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Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825
1453 Through the Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) The Time of Troubles to the First Romanovs (1598-1682) Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682-1762) The Age of Catherine the Great (1762-1801) The Reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825)
                                     

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Overview
From the Fall of Constantinople to the Reign of Ivan the Terrible: A Summary of Russian History
Russia Symbol Introduction
Russia Symbol Prior to 1453
Russia Symbol The Period of Mongol Invasion and Rule, 1237–1480
Russia Symbol Muscovy Emerges as a Power
Russia Symbol 1453–1584: Moscow Becomes the "Third Rome"
Russia Symbol Ivan IV Descends into Madness
From the Fall of Constantinople to the Reign of Ivan the Terrible: A Summary of World History
World Symbol
 Europe
World Symbol
 Eurasia
Maps
Personalities
Themes
Translations
Events
Special Features


Russia's Globalization:
A Key

Events marked Russia Symbol are specific to Muscovy/Russia's internal development.
Those marked World Symbol are important world historical or cultural events.
Engagement Symbol indicates specific points of sociocultural or military engagement between Muscovy/Russia and foreign powers or individuals.






Russia Symbol Persian Poetic Glory
Persian Poetic Glory
Photographic Services & Permissions                 

Firdawsi (A.H. 329/C.E. 940–A.H. 411/C.E. 1023)
Shahnamah [The Book of Kings]
Shiraz?, 1614 (miniatures after 1825, probably Teheran)
NYPL, Spencer Collection

The beauty, luxury, and exoticism of the 17th-century Safavid court dazzled its Muscovite Russian contemporaries. This miniature in the Persian idiom portrays an episode, set at the edge of Iran/Turan, from a famed poem, The Book of Kings , dedicated in 1010 to Sultan Mahmud (r. 998–1030) of Ghazna (in modern-day Afghanistan). This image shows legendary figures Kay Khusraw; his mother, Farangis; and the paladin Giv, fording the Oxus (Amu Darya) River. Miniatures in this manuscript imitate earlier renditions of the epic – they were painted around 1825 (or later) and inserted into an authentic early 17th-century text from the era of the Mughal Shah ‘Abbas the Great (r. 1587–1628).