A decree authorizing the collection of nozūrāt (offerings) and gifts donated to the Āstān-e Qods, Written by simi of Nishapur (scribed in 845 H/1466 CE)

From the time of the Timurid Shahrukh’s reign on, governors of Mashhad set up a well-organized apparatus for managing the Astān-e Razavi Complex (Imam Reza’s Shrine in Mashhad); this is understood not only from the detailed endowment deed of the Goharshad Mosque but also from other documents discovered from time to time.In a valuable uninvestigated manuscripts collection that formerly belonged to the Ostad Homā’i’s library, there is a copy of an edict authorizing the collection of offerings and presents donated to Āstān-e Qods, written by Simi of Nishapur, a notable 9th H./15th-century secretary and calligrapher; this being reviewed and examined in the present article.The document informs us that one of the Timurid governors empowered an individual known as Sayyed Ahmad b. Hindu b. Sayyed Hosām al-Din al-Hosayni al-Mashhadi to travel to various places and receive oblational gifts and offerings from those unable to go to Imam Reza’s mausoleum in person, and then transfer them to the Astan-e Qods. This document is an old source associated with one of the significant periods of the expansion of Mashhad and the Razavi Shrine, that is, the first part of the 9th/15th century, therein particular attention has been directed to the city of Mashhad and the Astan-e Qods.