A Comparative Analysis of a Treatise Attributed to the Safavid Era Entitled on the Knowledge of Music

There are certain treatises among the music treatises handed down within the recent centuries whose author, date, and place of compilation are unknown. Most of them are attributed to the Safavid era (1501-1736 AD.) by specific characteristics in form and content. A treatise, attributed to the Safavid era by various sources, is an undated anonymous treatise copied in Safavid (four manuscripts) and Qajar (one manuscript) period. There are pieces of evidence in this treatise that makes its attribution to the Safavid era unreliable. Thus, in this paper, we try to determine its date and musical tradition by studying its structure and terminology; also analyzing its modal, metric, and rhythmic systems.