In Volume 1-1: Qurʾānic Literature, History, and Biography | Section 2, History, Biography, etc.

previous chapter: 2.3 The Early Caliphs and the Imāms

[For the general histories of the Muḥammadan world, including Persia, see pp. 61–158 of this work.]

§ 312. M. Mufīd Mustaufī is best known as the author of the history of Yazd entitled Jāmiʿ i Mufīdī (for which see pp. 275–276 infra).

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Majālis al-mulūk, written in the reign of S̲h̲āh ʿAbbās ii (ah 1052/1642–1077/1666), tables of the ruling dynasties of Persia from the earliest times to ah 1049/1639–40: Blochet i 349 (early 18th cent.).

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¶ Muk̲h̲taṣar i Mufīd, begun in the Deccan ah 1087/1676–7, completed at Lahore ah 1091/1680–1, a geography of Persia with historical notices relating chiefly to the Imāms and the Ṣafawīs: Rieu i 427b (circ. ah 1091/1680, partly autograph).

§ 313. M. Mīrak b. Masʿūd al-Ḥusainī completed his Riyāḍ al-firdaus in 1082/1671–2 and dedicated it to S̲h̲ams al-Daulah M. Zamān K̲h̲ān, who apparently became Beglerbeg of Kūhgīlū in 1065/1654–5 (see Morley p. 131¹⁷) and who is described by Morley as “ruler of Fárs, Kúh Kílawaih, and Khúzistán”.

Riyāḍ al-firdaus, a general history of Persia, but more especially of Fārs, Kūhgīlū and K̲h̲ūzistān, from the earliest times to the reign of S̲h̲āh Sulaimān in an introduction, twelve books and an appendix: r.a.s. P. 138 = Morley 136 (ah 1243/1827).

§ 314. In 1250/1834–5 was compiled

(K̲h̲ulāṣah i tārīk̲h̲ i pāds̲h̲āhān i ʿAjam), a history of Persia (mainly) to ah 1220/1805–6, mostly in tabular form and without preface or author’s name: Rieu Suppt. 40 (ah 1260/1844), Majlis 250 (?). Edition: [Persia,] 1262/1846°.

§ 315. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb b. ʿAlī As̲h̲raf S̲h̲īrāzī composed in 1257/1841–2 his

Nuk̲h̲bat al-ak̲h̲bār, a general history with special reference to Persia: see p. 118 supra.

§ 316. ʿAlī-Qulī Mīrzā b. ʿAbbās Mīrzā¹ b. Fath-ʿAlī S̲h̲āh Qājār, entitled Iʿtiḍād al-Salṭanah, was “Minister of Sciences” ² for some time in the reign of Nāṣir al-Dīn S̲h̲āh, and he superintended the publication of the Rūz-nāmah i ʿilmīyah i daulat i ʿAlīyah i Īrān, a periodical issued from ah 1280/1864 to 1287/1870 for the administration of the Dār al-Funūn (Ecole Polytechnique) at Ṭihrān (see Browne Press and poetry, pp. 95–6), as well as the official newspapers Rūz-nāmah i daulatī (of which no. 622 appeared on 7 Jumādā ii 1285/25 Sept. 1868. See Browne op. cit. p. 93) and Rūz-nāmah i millatī (ah 1283/1866–1287/1870. ³ See ¶ Browne op. cit. pp. 96–7). His Tārīk̲h̲ i waqāʾiʿ u sawāniḥ i Afg̲h̲ānistān, a history of Afg̲h̲ānistān from the accession of Aḥmad S̲h̲āh (ah 1160/1747) to ah 1273/1857, and his Falak al-saʿādah, on astronomy, were published [at Ṭihrān ?] in 1273/1857°* and 1278/1861–2 respectively (for the latter see Harrassowitz’s Bücher-Katalog 352 (1912), no. 1392). According to Browne Press and poetry, p. 164, he translated a History of Napoleon the Great. He died in 1298/1881. ⁴ For a hand-list of his private library, which includes a Fatḥ-nāmah i Harāt by him, see Blochet iv 2434 (cf. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Kitāb-k̲h̲ānahā-yi Irān, p. 72).

[The history which originally appeared in this place, and which was ascribed to ʿAlī-Qulī Mīrzā on the authority of a bookseller’s catalogue, proves on examination to be the work of an entirely different author.]

[E.G. Browne The press and poetry of modern Persia, Cambridge 1914, pp. 10 n. 2, 14, 50, 95, 164, 166; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Kitāb-k̲h̲ānahā-yi Īrān, [Ṭihrān,] a.h.s. 1311/1932–3, p. 72.]

§ 317. Riḍā-Qulī K̲h̲ān “Hidāyat” died ah 1288/1871 (cf. p. 118 supra).

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Ajmal al-tawārīk̲h̲, chronology of the Persian dynasties down to Nāṣir al-Dīn S̲h̲āh. Edition: Tabrīz 1283/1866°.

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Niz̲h̲ād-nāmah i pāds̲h̲āhān i Īrānī-niz̲h̲ād, a history of those dynasties in Persia and elsewhere who traced their origin to the ancient Persian kings, written in 1274/1857–8 at the request of Māṇekjī Līmjī Hōs̲h̲ang Hātaryā⁵ and divided into a muqaddimah, 18 ṭabaqahs, and a k̲h̲ātimah, the last containing a sketch of Muḥammad’s life and chronological tables from the Hijrah onwards: Rieu Suppt. 42 (breaks off in the chronological tables at ah 1203/1788–9), Bānkīpūr vi 518 (ah 1284/1867), Brelvi and Dhabhar p. xiv no. 5.

Description (by S. Churchill): jras. 1886 pp. 198–9.

§ 318. Iḥtis̲h̲ām al-Mulk Jalāl al-Dīn b. Fatḥ-ʿAlī S̲h̲āh Qājār was one of the very numerous children of Fatḥ-ʿAlī S̲h̲āh, who reigned ah 1211/1797–1250/1834. He is not one of the forty-seven sons included in Maḥmūd Mīrzā’s Guls̲h̲an ¶ i Maḥmūd, being presumably one of the sons of Fatḥ-ʿAlī’s last years, but he wrote poetry and some of his g̲h̲azals are appended to the edition of Qāʾānī’s dīwān published at Ṭihrān in 1302/1885°. He was Governor of Kās̲h̲ān in 1286/1869–70, when the ms. Browne Coll. i 5 was transcribed for him, and it appears from Rieu Suppt. 99 that in Muḥarram 1288/March–April 1871 he was suddenly recalled to Ṭihrān.

Nāmah i k̲h̲usrawān, “anecdotes of Persian kings mythical and historical” (Edwards), extending to Qājār times (Fatḥ-ʿAlī S̲h̲āh receiving a brief notice, though the work virtually ends with the Zend dynasty).

Editions: Ṭihrān 1868–71° (in 3 vols. with an account of the Indian Parsees, based on that of Māṇek-jī Līmjī Hōs̲h̲ang Hātaryā (see p. 187 supra), prefixed to vol. ii as an appendix to vol. i), Vienna 1880 (photolithographic reproduction of (the first volume of ?) the edition of 1868–71 (to the end of the Sāsānian dynasty). See Katalog der Bibliothek der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. Erster Band: Drucke. 2. Aufl, Leipzig 1900, p. 356), Persia 1308/1890–1 (see Āṣafīyah i p. 258), Bombay 1308/1890–1 (536 pp. See Harrassowitz’s Bücher-Katalog 352 (1912), no. 1677. Identical with the preceding ?), Bombay n.d. (234 pp. See Harrassowitz’s Bücher-Katalog 352 (1912), no. 1676).

English translation: Translation of Nâme-e-Khosrawan. Bk, II and Bk. II up to the end of the Gaznavides. With introduction and notes. By Phirozeshah B. Vachha. Bombay 1906°*.

Gujarātī translation (probably of vol. i only): Purātan Pārsīōnī tawārīk̲h̲, tr. by Ards̲h̲ēr Ḍōsābhāi Muns̲h̲ī, Bombay 1871.

Commentary: Copious annotations on Nameh Khosrawan, Book I and Book II up to the end of the Ghaznavides…. By Hormasji Rustamji Engineer. Bombay [, 1904°].

§ 319. M. Ḥusain K̲h̲ān “Furūg̲h̲ī” b. M. ʿAlī Iṣfahānī, entitled D̲h̲akāʾ al-Mulk, was born in 1255/1839–40. During the reign of Muẓaffar al-Dīn S̲h̲āh (1896–1907) he was “the proprietor and editor of the Tarbiyat, one of the best Persian newspapers of that period, and was accounted one of the most talented poets and writers of his time. He was on friendly terms both with Sayyid Jamálu’d-Dín and Prince Malkom Khán, and was in consequence imprisoned by the Amínu ’s-Sulṭán. He died not long before the coup d’état of June, 1908” (Browne). His dīwān was published [at Ṭihrān ?] in 1325/1907–8 (see Harrassowitz’s Bücher-Katalog 430, no. 556). For his Tārīk̲h̲ i salāṭīn i Sāsānī see p. 194 infra. According to The press and poetry of modern Persia (pp. 158–9) D̲h̲akāʾ al-Mulk, while on the staff of the Political College at Ṭihrān, published a History of Rome [presumably a translation], a Tārīk̲h̲ i muk̲h̲taṣar i Īrān, a History of eastern ¶ nations (a translation), Wealth (a translation), and Fundamental rights (a translation). According to the same authority (p. 164) he translated Jules Verne’s Round the world in eighty days and Captain Hatteras as well as Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s La chaumière indienne (Kulbah i Hindī) and “Love and virtue” (ʿIs̲h̲q u ʿiffat).

Tārīk̲h̲ i Īrān. Edition: Ṭihrān 1323/1905 (see Browne Lit. Hist. iii 383).

[Browne The Persian revolution of 1905–1909, Cambridge 1910, pp. 404–5, The press and poetry of modern Persia, Cambridge 1914, pp. 51 n., 61, 155, 156, 158, 159, 164, 165.]

§ 320. M. ʿAlī K̲h̲ān Furūg̲h̲ī, entitled D̲h̲akāʾ al-Mulk, b. M. Ḥusain K̲h̲ān, likewise entitled D̲h̲akāʾ al-Mulk (see p. 187 supra), is said (E.G. Browne The press and poetry of modern Persia, p. 156) to have cooperated (with his father apparently) in the translation and compilation of many works at the time of the educational renaissance in the nineteenth century. In July 1910 he became President of the Majlis, and in 1911 or 1912 Minister of Finance. In the Cabinet of November 1929 he was Minister for Foreign Affairs and in that of Sept. 1933 he was Prime Minister.

Daurah i muk̲h̲taṣar i tārīk̲h̲ i Īrān, a short illustrated history of Persia. Editions: Ṭihrān 1327–9/1909–11 (see Harrassowitz’s Bücher-Katalog 352 (1912) no. 1654, where this edition is described as a “2. Aufl.”), Bombay 1329/1911°.

[E.G. Browne The press and poetry of modern Persia, pp. 51, 323, 333; Portrait in Ḥ. Mudīr Ḥallāj Tārīk̲h̲ i nahḍat i Irān Ṭihrān a.h.s. 1312/1933, p. 91.]

§ 321. Appendix

3.1.1 Titled Works

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Az Parwīz tā C̲h̲ingīz, by S. Ḥasan Taqī-Zādah (Minister of Finance in the Cabinet of Nov. 1929, Deputy for Tabrīz 1906, for Ṭihrān 1909 [?]. For further information see Browne The Persian revolution, pp. 116, 130 (portrait) etc.). Edition: Ṭihrān a.h.s. 1309–10/1931* (vol. i only, to the fall of the Umaiyads. 78 pp.).

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Forgotten rulers, The. See S̲h̲ahriyārān i gum-nām below.

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Ganj i dānis̲h̲, an encyclopaedia of Persian place-names containing much historical information, by M. Taqī K̲h̲ān “Ḥakīm”. Edition: [Ṭihrān,] 1305/1887° (cf. Browne Lit. Hist. iv 456–7).

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K̲h̲ulāṣat al-tawārīk̲h̲, on the kings of Persia from Gayūmart̲h̲ to Āqā M. K̲h̲ān Qājār: Majlis 251.

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¶ S̲h̲ahriyārān i gum-nām (English title: The forgotten rulers), by S. Aḥmad Kasrawī Tabrīzī (for whom see p. 287 infra). Vol. i (Jastānids, Kankarids, Sālārids), Ṭihrān 1928*, vol. ii (Rawwādids), Ṭihrān 1929*, vol. iii (S̲h̲addādids), Ṭihrān 1930*, in progress.

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Tad̲h̲kirat al-mulūk dar d̲h̲ikr i salāṭīn i ʿAjam u Hindūstān wa-g̲h̲airah, by M. Muẓaffar K̲h̲wāfi: Āṣafīyah iii p. 100 no. 2011 (ah 1247/1831–2).

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Tārīk̲h̲ i Īrān, a translation by Ismāʿīl Ḥairat of Sir John Malcolm’s History of Persia from the most early period to the present time (London 1815). Editions: Bombay 1872–82°*, 1886*.⁶

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Tārīk̲h̲ i Manṭiqī, by Ḥasan K̲h̲ān Manṭiq al-Mulk (contemp.). Edition: Ṭihrān 1332/1913–14 (vol. i from Gayūmart̲h̲ to the last of the “Salāṭīn i ʿAjam”. See Mas̲h̲had iii p. 119).

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Tārīk̲h̲ i mufaṣṣal i Īrān az istīlā-yi Mug̲h̲ūl tā iʿlān i mas̲h̲rūṭīyat, by ʿAbbās Iqbāl. Vol. i (from C̲h̲ingīz to Tīmūr), Ṭihrān a.h.s. 1312/1933–44. ‡

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Tārīk̲h̲ i pāds̲h̲āhān i ʿAjam, from Gayūmart̲h̲ to ah 1046/1636–7: r.a.s. P. 137 = Morley 135.

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Tārīk̲h̲ i pāds̲h̲āhān i ʿAjam: Salemann-Rosen p. 12 no. 162.

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Tārīk̲h̲ i S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Uwais, a history dedicated to Sulṭān S̲h̲aik̲h̲ Uwais, the Jalāʾir, who reigned a.h. 756/1355–776/1374, by Abū Bakr al-Quṭbī (? “al-Kotbí”) al-Ahrī (?): Leyden v p. 228 no. 2634 (defective. n.d.).

3.1.2 Untitled Work

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Short accounts of the Persian kings from Gayūmart̲h̲ to Fath-ʿAlī and of certain other eminent persons, with thirty-eight portraits: Leningrad Pub. Lib. (see Mélanges asiatiques vi (St. Petersburg 1873) p. 94).

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