Classical Persian Literature

Classical Persian Literature

A Critical Reading of the Introduction to Juvayni's "Tarikh-i Jahangosha" with a Pragmatic Semantic Approach

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Faeze Saadati Masrur 1
Mohammad Reza Haji-Agha Babaie 2
1 Ph.D. student in Persian Language and Literature at Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Allameh Tabataba’i University,Tehran,Iran
10.30465/cpl.2026.10876
Abstract
This article examines the linguistic and semantic strategies employed by Ata Malik Juvayni The History of the World (Tarikh-i Jahangusha in the preface of Conqueror) through the theoretical framework of pragmatic semantics. This approach explores the interplay between language, belief, and ideology within a specific situational context. By focusing on contextual factors, indexicals, and semantic substitutions, the study demonstrates how Juvayni, as an official serving the Mongol court, sought to reshape the brutal image of Mongol conquests. Using a deterministic religious worldview, he linguistically redefined, violence as divinely ordained fate. Through selective citations of Qur’anic verses hadiths, and poetic allusions, he molded a discourse of submission to new rulers. The study underscores the novelty of applying pragmatic semantics to analyze this historical-literary preface and highlights how linguistic manipulation functions as a political and ideological instrument in medieval Persian historiography.

Keywords: Semantics, Pragmatic Semantics, Ata-Malik Juvayni, The Tarikh-i Jahangosha, Mongols.
Introduction
The Mongol invasions of the 7th century AH brought devastation to Iran but simultaneously fostered historiographical revival as the new rulers desired beyond being a historical ,Tarikh-i Jahangusha chronicles of their rule. Juvayni’s record, constitutes a sophisticated linguistic text reflecting ideological undercurrents. In modern scholarship, semantics the science of meaning when tied to context and language use, becomes pragmatic semantics. This subfield emphasizes that “no text emerges in a vacuum” (Safavi, 2004). prioritizes textual and situational contexts as co-determinants of meaning Despite extensive research on Juvayni’s chronicle, the preface has not been examined through this integrated pragmatic-semantics lens. This study thus investigates not only what Juvayni narrates but also how he linguistically constructs authority and legitimacy.

Materials and Methods
Employing a descriptive-analytical method, the research uses qualitative semantic-pragmatic tools to decode Juvayni’s linguistic choices and explore how he conveys ideological and theological stances through deliberate lexical and syntactic design. Relying on library sources, the main question is: how does Juvayni employ linguistic strategies to influence his audience and legitimize Mongol sovereignty.

Discussion
A pragmatic-semantics reading of the preface reveals Juvayni’s implicit ideological positions. Positioned as an administrative affiliate of the Mongol elite, his main declared goal was to “immortalize the noble deeds of the world’s sovereign” (Juvayni, 1400: 9). Thus, he was not a neutral narrator but a linguistic mediator who justified the new order through rhetorical and semantic sophistication.
Juvayni employs personal and social indexicals—titles such as “King of the World” or “Khan of All Khans”—to explicitly encode power hierarchies and affirm loyalty. Conversely, for learned audiences, he uses indexicals like “masters of wisdom and virtue,” acknowledging their cultural status while subtly excluding them from political agency.
By embedding temporal and spatial references, Juvayni situates events with historical precision yet constructs semantic contrast: the “prosperous arrogance of the past” versus the chastening advent of the Mongols, portrayed as divinely sanctioned retribution. This framing transforms invasion into providence, disaster into divine correction.
Juvayni systematically employs religious rhetoric to convey implicit meanings. Drawing upon Zamakhshari’s exegesis and Qur’anic allusions, he portrays the Mongols as instruments of divine punishment rather than unjust aggressors. Catastrophe becomes spiritual trial; Mongol swords serve as agents of moral purification. Through this hermeneutic framing, the Mongol conquest acquires theological legitimacy.
His diction strategically replaces negative terms with euphemistic or valorized alternatives using “deliverance” (istikhlas) instead of “plunder” or “conquest.” This lexical manipulation reframes aggression as salvation, reflecting Juvayni’s intent to absolve his patrons and reconcile political reality with divine will.

Conclusion
From a pragmatic-semantics perspective, the preface of Tarikh-i Jahangosha transcends historical documentation to become a text of ideological engineering. Juvayni crafts a dual semantic system: explicit submission to Mongol authority and implicit justification of divine providence. By blending determinism, religious discourse, and semantic redirection, he transforms Mongol domination into part of a providential design. Language in his hands becomes both a political shield and a theological argument.
This study demonstrates how medieval Persian historiography employed linguistic pragmatics to mask power under divine legitimacy, revealing language’s potential to shape perception across historical epochs.
Keywords
Semantics
Pragmatic Semantics
Ata-Malik Juvayni
The Tarikh-i Jahangosha
Mongols
Subjects
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Classical Persian Literature
Volume 17, Issue 1 - Serial Number 42
Spring & Summer
August 2026

  • Receive Date 14 December 2024
  • Revise Date 01 February 2026
  • Accept Date 18 February 2026
  • Publish Date 23 July 2026