Draft:Āthār al-wuzarā

Template:Infobox Book Āthār al-wuzarāʾ (Persian: آثارُ الوُزَراء) is a historical book in Persian written by Sayf al-Dīn Ḥājī b. Niẓām al-ʿAqīlī, one of the writers and secretaries of the Timurid court in the 9th/15th century. The book introduces the works and recounts the news related to the ministers from the time of the Rashidun Caliphs, Umayyads, Abbasids, and Buyids up to the ministry of Khwaja Qawam al-Din, the minister of the court of Sultan Husayn Bayqara.

Date of Compilation

Haji b. Nizam al-'Aqili wrote this book between 875/1470 and 892/1487 in the name of and for Khwaja Qawam al-Din Nizam al-Mulk Khwafi. Khwaja Qawam al-Din Nizam al-Mulk Khwafi was one of the dignitaries of the court of Sultan Husayn Bayqara (842/1438 – 911/1505) who, after years of holding important administrative and ministerial positions, was killed in 903/1498.

Events in the Author's Life

As it appears from the contents of the book, the author entered administrative work from early youth and remained in it until the age of 40. During this period, he had selected materials from historical books and correspondences of kings, elders, dignitaries, scholars, and ministers and had prepared them for compilation. Khwaja Qawam al-Din ordered the collection of Sayf al-Din al-'Aqili to be brought, but since the mentioned materials included both good and bad, the author decided to refine them and write a book describing the lives of ministers.

Sources Used by the Author

For this task, he examined and studied numerous important books, such as:

• Tarikh al-rusul wa l-muluk by Muhammad b. Jarir b. Yazid al-Tabari (224/839 – 310/922)
• Shahnameh, composed by Hakim Abu l-Qasim Firdawsi (c. 329/941 – 416/1025)
• Jawamiʿ al-hikayat by Sadid al-Din Muhammad b. Muhammad 'Awfi (d. after 630/1233)
• Al-Faraj baʿd al-shidda by Abu 'Ali Muhsin al-Tanukhi (328/940 – 384/994)
• Jamiʿ al-tawarikh by Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah (d. 718/1318)
• Tarikh-yi Yamini by Abu Nasr Muhammad 'Utbi (c. 350/961 – 431/1040)
• Tarikh-yi Saljuq and Tarikh-yi Jahangushay by Ata-Malik Juvayni (d. 681/1282)
• Majmaʿ al-ansab by Muhammad b. Ali b. Muhammad Shabankara'i (written in 733/1333)
• Qabus-nama by Unsur al-Ma'ali Kayka'us b. Iskandar (died after 475/1082)
• Tarikh-yi Al-yi Muzaffar by Mahmud Kutbi (written c. 823/1420)
• Tarikh-yi Kirmān, Nasaʾim al-ashar min lataʾim al-akhbar by Nasir al-Din Munshi Kirmani (who finished writing it on 29 Safar 725/14 February 1325)
• Sawaniḥ al-afkar by Rashid al-Din Fadl Allah
• Maqamat-yi Abu Nasr-yi Mushkan (Head of the Chancery of Mahmud of Ghazni in 401/1010) written by Abu l-Fadl Bayhaqi (385/995 – 470/1077)

And some other works.

This book includes important extracts from documents whose originals have been lost; such as Maqamat-yi Abu Nasr-yi Mushkan and the lost volumes of Tarikh-yi Bayhaqi, which cannot be accessed elsewhere making it evident that the author had access to all the mentioned works in the 9th/15th century. Most of his work was taken from Nasaʾim al-ashar and in many cases used its content verbatim under his own name occasionally making unwarranted alterations to it.

Writing Style of Athar al-Wuzara

The writing style of Athar al-wuzara, due to the author extracting content from various books, has different styles: sometimes the simplicity, adornment, and wondrous eloquence of Abu l-Fadl Bayhaqi and his master Bu Nasr Mushkan amazes the reader, and sometimes the rhymed phrases, parallel constructions and artifices of the Jamiʿ al-tawarikh come to mind. Sometimes its composition also approaches the common and usual style of the author's era and becomes weak, uneven and unrefined.

Content of the Book

Athar al-wuzara has two parts; the first part mentions the works and news of former ministers consisting of 12 chapters: Ministers of past kings, Ministers of the Rashidun Caliphs [the author has called the advisors of these caliphs "ministers"], Ministers of the Umayyads, Ministers of the Abbasids, Ministers of the Samanids, Ministers of the Ghaznavids, Ministers of the Buyids, Ministers of the Seljuqs, Ministers of the Khwarazmshahs, Ministers of Genghis Khan and his descendants, Ministers of the Muzaffarids and Kings of Ghur, Ministers of Amir Timur Gurkani and his decendants.

The second part mentions the works and conditions of Khwaja Qawam al-Din, whom the author calls "Asaf of the Time". This part consists of 4 chapters: His ethics and his superiority over all ministers of the world, his works before the ministry, the time of the ministry, the favors of the King of Islam towards him.

Evidence of the Author Being Shia

The author's eloquent praises of Imam Ali (a) and the Imams after him can be a reason for him being a Shia.

Extant Manuscripts of the Book

There are eight extant manuscripts of the book Athar al-wuzara:

• Patna, India
• British Museum
• Asafiya, Hyderabad Deccan
• Bodleian, Oxford
• Cambridge University
• India Office
• National Consultative Assembly (former)
• Personal Library of Said Nafisi

Correction of the Book

The book Athar al-wuzara was corrected by Sayyid Jalal al-Din Husayni Urmawi (1284/1905 – 1358/1979) from the manuscript of the Consultative Assembly in a scientific and critical manner and was published in Tehran in 1347/1968. In editing this book, the corrector corrected the author's mistakes from the original documents, determined the omissions and additions, defined difficult terminology, identified the cases taken from the original sources and organized an extensive index of references.

The book Athar al-wuzara was edited and simplified by Sayyid 'Ali Musawi Garmarudi in 1401/2022 and its second edition was published under the name "Bih Guzin-yi Athar al-Wuzaraʾ" by Daftare Nashre Farhang-e Eslami. The publisher wrote about this book that it is the thirteenth effort to select some of the most prominent works of past poetry and prose and prune them of verbosity to fit the patience of everyone; especially from among books where the dominant feature is anecdotes and stories.

External Links

• Source of the article: The Great Islamic Encyclopedia