Encyclopaedia Iranica Online

See JILI, ʿABD-AL-KARIM.

specimens of calligraphy now in Leningrad and Istanbul are signed by him as written during his tenth, eleventh, and twelfth years, indicating that he was a skilled calligrapher at an early age. Unfortunately, none of these pages bear dates which would make it possible to determine the year of his birth. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 123-125 ʿABD-AL -KARĪM B. ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN ḴᵛĀRAZMĪ, a poet and calligrapher living in western Iran during the late 9th/15th century (Plate III). He is usually mentioned in relation to his brot…

noted chronicler of Nāder Shah’s military campaigns (d. 1784). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 125 ʿABD-AL -KARĪM B. ḴᵛĀJA ʿĀQEBAT MAḤMŪD B. ḴᵛĀJA BOLĀQĪ KAŠMĪRĪ, a noted chronicler of Nāder Shah’s military campaigns. Little is known of his birth or early life. A Kashmiri by origin, ʿAbd-al-Karīm was living in Shahjahanabad (old Delhi) when Nāder Shah entered the city in 1151/1739. Being keen to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca and to visit the tombs of Muslim saints, he joined the service of Nāder Shah as a clerk ( motaṣaddī) and accompanied him on …

Name appearing on four diverse, high-quality silks of the first half of the 17th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 176 ʿABDALLĀH, name appearing on four diverse, high-quality silks of the first half of the 17th century. While ʿAbdallāh could refer to a designer or weaver, it is more likely that he was a workshop entrepreneur who ordered a variety of silks inscribed with his name (the equivalent of 20th century labels). This is suggested by the structural and stylistic diversit…

Author of Tārīḵ-e Dāʾūdī, fl. early 17th century. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 176-177 ʿABDALLĀH, author of Tārīḵ-e Dāʾūdī, fl. early 17th century. Little is known of him personally. His history covers the Afghan rulers of the Delhi sultanate from the childhood of Sultan Bahlūl Lōdī (1451-89) to the fall of Sultan Moḥammad ʿĀdel Šāh Sūr (killed in 1555-56); the work is named after Dāʾūd Šāh Karranī (killed in 1576), the last Afghan ruler of eastern Hindustan. An approximate dat…

Outstanding commentator of the Koran, traditionist, polemicist, and spiritual master (5th/11th century). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 187-190 ʿABDALLĀH AL- ANṢĀRĪ AL-HERAVĪ, ABŪ ESMĀʿĪL, in Persian commonly called ḴᵛĀJA ʿABDALLĀH ANṢĀRĪ, one of the outstanding figures in Khorasan in the 5th/11th century: commentator of the Koran, traditionist, polemicist, and spiritual master, known for his oratory and poetic talents in Arabic and Persian. Descending from a Companion of the Prophet, ʿAbdallāh was born in the Kohandez, th…

See EBN AL-BAYṬĀR.

Arab general and governor active in Iran, b. in Mecca in 4/626. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 179-180 ʿABDALLĀH B. ʿĀMER B. KORAYZ, ABŪ ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN, Arab general and governor active in Iran, b. in Mecca in 4/626. He belonged to the clan of ʿAbd Šams and was related to the future caliph ʿOṯmān b. ʿAffān. The latter, upon assuming the caliphate as a compromise candidate, found himself increasingly isolated from the old Muslims politically arrayed against him. ʿOṯmān then turned t…

See ʿABDALLĀH MORVĀRĪD.

Timurid khan (k. 1451).A version of this article is available in printVolume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 180-181 ʿABDALLĀH B. EBRĀHĪM, called Mīrzā Solṭān ʿAbdallāh Šīrāzī, grandson of Tīmūr’s son Šāhroḵ, born 27 Raǰab 836/19 March 1433 in Shiraz of Mehr Solṭān Ḵātūn, daughter of Alūčehra. By Šāhroḵ’s command he succeeded his father in the government of Fārs at the latter’s death (4 Šavvāl 838/3 May 1435) under the regency of Shaikh Moḥebb-al-dīn Abu’l-Ḵayr. The latter kept him short of money and influence and was twice re…

Theologian, prominent leader of the constitutional movement (1840-1910). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 190-193 ʿABDALLĀH BEHBAHĀNĪ (1256-1328/1840-1910), theologian ( moǰtahed) and a prominent leader of the constitutional movement. Born in Naǰaf in 1256/1840, he was descended from a prominent Shiʿite scholar of Baḥrayn, ʿAbdallāh al-Belādī from the village of al-Ḡorayfa, whose numerous offspring migrated to various centers of learning in Iraq and Iran. The task of ʿAbdallāh Behba…

See WAṢSĀF.

Medical author (early 5th/11th century). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 181 ʿABDALLĀH B. ʿĪSĀ B. BAḴTAVAYH, ABU’L-ḤOSAYN, medical author of the early 5th/11th century, of Vāseṭī background. His own name as well as his father’s name suggest that he may have been a convert to Islam, for ʿAbdallāh is a name typical of a neophyte. His father and grandfather, to judge from their Syro-Persian names, appear to have belonged to the indigenous Christian—probably Nestorian—Aramaic speaking population of Mesopotamia. ʿĪsā b. Baḵtavayh is reported to…

Arab military leader, governor of Khorasan (d. 691-92). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 181-182 ʿABDALLĀH B. ḴĀZEM B. ẒABYĀN B. AL-ṢALT AL-SOLAMĪ, ABŪ ṢĀLEḤ, Arab military leader, governor of Khorasan, partisan of ʿAbdallāh b. al-Zobayr, d. 72/691-92. His adventurous life illustrates the possibilities open during the Arab conquests to men with the requisite qualities, irrespective of birth. Ebn Ḵāzem was apparently the son of a black mother whose name is variously given: ʿAǰla (Ebn Qotayba, Ketāb al-maʿāref, ed. F. Wüstenfeld, Göttingen,…

Legendary founder of the Qarmatian-Ismaʿili doctrine and alleged forefather of the Fatimid dynasty. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 182-183 ʿABDALLĀH B. MAYMŪN AL- QADDĀḤ, legendary founder of the Qarmatian-Ismaʿili doctrine and alleged forefather of the Fatimid dynasty. He is featured in an account dating back to an early 4th/10th century author, Ebn Rezām, which was disseminated by opponents of the Ismaʿilis. This account was the source upon which Aḵū Moḥsen, a šarīf of Damascus, drew for his widely circulated polemic against the …

Rebel in western Iran in 744-47. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 183-184 ʿABDALLĀH B. MOʿĀVĪA B. ʿABDALLĀH B. JAʿFAR AL-ṬAYYĀR B. ABŪ ṬĀLEB, a Talebid rebel in western Iran in 127-29/744-47. Of his birth and early life the sources tell us only that he was of noble H āšemī descent on both sides. His grandfather, ʿAbdallāh b. Jaʿfar, a courtier of Moʿāvīa I, lost favor under ʿAbd-al-Malek and died, apparently in straightened circumstances, in 80/699-700 at Medina. The grandson m…

Traditionist (736-97). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 184-185 ʿABDALLĀH B. MOBĀRAK, ABŪ ʿABD-AL-RAḤMĀN, 118-81/736-97, traditionist. The earliest notices of him date from the 4th/10th century, and their vivid depiction of his personality indicate how alive his memory remained in the Muslim community. ʿAbdallāh was born at Marv of a Khwarazmian mother and a Turk father. Of forceful disposition, he frequently went on pilgrimage to the holy places or engaged in holy war, according to his biographers (his p…

Shiʿite governor of Ahvāz under the caliph Manṣūr (8th century). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 185 ʿABDALLĀH B. NAJĀŠĪ, ABŪ BOḤAYR B. ḠANIM B. SAMʿĀN ASADĪ NAṢRĪ, Shiʿite governor of Ahvāz under the caliph Manṣūr (136-58/754-75), remembered as the transmitter of a short text, Resāla Ahwāzīya, addressed to him by Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādeq. According to a story related by ʿAmmār Seǰestānī, ʿAbdallāh was a Zaydī Shiʿite before he met the Imam on a trip to Medina (Qohpāʾī, Maǰmaʿ al-reǰāl IV, n.p., n.d., pp. 57-58). The governor’s grandson Aḥmad …

Paintings signed by ʿAbdallāh are of two types: compositions showing strong influence from Herat painting of the late 15th and early 16th centuries and studies of couples, often in a garden setting, a theme which appears to have been especially popular in Bokhara. A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 193-195 ʿABDALLĀH BOḴĀRĪ, a painter active in Bokhara during the middle decades of the 16th century. His paintings are very similar in theme and execution to those of his contemporary Maḥmūd Moḏahheb, who may have been t…

Author of an Arabic monograph on the city of Balḵ (d. after 610/1213). A version of this article is available in print Volume I, Fascicle 2, pp. 185 ʿABDALLĀH B. ʿOMAR B. DĀVŪD VĀʿEẒ BALḴĪ, ABŪ BAKR, also known as ṢAFĪ AL-DĪN VĀʿEẒ, the author of an Arabic monograph on the city of Balḵ (d. after 610/1213). Little is known of his life except for a few references found in his work. He flourished in the 6th-7th/12th-13th century. He traveled in Khorasan, was in Bokhara in 582/1192 ( Fażāʾel, pp. 166, 213; Solamī, Ṭabaqāt al-ṣūfīya, p. 91). He was still active in 610/1213 when he finished hi…