Narratives of Kingship in Eurasian Empires, 1300-1800

Richard van Leeuwen, Ph.D. (1992) University of Amsterdam, is senior lecturer in Islamic Studies at that university. He has published widely on the history of the Middle East, Arabic literature, and Islam, and is also a translator of Arabic literature. His publications include Notables and Clergy in Mount Lebanon, 1736-1840 (Brill 1994); Waqfs and Urban Structures in Ottoman Damascus (Brill 1999); (with U. Marzolph) The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia (2 vols, Santa Barbara 2004); The Thousand and One Nights: Space, Travel and Transformation (London 2007).

“The author analyzes (and provides helpful summaries of) the narratives to describe, among other themes, common literary emphases on the links between the morality of kings and ministers and the health of their dynasties and societies; between the authority of kings and supernatural forces; between rulership, esoteric knowledge, and concepts of cosmic and social harmony; and between gender relationships and the coherence of polity and community. –Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students/faculty.”Mark Soderstrom, Aurora University. In: Choice, Vol. 55, No. 8 (April 2018). “Van Leeuwen’s book draws our attention to tantalising possibilities in the broad comparative analysis of literary genres nearly always locked up inside specialists’ cabinets, opening a door through which other scholars will surely want to follow.”Alan Strathern, Brasenose College, Oxford. In: The English Historical Review, Vol. 134, No. 570 (October 2019), pp. 1301–1304.“An unparalleled study […] Scholars interested in Thousand and One Nights will appreciate the insights that Narratives of Kingship offers, noting the possibilities for further research in the area of the multiple genres of the narrative.” Jessica K. Zeitler, Pima Community College. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 50, No. 2 (Summer 2019), pp. 568–570.

• AcknowledgementsList of FiguresIntroductionThe Thousand and One Nights and Processes of TransmissionSource Material1 Kings, Viziers, ConcubinesThe Cycle of the ‘Seven Viziers’/ ‘Seven Sages of Rome’ and Its CognatesVariations: The Story of ‘Jaliʾad of Hind and His Vizier Shimas’King Wu’s Expedition against Zhou and Proclaiming HarmonyConcluding Remarks2 Gods, Demons, and KingsThe Prince and the Demons of Evil: The Legendary VikramadityaThe Thirty-Two Steps of the ThroneHarun al-Rashid, Vizier Jaʾfar, and the JinnsHarun al-Rashid and the Discourse of PowerFighting the Evil Spirit: The Creation of the GodsConcluding Remarks3 Divine Insights, Cosmic HarmonyThe Cycle of the ‘Queen of the Serpents’King and Cosmos: The Sorcerer’s RevoltJan Potòcki’s Manuscrit Trouvé à SaragosseConcluding Remarks4 The Knight and the KingTirant lo Blanc: The Ideal KnightThe Harbinger of the Faith: Amir HamzaThe Emperor and the Barbarians: The Exploits of Yue FeiHang Tuah, the Malay HeroThe ‘Foreign’ Sultan: Al-Zahir BaybarsThe Muslims against the Byzantines: Sayyid BattalConcluding Remarks5 Kingship and LoveThe Prince and the Mysteries of LoveThe Story of ‘Mirigavati’Sufis and SolomonThe Enchantment of Love: European Fantasies of Kingship and LoveConcluding Remarks6 Unrequested AdviceThe Frustrated Official: Mustafa Ali of GallipoliAgainst the Old Order: Huang Zongxi and Hung ShengEuropean and Oriental Despots: Montesquieu and DiderotA Modern Mirror-for-Princes: Christoph Martin Wieland’s Der Goldene SpiegelThe Official and His Empress: Alexander Radischev and Catherine IIConcluding RemarksConclusionBibliographyIndex