Venetian Travelers in the Safavid State in the 16th Century: The Source Potential of Diplomatic Reports and Travelogues

The article is devoted to the analysis of travel notes of Italian diplomats and travelers who visited the lands of the Safavid state in the second half of the 16th century. As a result of wars between the Ottoman Empire and European states in the 15th — 16th centuries, rulers of several European countries actively sought allies in the East. The Venetian Republic played a key role in these efforts, sending its diplomats to Persia on a large scale. Unlike other European states, Venice often waged wars with the Ottoman Empire and had a greater need for Eastern allies, which explains the significant number of Venetian diplomats sent to the East. While traveling through the Safavid territories, these diplomats not only carried out official diplomatic missions but also left valuable records about Eastern societies, their customs, traditions, culture, and religion. The article examines in detail the works of travelers such as Giovanni Rota (Ioannes Rota), Lodovico Varthema, Giovannemaria Angiolello, Michele Membrée, Vincenzo degli Alessandri, Giovanni Battista Vecchietti, as well as an “anonymous merchant”. The aim of the study is to conduct a deeper analysis of East-West interactions in the 16th century and to assess the contribution of Venetian diplomats to the development of historical science. Although the observations of Venetian diplomats and their writings have largely been published and introduced into scientific discourse, their contributions to understanding the culture and traditions of the Safavid state, in our opinion, remain insufficiently studied. The article provides a comprehensive review and analysis of these texts, taking into account the historical context and based on a methodological approach rooted in post-colonial studies.