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The Safavid Printing Press That Never Was: Persia's Missed Revolution
In 1616, a delegation of Persian merchants arrived at the Vatican with a letter from Shah Abbas I. They were there to discuss trade, but lurking beneath the diplomatic pleasantries was a request that could have reshaped the Islamic world: permission to print books in Persian and Arabic using moveable type. The European Jesuits had introduced a printing press to the Safavid court years earlier, but the ulama — the Shia religious establishment — blocked its use for religious texts. This episode dives into the story of the printing press in Safavid Persia, exploring why the technology that…
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