Ryszard Skowron

European and Turkish translations and reception of works by Juda Tadeusz Krusiński SI regarding the Afghan-Persian war and the fall of the Safavid dynasty

This article discusses the process of developing, editing and translating a Latin text written by the Polish Jesuit J.T. Krusiński dedicated to the reasons behind the fall of the Safavid dynasty and to the course of the Afghan-Persian War. The first manuscript was titled by the author as Historia revolutionis persicae. The Latin text, which was prepared in Rome, was then sent to Paris where it wasnot only translated into French, but also significantly modified and shortened by A. du Cerceau. The French paraphrase, published in 1728, became the basis for the English and Italian editions. Another version of Krusiński’s work was prepared and published in German by J. Stöcklein. He used not only the French edition, but also the Latin original of Krusiński’s text, which he had received from Vienna, as well as other sources. For the needs of the Ottoman court, Krusiński reviewed the Latin version, which was then translated and published in Turkish in 1729. This last edition caused a sharp dispute over the authorship of the Turkish translation between Krusiński and Ibrahim Mütaferrika, head of the Istanbul printing house. The Turkish edition of Father Juda Tadeusz Krusiński’s work complicated its reception in Europe even more, especially after the Turkish version had been retranslated into Latin by J.Ch. Clodius. The manuscripts stored in the Vienna library make it possible to trace the stages of developement of Krusiński’s work, which culminated in the publication of the book Tragica vertentis … (Lviv, 1740), his most comprehensive study of the Persian revolution.