The Turkic Inscription at the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf

Abstract This article introduces the 18th-century ʿAjemī/Qizilbāsh Turkish inscription at the Imam ʿAlī shrine to the English-speaking academic world. The poetic inscription was commissioned in 1743 by Nādir Shāh during his invasion of Ottoman Iraq, where he sought to compel the Porte to recognize his Jaʿfarī creed ( maẕhab ) as a legitimate school of Sunnī jurisprudence, ostensibly in the interests of Islamic unity. It is argued that the inscription formed part of Nādir’s discourse on establishing Islamic unity as a world sovereign. The inscription drew from various pre-Islamic sources of legitimacy to articulate Nādir’s mandate for universal sovereignty. It then fused this mandate with a distinctly ʿAlīd conception of universal caliphal authority that could appeal to both his Jaʿfarī and Ḥanafī followers. Thus, by analyzing the text of the inscription within the political and socioreligious context in which it was created, new insights are offered on the purpose of the inscription, the role it played in Ottoman–Iranian peace negotiations, and Nādirid political and religious legitimacy. Finally, a complete translation and a transcription are appended herein.