''Parwāna'' or ''pervāne'' ( fa, پروانه, 'butterfly') was a court title of the

Seljuk Sultanate of Rum fa, سلجوقیان روم () , status = , government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254) Diarchy (1257–1262) , year_start = 1077 , year_end = 1308 , p1 = B ...

(1077–1308). The title may be a poetic abbreviation of the title '' parwānačī'', known from the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...

(1256–1335). It denoted the messenger who conveyed the sultan's personal messages. It may have originally denoted the messages themselves before coming to apply to the messenger.

Claude Cahen Claude Cahen (26 February 1909 – 18 November 1991) was a 20th-century French Marxist orientalist and historian. He specialized in the studies of the Islamic Middle Ages, Muslim sources about the Crusades, and social history of the medieval Isla ...

(trans. J. Jones-Williams), ''Pre-Ottoman Turkey: A General Survey of the Material and Spiritual Culture and History, c. 1071–1330'' (Taplinger, 1968), pp. 221–222. The sources show ''parwāna''s issuing ''

farmān A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...

''s in relation to the business of the '' dīvān'' (council), of which they were members, and issuing grants of '' iqṭāʿ''s. They headed the chancery and also bore the title ''ṭughrāʾī'' (secretary). A. C. S. Peacock and Sara Nur Yıldız, "Introduction", in ''The Seljuks of Anatolia: Court and Society in the Medieval Middle East'' (I. B. Tauris, 2013), pp. 14 and 22 n37. In the reign of

Kilij Arslan II Kilij Arslan II ( 1ca, قِلِج اَرسلان دوم) or ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kilij Arslān ibn Masʿūd ( fa, عز الدین قلج ارسلان بن مسعود) (Modern Turkish ''Kılıç Arslan'', meaning "Sword Lion") was a Seljuk Sultan of Rûm ...

(1156–1192), a Danishmendid prince named Ẓāhir al-Dīn Ili held the office of ''parwāna''. He may have founded the

caravanserai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

, originally called Pervane.Oya Pancaroğlu, "The House of Mengüjek in Divriği: Constructions of Dynastic Identity in the Late Twelfth Century", in A. C. S. Peacock and Sara Nur Yıldız, eds., ''The Seljuks of Anatolia: Court and Society in the Medieval Middle East'' (I. B. Tauris, 2013), p. 63 n27. By the early 13th century, the office of ''parwāna'' could be a powerful one. The powerful Muʿin al-Dīn Sulaymān held the office from 1256 and is known to posterity as Parwāna.

Carole Hillenbrand Carole Hillenbrand, (born 1943), is a British Islamic scholar who is Emerita Professor in Islamic History at the University of Edinburgh and Professor of Islamic History at the University of St Andrews. She is the Vice-President of the British ...

, "Muʿin al-Din Parwana: The Servant of Two Masters?", ''The Medieval Turks: Collected Essays'' (Edinburgh University Press, 2022

993 Year 993 ( CMXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – The 12-year-old King Otto III gives the Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian ...

, p. . The near dictatorial powers he acquired did not, however, come from his office of ''parwāna''.

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Further reading