Les barbares Afghans de l’Histoire de la dernière révolution de Perse (1728) de Juddas Thaddeus Krusinski: protagonistes de quelle histoire?
The Afghan Barbarians from the "Histoire de la dernière révolution de Perse" (1728) by Juddas Thaddeus Krusinski: Protagonists of What History?

Summary/Abstract: My article is about the Histoire de la dernière révolution de Perse by Juddas Thaddeus Krusinski which today, just like at the time of its publication, represents one of the main information sources about an event that astonished both Europe and Asia, namely the fall of Ispahan (1722). In studying this work, my research aims at understanding what kind of history Krusinski writes: Is it a providentialist history? Or is it a history explained in the terms specific of a politics which, in the 17th century, begins to be emancipated from politics? In order to answer these questions, my paper focuses on the image of the Afghans, the great conquerors of Ispahan. Humane barbarians, the Afghans are a mixture of contradictions that do not prevent them from possessing the political knowledge and skills necessary for governing the Persian empire. Though they certainly played a significant role in the major event represented by the defeat of the Safavids, the qualities of the Afghans cannot entirely explain it. According to Krusinski, the element that fully accounts for the Afghan conquest of Safavid Persia is providence. Hence, the Jesuit author establishes a fragile balance between a history seen as the result of the divine intervention and a history perceived as the result of the actions freely performed by human individuals.

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