Background and Rules of Procedure of “Janāqi” Among the Senior Officials of the Safavid Royal Court

The common image of the Iranian historical monarchies in most of the historical studies is still the image of an Absolute monarchy, in which all decisions are originated in the personal wills of the monarch. Nevertheless, in a notable number of historical texts we are facing plenty of evidences of the existence of consultancies, advisory councils or even some well-established traditions for consultation among the high officials and the monarch, which illustrate a different image of the decision making process in the courts of the Iranian dynasties. A good example of such advisory councils is “Majma-e Omaray-e Janaqi” in Safavid era had an especial protocol for convening. This research is firstly aimed at reviewing the background of the tradition of “Janaqi” in Safavid era and illustrating a clear image of the rules of procedure of this council by means of describing its structure and scope of work on the basis of existing information in the remained instructions of the Safavid royal court.