhi al-Nabi wa al-Wasi wa al-Batul wa al-Sabtin wa al-Sajjad wa al-Baqir wa al-Sadiq wa al-Kazim wa al-Rida wa al-Taqi wa al-Naqi wa al-Zaki wa al-Mahdi”. The date of the circular seal is 999 AH. The toghura in all the decrees is in red and the text is “Farman Humayun shad”.

An outstanding point in the texts where Sarkar Fayz al-Atahir is mentioned, the continuation of the descriptive phrases to the Holy Shrine is written at the top of the document, on the right, as “Radhiyyah Razaviyyah ali Musharrafha wa al-Salam wa al-Tahiyah”, Fig. (1), (document no. 7) it is written below the seal, (document no. 3) it is written next to the seal and in the rest, it is written above the seal. In documents 1 and 2 the text is in red and the rest are in gold. In Document 5, which is related to the coin treasury of Mashhad Mint allocated to the Holy Shrine, the name "Ali bin Musa al-Rida al-Tahiyah wa al-Thanna" is written with a distinction. In the rest, the sentence is "Radhiyyah Razaviyyah ....", which has additions in some documents. In document 6, "Radhiyyah Razaviyyah ali mushrafha al-Salwah wa al-Tahiyah" is the word "al-" not observed in the rest. The use of this sentence in the documents is formulated in the following forms:

• Radhiyyah Razaviyyah ali mushrafha al-Salwah wa al-Salam wa al-Tahiyah
• Radhiyyah Razaviyyah ali mushrafha al-Salwah wa al-Salam wa al-Tahiyah

Figure 1: The space where the titles are related to the Holy Shrine are written, which are written with special characters out of respect

On the back of the documents, the seal of the trustee, the mustofi al-mamalek, the house clerk, the owner of the justification, and other official elements are stamped. In the receipts related to the grain (document numbers 1 and 2), on the back of the document, in addition to the seal, the signatures, and the notes of the authorities, the location of the grain storage and the volume received is specified (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Back of the document

The most seals and official notes found on decrees related to the Sivarghalat are listed in Table 3. In decrees that directly refer to the affairs of the Astan, there are no togras and official notes, and the number of seals is few. As mentioned in decrees 6 and 7 the trustee is in the Al-Mu'alla army, where Shah Abbas was probably present, indicating that perhaps these decrees were issued from there in the absence of court authorities.

The common feature in all decrees issued until 1019 AH is the seal and the note of Etemad al-Dawla, the Grand Vizier, stamped at the top of all decrees with the text "Tawakkult Ali Allah" and the seal of "Bande Shah Velayat Hatem". The seal belongs to Hatem Beg Al-Badi, who held the position of minister in 999 nicknamed Etemad al-Dawla. He died in 1019 after 19 years of premiership. After his death, his son, Mirza Talib Khan, succeeded him as minister (Monjam Yazdi, 1400, p. 509). In the decree of 1023, his seal is stamped on the back of the document with the text “Khak Pai Ali, Abu Talib, 1020” (document number 8).

Document 2, at the bottom on the back, reads “Besides the writing of the appointed Sarkar Faiz Athar”.

In document 7, the inscription is written “Az-e-Qar Masud-e-Diwan-e-Sadara Al-Aliyyah Al-Aliyyah”, indicating that the decree was issued based on the Diwan-e-Sadara draft. Five seals are stamped on the back of this document, but the rest are illegible except for one. The big seal on the right side of the document probably belongs to Sadr or one of the officials (2/155600).

Table 3: Number of seals and notes on the back of decrees

Table 4: Text of the seal and the seal on the back of documents 1 and 2

Table 4: Text of the seal and toghra in documents 3 and 5 related to the Mashhad Mint (in documents 5 and 6, only the seal is stamped and there is no toghra).

On the back of document 4, dated 1014, only the seal of "Bande Shah Velayat Hatem" is stamped, next to an illegible seal.

On the back of decree 2, dated 1007, it is written "Sawad is in accordance with the original" and the seal is stamped with the text "Whoever passes through the nine spheres of people, if not a slave of Ali, his head will be covered with dust."

In the Parwancheh Sawad document 9, the place of the seal is marked with these words "The place of the seal of Nawab Ashraf Aqdas Humayun" and the sentence "Raziyya Razaviyya Ali Musharrafha Alif At-Tahiyah" is written at the top right of the document. On the back of this document, the seal space and the name of the seal owner are specified as follows:

Atla'at Ali, Nasikh

Tawaklat Ali Allah, Nasikh: Seal of the Nawab Mustahab Itemad Al-Dawla Al-Aliyyah Al-Aliyyah

Seal of the Nawab Mustahab Siyadat and Panah, Islam and Islamics Maladh, Al-Asyadah and Sadara Qazi Khana Sadr: Afufuz Amri Ilya Allah, Nasikh

Seal of the Nawab Khani Aali Shani: Ilamat, Nasikh

Seal of the Nawab Mustahab Al-Malki: It was written.

The seal of the Nawab of the supervision of Panah was seen.

The seal of the Darogha of the house office

The seal of the author of the explanation was written.

On the left margin of the back of the document, we read the "The literacy is in accordance with the original" and a seal are seen. Below that, a note from the librarian indicate the receipt of the money from village's assets, document 9.

Some promissory notes are recorded in the regulations section of the explanation books. According to the available statistics, there are seven promissory notes in the justification books of this period. The oldest one dates back to 1007. Naturally, because these documents were copies of the original document, there are no documentary requirements such as seals and titles, and only the text of the promissory note was compiled. The document structure included the signature of the head of the account "Ho, the execution of ammunition and transactions of the Sarkar Faiz Ath-e-Levi, justifications, and regulations the form of decrees and promissory notes," then the toghra "The decree of Humayun was made", Fig. (3).

Figure 3: Example of registration of a receipt in the justification Daftar Tojiehat

B- Content of the documents

The documents are categorized according to their subject matter:

- Direct handling of the affairs of the Holy Shrine

Two decrees directly refer to the Shah's supervision of the administrative affairs of the Holy Shrine: 1) the first decree dates back to 1014 (document number 4, 155598). At a time when the trustee was not in Mashhad, the Shah directly asked the supervisor and the mustofi of the Holy Shrine to supervise the endowments and send the financial report to the court. First, it refers to the duties of the trustee at the time, Qazi Sultan Hosseini Torbati (1000-1026 AH), who examined the products of the work and leased them, but when he is in the army of the Mo'ali, the mustofi of the Sarkar is responsible for "placing the products and receiving the taxes. The subjects of the Sarkar of the Faiz of the Works should pay taxes as before, and the mustofi, with the help of the appointed trustees, should place the products of the Sarkar and receive taxes from the subjects and taxpayers. They should not lose the economy and envy of the Sarkar" document 4, and 2) another decree was issued in 1017 addressed to the supervisor and Mustofi of the Sarkar of the Holy Shrine (document number 6, 155591), indicating that since the trustee of the Holy Shrine, Qadi Sultan Torbati, is in the army of the Mo'ali at the Shah's feet, it is necessary for him, together with the appointed trustee, to record all the products of the Sarkar of the Faiz of the Works and send a copy and a revised list to the Supreme Court, document 6.

Qadi Sultan went to him once in 1016 when the Shah was in Sari (Manjum Yazdi, 1400, p. 450). Apparently, in 1017, he was with the Shah in the camp of Mo'ali, and in the same year, due to the death of Maryam Begum, the daughter of Shah Abbas, he was ordered to transfer Maryam Begum's corps to Mashhad to be buried in Holy Shrine yard (Monshi, 1377, vol. 2, p. 1323). The titles used for the trustee in the decree of 1014 include "Siyadah and Emirate of the Refuge", while in the decree of 1017, these titles are expanded and include "Siyadah and Emirate of the Refuge, the Order of the Siyada and the Association".

The back of document 4, contains to seals concerning year 1014, and four seals concerning 1017.

Both decrees reveal that in the absence of the trustee, Shah Abbas entrusted the administration of the affairs of the Holy Shrine to act as overseer, mostufi, and provider of the financial list to the court.

- Decrees related to the assignment of Siwarghalat to the Holy Shrine

Siwarghalat is a type of land granting system where the king assigned to his dependents and emirs. The high-ranking army authorities received lands and properties as a reward for their outstanding victories. In the Safavid period, the term Siwarghalat was mostly used in hereditary assignments and assignments given to high-ranking civil servants. It is not entirely clear in the Safavid period in which case the rights of this term were hereditary and in which case it was a grant that was given to individuals instead of salaries and wages. The recipients of Siwarghalat were usually civil servants, and scholars. The lands given to the Sivorghal inherited by the individual’s heirs were tax exempt (Rezazadeh Langroodi, 2014, Vol. 7).

Among the subject documents, five decrees (Parvancheh) relate to Siwarghal, two of which are recorded in the justification books, Fig. (3).

The two Siwarghal decrees date back to Rabi’ al-Awwal, 1007 AH, when Shah Abbas I had conquered Mashhad. Decree 1 relates to the provinces of Bakhrz and Khaf, and decree 2 relates to the province of Jam. Both decrees indicate that the provinces belong to the Sarkar of the appointed authorities of the Holy Astana and its assets are owned by Siwarghal. Therefore, it is ordered that the kadkhodayans and subjects of the provinces give the assets and endowment funds to the trustee of the Astana. He ordered the officials, sheriffs, and those in charge of civil affairs of the aforementioned provinces to consider this Waqf field as a state expense and not to apply or transfer it and not to disturb the farmers in the field. He ordered the Bakhruz, Khaf, and Jam province governors to cooperate with him when the trustees come to receive the Waqf property and grain load. In the right margin of both the documents, it is stated that "it is stipulated that if a certain amount is not reached in the Uzbek community, the receipts and accounting documents in the hands of the subjects should be counted and the remainder should not be recovered. The seal of the Supreme Court" This shows that there was still a risk of Uzbek attacks at this time. (Document No. 1 and 2, 151179, 155589). On the back of the document 1 the names of the Bakhruz and Khaf fields and the amount of cash and kind received are expressed. In this part, it is mentioned that this payment was based on the dated in 953 indicating invoice. That is, since the time of Shah Tahmasp, the title of this farm has been Siwarghal, which was then assigned to Siwarghal of the aforementioned Astan in 997.

The point in document 2: "Al-Sawad is in accordance with the highest principle, clearly visible and outwardly, and is still subject to obedience in the fields, written by Al-Ma'i Ghulam Ali" stamped note is original and outstanding.

Another document concerning the Siwarghal issue is from the year 1023 AH, where the properties, assigned as Siwarghal of Astan Quds, but it also determines how it will be earned. This document is related to the ownership of Mashhad's giyartak as the Siwarghal of the holy Astaneh, the revenues of which must be paid to Mirza Ali Akbara as a duty. Even the tivaldar of Mashhad, Shah Nazar Khan, has ordered him not to interfere in this affair and consider the income of Astaneh, which is one thousand two hundred and forty tomans, as part of the income of Astaneh, to be spent on paying the duty of Mirza Ali Akbara, and then he has ordered the mustufians of the court not to request the amount in the registration books and the ruling and the new certificate.

In the certificates registered in the justification book, there exist two documents related to the payment of Siwarghal: 1) related to the year 1007, when the Kalatcheh Oruj farm of Neyshabur was transferred to the Siwarghal of Astaneh, subject to the same conditions mentioned in the previous documents for transfer rulers of Neyshabur and non-interference, document 10. In this document, like the two decrees of 1007, reference is made to the decrees of Shah Tahmasp regarding its being a sivorghal: "Humayun decreed that since the content of the decree of His Highness the Khaqan Jamjah, Jannat is a place of refuge for Shah Baba Umm Anarullah, it is evidently used..." (Document, No. 10, 31776).

The second document is from 1037, where a portion of the income from the Janabad and Tun farms was transferred to the Holy Shrine as Sivorghal, and the rest was considered as the remuneration of the gunners. Unlike previous texts, in this document, the Mostofi of Sarkar Faiz Atar is ordered not to interfere in the difference in the aforementioned estimate and to consider the original sum as exclusive to Sarkar Faiz Atar (Document 15, 31899, p. 6).

The decrees on the transfer of sivorghal indicates that since the conquest of Mashhad in 1007, Shah Abbas I sought to strengthen the financial status of the Holy Shrine by transferring the lands of sivorghal to the Holy Shrine. In the decree issued in 1007, how the income is spent is unconditional, which in the decrees of Sivarghali issued after 1020, the opposite holds, that is payment of duties and provision of salaries of riflemen, is specified. In the decrees related to Sivarghali, the district rulers were ordered not to interfere in Sivarghali property and all its income should be given to the attendants of Astan Quds Razavi.

- Financial donations to the Holy Shrine

The next two decrees are related to the Shah's financial donations from the Mashhad Mint to the Holy Shrine of Razavi: 1) from Rabi' al-Thani 1011, where Shah ordered the Mostufis of the Supreme Court to pay the sum of 11 tomans and 5832 dinars, as a result of the proceeds of the Mashhad Mint from Khajeh Muhammad Taqi, the tenant of the place, to the Sarkar of the Holy Shrine (Document No. 3, 155597) and 2) in 1017 the Mehrab Khan, the ruler of Mashhad is ordered to declare that the proceeds of the holy Mashhad Mint belongs to the Sarkar of the holy Shrine. These donations continued in the following year 1018, and after the ruler of Marv death, Mihrab Khan replaced him and the government of Mashhad was given to Shah Nazar Teklu. The Shah ordered that three hundred and seventy tomans from the Mashhad tax be paid to Sarkar Feyz Athar (Manjum Yazdi, 1400, p. 490).

During the Mihrab Khan reign the Shah, on his trip to Mashhad in 1016, ordered that the water of the Cherry Spring be purchased and channeled to the Holy Shrine; the groundwork was laid for the creation of the Khiyayan River. Trees were to be planted on both sides of the river and houses were to be built (Manjum Yazdi, 1400, p. 441). It is assumed that the Shah's financial donations to Astan Quds were in line with the implementation of this endowment.

- Orders related to the payment of duties

One of the payments made by Astan Quds was to the scholars and sages for their contributions. In the Safavid era, the duty was assigned to the scholars and teachers of the holy shrines (Vale Qazvini Isfahani, 1382, p. 429; Nasiri, 1373, p. 16). In his description of Shah Abbas’s supervision, Eskanderbek Munshi mentioned the duty bearers: “And for two or three days, he spent his noble time in the organizing the palace and in the success of the petitions of the nobles, servants, and other military personnel of the Astan Quds, and from there he set up to Iraq” (Munshi, 1382, vol. 2, p. 630). The source of payment for duty was from revenues generated from endowments (Munshi, 1377, vol. 1, p. 149).

Busa also considered duty to be a financial or in-kind gift to a cleric that was paid from endowment revenues while state revenues could also pay for it (Busa, 1367, p. 41).

The duty should be considered one of the methods of paying salaries in the Safavid era, which was paid only to specific individuals and from specific financial sources (Mirzarfi'a, 1380, pp. 491, 497). In describing the job of the special and general chancellery, the king considered giving duties from endowments to his subs like sadats, scholars, teachers, judges, sheikhs of Islam, deputy governors, minor mutawalli, endowment supervisors, prayer leaders, preachers, muezzins, guardians, and interpreters subject to the orders of the Sadr (Mirzarfi'a, 1380, p. 492).

For each payment category, a decree was issued by the king, which, after being corrected and certified by the trustee, was sealed by the office supervisor (Mirzarfi’a, 1380, p. 494; Mirzasami’a, 1368, p. 36). These figures had to be registered by the Supreme Court’s justification officer in the justification book (Mirzasami’a, 1368, p. 42).

The first decree, document 7, indicates that this order was issued at the request of the trustee, Qazi Sultan, where the Divan Sadara had given the master of the works new duties from the Sarkar Faiz Atar, for this reason the expenses of the Sarkar Faiz Atar have exceeded its income and Astana cannot be held accountable. Since the Divan Sadara has undertaken to act in accordance with the procedure, therefore, in this decree, the king ordered that Amina Muhammad, the Mustofi of the Sarkar Faiz Atar, take her resignation books to the Divan Sadara and control the calculations with the Mustofi of the Endowments. After examining, if it is determined that the Divan Sadara has transferred extra funds to the master of the works, the salary will be determined from a specific place and "every year, his attendant should send the Sarkar Faiz Atar to deliver it to the trustee, who will give it to the master of the works so that he may stand in that heavenly place, for example, praying for the continuation of the Cairo government and that there will be no change in the duties" (155600). This decree was issued in 1022 and indicate that the financial resources of Astan Quds were limited to pay the duties, so payments were made from the Divan al-Sidra according to the Shah’s order. Perhaps this is why the promissory notes issued for the payment of duties according to the Divan al-Sidra example and recorded in the justification book all dates from after this date. The subject of these promissory notes includes the order to pay duties to Farash, Hafez, and Moqri in the years 1025, 1026, and 1037 (Table 2). In decree 8 which concerns the transfer of the Gitarak farm products to Astan Quds, its income is mentioned as payment of duties to Mirza Ali Akbara.

Apart from that, there exists a document where the ownership of Kharchang Astarabad village was transferred to Sarkar Faiz Athar and its funds were assigned to Sarkar Siwarghal. Mohammad Astarabadi, the Sarkar's librarian, asked the king for a fee and salary as the librarian of Astan Quds, and the king arranged that fund from the village income. Likewise, the subjects and farmers were instructed to send him cash every year according to the order of Sayyadat Panah. Since the property in question is exempt from tax and duties, it has nothing to do with the said Tivul Tivuldar Kol Alkay. The rulers, Tivuldars, officials and drug vendors of Astarabad have no right to interfere in the said position. It is the responsibility of the ruler of Dar al-Momenin Astarabad to assure that in all cases of financial assistance and assistance to the Imam of the Immaculate Conception, none of his people's representatives, especially the drug vendors, encroach on it." On the back of the document is a note from the librarian stating that the amount of four tomans and two thousand five hundred dinars of the current Khorasan currency has been received by him for the finances of the aforementioned village, document 9.

In this document, next to ordering the salary payment to the official librarian, the king specified the duties of the endowment area of Astana in terms of civil taxes and emphasized in several places that no one has the right to encroach on the area to collect taxes and that the subjects should cultivate it with the current promotion.

Conclusion

The assessment of the documents indicate that the type of document issued to deal with the affairs of the Holy Shrine was a Parvanche. In the original decrees and the Parvanche version, the titles related to Imam Reza (AS) and the Holy Shrine are written at the top of the distinguished document. The text and shape of Shah Abbas' seal are the same in all documents. The notes and seals on the back of the documents vary, which are fully explained in the document structure section. Other documents are recorded in the justification book.

As to document content, the text of the decrees was assessed separately from its apparent structure; among them, three decrees related to the transfer of Sivarghal were issued in 1007, and areas of eastern Khorasan (Bakhraz, Khaf, Jam, and Mazraa Kalatcheh of Neyshabur) were transferred to the Holy Shrine as Sivarghal. The next decrees related to Sivarghal are issued in 1020 and 1023, where, the transfer of Sivarghal was conditional on the payment of duties to the individuals listed in the decree, (i.e. the place of expenditure was specified).

The two documents, issued in 1014 and 1017, refer to the absence of the trustee in Mashhad that the mustofi and the overseer are responsible for managing the affairs, and that his majesty direct supervision over the affairs of the Holy Shrine prevails. Two documents, issued in 1011 and 1017, again refer to the financial contributions of Shah Abbas to the Holy Shrine, which were provided by the Mashhad mint.

The content of the decrees up to 1020 indicate that Shah Abbas sought to develop the Holy Shrine with financial assistance, be it through the treasury or the Mashhad mint.

From 1020 onwards, the decrees issued are mostly about paying duties. In response to the trustee of Mashhad, that these payments are so high that the financial resources of the shrine can no longer meet them, the king in 1022 issued a decree and orders the Divan Sadra to meet these demands by his own means. Perhaps this is why the place of payment, which is the duty of the individuals, is clearly specified in the transfer of the treasury of these years. The decrees on payment of duties indicate that most of them were for the occupations in the Holy Shrine, like the librarian, the janitor, the hafiz, etc. The issuance of these decrees continued until 1037, all of which are recorded in the justification book.

The assessment of the decrees indicates that Shah Abbas I Safavi, next to providing sufficient financial assistance to the Holy Shrine of Razavi for its development, directly supervised the expenses and even issued orders to pay duties or the salaries of the riflemen from these revenues. It can be said that the administrative and financial organization of Astan Quds Razavi was part of the judicial entities directly administered under the supervision of Shah Abbas I Safavi.