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(p.) or S̲h̲ahrās̲h̲ūb (“upsetting the town”), a genre of short love poems on young craftsmen, often related to the bazaars of specific towns. 1. In Persian In Persian literature, the genre is usually referred to under the latter name. E.J.W. Gibb’s contention that the genre was invented by the Turkish poet Mesīḥī [ q.v.] of Edirne ( HOP, ii, 232), was challenged already by E.G. Browne who, pointing to Persian specimens mentioned by the Ṣafawid anthologist Sām Mīrzā [ q.v.], concluded that “though they were probably written later than Masíḥí’s Turkish S̲h̲ahr-angíz …

, Indo-Persian poet of the 11th/17th century. Details are lacking regarding his early life. He went to India from his native Persia during D̲j̲ahāngīr’s reign (1014-37/1605-27), and lived on to serve under his successor S̲h̲āh D̲j̲ahān (1037-68/1628-58). Apart from poetry, he was skilled in calligraphy, engraving and assaying of precious stones. D̲j̲ahāngīr gave him the title of Bēbadal K̲h̲ān, perhaps as an appreciation of his talent since bēbadal means “matchless”. In addition, he was appointed officer-in-charge of the royal jewellery, a…

(a.), an Arabic term attested at a very early stage, in the ancient inscriptions of Arabia, with the meaning of message or of mission (G. Lankester Harding, An index and concordance of pre-Islamic names and inscriptions, Toronto 1971, 277). In fact, risāla has many meanings; it has signified message, missive, letter, epistle and monograph; from the 5th/11th century onwards it could also be a synonym of maḳāma (see below, section on Risāla and maḳāma). The synonyms recorded are kitāb [ q.v.], k̲h̲iṭāb (for Ps.-Ibn al-Mudabbir in the 3rd/9th century, risāla and k̲h̲iṭāb were synonyms, Ṣafw…

, poet at the Mughal court in India. He was born and raised in Mas̲h̲had, from where he performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, and was then engaged in the grocery trade before he went to India. In 1041/1632 he joined the ranks of the Emperor S̲h̲āh D̲j̲ahān’s poets. Dāg̲h̲istānī, the author of the Riyāḍ al-s̲h̲uʿarāʾ , states that Ḳudsī preceded Kalīm as poet-laureate to S̲h̲āh D̲j̲ahān, but this is not confirmed by contemporary sources. He died in Lahore in 1056/1646-7 and, according to Ād̲h̲ar’s Ātas̲h̲-kada , his remains were removed to K̲h̲urāsān. Ḳudsī’s poems ar…

, 17th-century Indo-Persian poet, died ca. 1078/1667 (see Rieu, Catalogue of Persian manuscripts in the British Museum , ii, Add. 16,852). According to most accounts, he was a native of Mas̲h̲had, but Ṭāhir Naṣrābādī, who was his contemporary, mentions him as a Tabrīzī, stating at the same time that he heard the poet being called Mas̲h̲hadī ( Tad̲h̲kira-yi Naṣrābādī , ed. Waḥīd Dastgirdī, Tehran 1361/1982, 339). Tug̲h̲rā went” to India towards the end of D̲j̲ahāngīr’s reign or in the beginning of S̲h̲āh D̲j̲ahān’s time. His first e…

(a.), “poetical contest”, in Urdu usually pronounced mus̲h̲āʿira , has come to be applied in its wider aspect to denote an assembly where Urdu poets come together to recite their compositions. Its origin in the Indo-Muslim cultural tradition can only be guessed. According to a statement by S̲h̲iblī Nuʿmānī, one may assume that the institution of the mus̲h̲āʿara must have appeared on the Persian literary scene in India by the beginning of the 10th/16th century. S̲h̲iblī points out that from the time of the poet Fig̲h̲ānī [ q.v.], who died in 925/1519, there grew up the custom of holding mus̲h̲…

, Fatḥ ʿAlī Ḵh̲ān , Persian poet, was born in Kās̲h̲ān, probably in 1179/1765, and died in 1238/1822-3. His people belonged originally to Ād̲h̲arbayd̲j̲ān. and came from the Dunbalī stock, a tribe of Kurds settled in the region of Ḵh̲ūy. Members of his family held jobs as governors and administrators under the Zand and Ḳād̲j̲ār rulers. His father, Āḳā Muḥammad, was governor of Kās̲h̲ān under the Zands, and his eldest brother, Muḥammad ʿAlī Ḵh̲ān, was minister to the Zand ruler Luṭf ʿAlī Ḵh̲ān ( r. 1203-9/1789-94). Ṣabā also seems to have been identified with this monarch, and i…

, the most important song form in the classical repertoire of north Indian music, is regarded by some to have been invented by Amīr K̲h̲usraw (651-725/1253-1325) and attributed by others to Ḥusayn S̲h̲āh S̲h̲arḳī (862-934/1458-1528), the ruler of Ḏj̲awnpūr. who was dispossessed by Buhlūl Lodī in ca. 1476. Whatever its genesis, there is little doubt that it saw its greatest development during the Muslim period of Indian history and that its major exponents have generally been Muslims. It arose as a reaction to the traditional composition dhrupad , whose rigid …

, modern Persian poet and scholar, born on 4 December 1896 at Kirmāns̲h̲āh and died in 1951. His real name was G̲h̲ulām Riḍā, but he is popularly known as Ras̲h̲īd Yāsimī in literary and intellectual circles. He came from a cultured and well-educated family, which counted as one of its respected members the author of the novel S̲h̲ams u ṭug̲h̲rā , namely Muḥammad Bāḳir Mīrzā K̲h̲usrawī (1849-1950), who was his maternal uncle. After completing his early education in his native town, Ras̲h̲īd Yāsimī proceeded to Tehran in 1333/1914-15…

, an Indo-Persian poet of the 11th/17th century, died 1057/1647-8. He originated from the S̲h̲āmlū tribe of the Turks and was a native of Tehran, but details regarding his life are scanty. In Persia he served under Mīrzā ʿAbd Allāh Ḵh̲ān, governor of Lāhīd̲j̲ān [ q.v.] in Gīlān. During this time he married and had a son. Among the eminent personalities to whom he addressed his poems in the beginning were the Ṣafawid rulers S̲h̲āh ʿAbbās I (r. 996-1038/1588-1629) and his successor S̲h̲āh Ṣafī I (r. 1038-52/1629-42). Perhaps his failure to f…

, the pen-name of the Persian poet Mīrzā ʿAbd Allāh K̲h̲ān. b. probably ca. 1167/1753 (Bahār, Armag̲h̲ān , xiii/1, 37), d. 1215/1800-1. He started his poetic career in his home town of Turs̲h̲īz in K̲h̲urāsān, but left it in 1189/1775-6 for S̲h̲īrāz, the capital of Karīm K̲h̲ān Zand [ q.v.]. His ambition took him from place to place in search of suitable patronage. Finally, in 1203/1788-9, he entered the service of S̲h̲āhzāda Maḥmūd Durrānī b. Tīmūr S̲h̲āh, the Afg̲h̲ān governor of Harāt (who subsequently became ruler of Afg̲h̲ānistān); S̲h̲āh…

, the pen-name of various minor Persian poets of the 18th-19th centuries. They include: Muḥammad Amīn, b. 1110/1698-9 in Īličpūr (Eličpur) in the western Deccan, d. 1193/1779-80. His ancestors belonged to Iṣfahān, from where his father, Ḥakīm Muḥammad Taḳī K̲h̲ān, migrated to India during the reign of Awrangzīb (1658-1707), and rose to a respectable position under Nawwāb Āṣaf D̲j̲āh (d. 1748), governor of the Deccan in the time of the Mug̲h̲al Emperor Farruk̲h̲siyar (1713-19). Muḥammad A…