COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CLAVIJO'S DIARIES AND TIMURID SOURCES: FEATURES OF SAMARKAND DIPLOMATIC PROTOCOL

Abstract

This study presents a comparative-historical analysis of the diplomatic protocol of the Timurid Empire (c. 1404) through the dual lens of Ruy González de Clavijo’s travelogue Embajada a Tamorlán and Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi’s dynastic chronicle Zafarnama. By juxtaposing the "outsider" perspective of the Castilian envoy with the "insider" narrative of the Persian court historian, the research illuminates the performative nature of Timurid statecraft. Key findings reveal a "hybrid" protocol system that integrated Chinggisid nomadic traditions—manifested in the mobile tent city of Kan-i-Gil and redistributive feasting rituals—with Perso-Islamic administrative norms. The study analyzes spatial hierarchies, somatic rituals of submission (kornis), and the calculated treatment of foreign envoys (Ming vs. Frankish) to argue that Timurid diplomatic ceremonial was a sophisticated instrument for projecting universal sovereignty and managing domestic tribal elites. This synthesis of primary sources challenges the dichotomy between "barbaric" steppe custom and "civilized" sedentary rule, offering a nuanced view of early 15th-century Eurasian diplomacy.