Muhammad ibn Hendushah Nakhjavani

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Muhammad ibn Hendushah Nakhjavani (fl. first half of the 14th-century) was a Persian[1] official and author of several works written in Persian, notably the historical chronicle Tajarib al-Salaf, a translation and modification of the Kitab al-fakhri, originally written in Arabic by Ibn al-Tiqtaqa (died 1310).[1][2]

The life of Nakhjavani is obscure. He was allegedly the son of a certain Hendushah ibn Sanjar Girani (or Kirani)—the name Sanjar possibly indicating Turkic descent, while the nisba Nakhjavani suggests a link to the city of Nakhjavan in eastern Transcaucasia.[1][2] According to his own account, Nakhjavani started translating and modifying Ibn al-Tiqtaqa's work in 1323, eventually presenting it to the Hazaraspid ruler (atabeg) of Luristan, Nusrat al-Din Ahmad (r. 1296–1330).[2]

Besides his Tajarib al-Salaf, Nakhjavani is also known to have written a Persian glossary named Sihah al-Furs for his superior, the Persian statesman Ghiyas al-Din ibn Rashid al-Din, the son of the distinguished Ilkhanate vizier Rashid al-Din Hamadani (died 1318). He may have also written another Persian glossary with interlinear clarifications mentioned in Turkic.[1]

Nakhjavani is also the author of the notable work Dastur al-kateb fi ta‘yin al-marateb, which he dedicated at an old age to the Jalayirid ruler of Arabian Iraq and Azerbaijan, Shaykh Uways Jalayir (r. 1356–1374).[3] Initially written for the last Ilkhanate ruler Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan (r. 1316–1335), the work contains valuable information about the administration of the Ilkhanate realm.[1] One of the titles that Nakhjavani refers Shaykh Uways by in his work is notably the Persian royal title of shahanshah (King of Kings). He also makes several mentions of the concept of Iran as a political entity.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Bosworth 1993.
  2. ^ a b c Bosworth 2003, pp. 181–182.
  3. ^ a b Melville 2020, p. 59.

Sources[]

  • Bosworth, C.E (1993). "Muḥammad b. Hindū-S̲h̲āh". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VII: Mif–Naz. Leiden: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-09419-2.
  • Bosworth, C.E (2003). "Hendušāh b. Sanjar". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume XII/2: Hedāyat al-mota'allemin–Herat VII. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 181–182. ISBN 978-0-933273-75-7.
  • Melville, Charles (2020). The Timurid Century: The Idea of Iran Vol.9. University of Cambridge, English: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1838606886.
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