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{{about|the Persian writer|the British jukebox manufacturer|BAL-AMi Jukeboxes}} |
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'''{{transl|ar|ALA|Abul-Fazl Muhammad ibn abd-Allah}}''' ({{lang-fa|ابوالفضل محمد بن عبدالله}}) mostly known as '''Bal'ami''' ({{lang-fa|بلعمی}}) was an [[Iranian]] historian, writer, and vizier to the [[Samanids]]. His most famous work is ''[[Tarikh-e Bal'ami]]'', which is a translation of [[Tabari]]. It contains supplementary material, some of which is found nowhere else. It is the oldest new-[[Persian language|Persian]] prose work after the preface of the ''Shah-nama'' by Abu Mansur.<ref>[http://www.iranica.com/newsite/index.isc?Article=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v1f9/v1f9a104.html Encyclopaedia Iranica. ''AMĪRAK BALʿAMĪ.'']</ref> |
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{{Short description|10th-century Persian historian and Samanid vizier}} |
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'''Abu Ali Muhammad Bal'ami''' ({{lang-fa|ابو علی محمد}}, died 992/997 CE), also called '''Amirak Bal'ami''' ({{lang|fa|امیرک بلعمی}}) and '''Bal'ami-i Kuchak''' ({{lang|fa|بلعمی کوچک}}, "Bal'ami the Younger"), was a 10th-century [[Persian people|Persian]] historian, writer, and [[vizier]] to the [[Samanid Empire|Samanids]]. He was from the influential [[Bal'ami family]]. |
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== Biography == |
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[[Image:Bal'ami's Persian translation of al-Tabari's Tarikh.jpg|300px|thumb|The ''[[Tarikh-i Bal'ami]]'', a [[Persian language|Persian]] translation of [[al-Tabari]]'s [[History of the Prophets and Kings]] by Muhammad Bal'ami.]] |
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<references/> |
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*[http://www.mibosearch.com/Dictionary.aspx?wId=66077&DicName=dehkhoda&word=%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%8A Mibosearch entry - The online version of] ''[[Dehkhoda Dictionary]]'' |
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He was born in Lashjerd in the district of [[Merv]], then part of the Samanid Empire. He was the son of [[Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami]] (also called Bal'ami-i Buzurg; "Bal'ami the Elder").{{sfn|Frye|1975|p=152}} Muhammad Bal'ami was appointed vizier late in the reign of [[Abd al-Malik I (Samanid emir)|Abd al-Malik I]] (r. 954-961) and kept holding the office under Abd al-Malik's successor, [[Mansur I]] (r. 961-976). According to [[Gardizi]], Bal'ami died in March 974 while serving in office, but according to the Persian historian al-Utbi, he was later from removed the vizierate office, and was reappointed later as the vizier of [[Nuh II]] (r. 976-997), but chose to retire in 992, dying in an unknown date before 997. |
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== Work == |
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Bal'ami most famous work is ''[[Tarikhnama]]'', a historical text that spans a period beginning with the dawn of creation through to the Islamic age. The book was translated into [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and [[Arabic]] and remained in circulation for a thousand years. It is among the most influential books of Islamic historical literature and contains supplementary material, some of which is found nowhere else.<ref name=tarikhnama>{{cite book |author=A.C.S. Peacock |title=Mediaeval Islamic Historiography and Political Legitimacy: Bal'ami's Tarikhnama |publisher=Routledge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6aXKIuKdQZoC}}</ref> |
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Though Bal'ami claims the ''Tarikhnama'' is a translation of [[al-Tabari]]'s ''[[History of the Prophets and Kings]]'', it is actually an independent work.<ref name=tarikhnama/><ref>{{cite book |editor1=A. C. S. Peacock |editor2=Firuza Abdullaeva |editor3=Robert Hillenbrand |
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|title=Ferdowsi, the Mongols and the History of Iran: Art, Literature and Culture from Early Islam to Qajar Persia |date=18 November 2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhOMDwAAQBAJ |page=33|isbn=9781786734655 }}</ref> Bal'ami states several times in the book that he has corrected al-Tabari's version. Contrary to al-Tabari, Bal'ami's version is presented from a Persian (mainly Khorasanian) point of view.{{sfn|Yarshater|Melville|2012|p=10}} Having been written in 963, the ''Tarikh-i Bal'ami'' is the oldest New Persian prose work after the preface of the ''[[Abu-Mansuri Shahnameh|Shahnama-yi Abu Mansuri]]'' by [[Abu Mansur Muhammad]].{{sfn|Khalegi-Motlagh|1989|pp=971-972}} |
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The 12th-century poet [[Nizami Aruzi]] makes mention of a book composed by Bal'ami named ''Tawqi'at'', and two lines by Bal'ami are cited in the ''[[Farhang-e Jahangiri]]'' by Jamal al-Din Hosayn Enju Shirazi. However, it is not known if this refers to Bal'ami or his father, Bal'ami the Elder.{{sfn|Khalegi-Motlagh|1989|pp=971-972}} |
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== References == |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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=== Sources === |
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* {{cite book | last = Frye | first = R.N. | chapter = The Sāmānids | title = The Cambridge History of Iran |volume=4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs | year = 1975 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location=Cambridge | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC&pg=PA136 | editor-first = R.N. | editor-last = Frye | isbn = 0-521-20093-8| pages=136–161}} |
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* {{cite encyclopedia |article=AMĪRAK BALʿAMĪ |last=Khalegi-Motlagh |first=Dj. |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amirak-balami-name-given-to-abu-ali-mohammad-also-called-baami-e-kucek-the-lesser-younger-son-of-abul-fazl-mohammad-b |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |volume=I, Fasc. 9 |pages=971–972 |year=1989 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121117001245/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amirak-balami-name-given-to-abu-ali-mohammad-also-called-baami-e-kucek-the-lesser-younger-son-of-abul-fazl-mohammad-b |archive-date=2012-11-17 |access-date=2011-10-01 }} |
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*{{cite book|last1=Yarshater|first1=Ehsan |last2=Melville|first2=Charles|title=Persian Historiography: History of Persian Literature A |volume=10|publisher=I.B.Tauris|year=2012 |isbn=9780857721402|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2QBAwAAQBAJ&q=false|pages=1–400}} |
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== Further reading == |
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* {{cite encyclopedia | article = Iranian identity iii. Medieval Islamic period | last = Ashraf | first = Ahmad | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iranian-identity-iii-medieval-islamic-period | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica |volume=XIII, Fasc. 5 | pages = 507–522 | year = 2006}} |
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* {{cite book | last = Peacock | first = A. C. S. | author-link = A. C. S. Peacock | title = Mediaeval Islamic Historiography and Political Legitimacy: Balʿamī's Tārīkhnāma | location = London and New York | publisher = Routledge | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-415-40025-1}} |
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* {{EI3 | title= al-Balʿamī | first = Travis | last = Zadeh | authorlink =| year = 2016|url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/al-balami-COM_25181}} |
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==External links== |
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* {{commonscat-inline|Muhammad Bal'ami}} |
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{{Viziers of the Samanid Empire}} |
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{{People of Khorasan}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:Poets from the Samanid Empire]] |
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[[Category:974 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Historians from the Samanid Empire]] |
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Latest revision as of 21:53, 21 May 2024
Abu Ali Muhammad Bal'ami (Persian: ابو علی محمد, died 992/997 CE), also called Amirak Bal'ami (امیرک بلعمی) and Bal'ami-i Kuchak (بلعمی کوچک, "Bal'ami the Younger"), was a 10th-century Persian historian, writer, and vizier to the Samanids. He was from the influential Bal'ami family.
Biography
[edit]
He was born in Lashjerd in the district of Merv, then part of the Samanid Empire. He was the son of Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami (also called Bal'ami-i Buzurg; "Bal'ami the Elder").[1] Muhammad Bal'ami was appointed vizier late in the reign of Abd al-Malik I (r. 954-961) and kept holding the office under Abd al-Malik's successor, Mansur I (r. 961-976). According to Gardizi, Bal'ami died in March 974 while serving in office, but according to the Persian historian al-Utbi, he was later from removed the vizierate office, and was reappointed later as the vizier of Nuh II (r. 976-997), but chose to retire in 992, dying in an unknown date before 997.
Work
[edit]Bal'ami most famous work is Tarikhnama, a historical text that spans a period beginning with the dawn of creation through to the Islamic age. The book was translated into Turkish and Arabic and remained in circulation for a thousand years. It is among the most influential books of Islamic historical literature and contains supplementary material, some of which is found nowhere else.[2]
Though Bal'ami claims the Tarikhnama is a translation of al-Tabari's History of the Prophets and Kings, it is actually an independent work.[2][3] Bal'ami states several times in the book that he has corrected al-Tabari's version. Contrary to al-Tabari, Bal'ami's version is presented from a Persian (mainly Khorasanian) point of view.[4] Having been written in 963, the Tarikh-i Bal'ami is the oldest New Persian prose work after the preface of the Shahnama-yi Abu Mansuri by Abu Mansur Muhammad.[5]
The 12th-century poet Nizami Aruzi makes mention of a book composed by Bal'ami named Tawqi'at, and two lines by Bal'ami are cited in the Farhang-e Jahangiri by Jamal al-Din Hosayn Enju Shirazi. However, it is not known if this refers to Bal'ami or his father, Bal'ami the Elder.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Frye 1975, p. 152.
- ^ a b A.C.S. Peacock. Mediaeval Islamic Historiography and Political Legitimacy: Bal'ami's Tarikhnama. Routledge.
- ^ A. C. S. Peacock; Firuza Abdullaeva; Robert Hillenbrand, eds. (18 November 2013). Ferdowsi, the Mongols and the History of Iran: Art, Literature and Culture from Early Islam to Qajar Persia. Bloomsbury. p. 33. ISBN 9781786734655.
- ^ Yarshater & Melville 2012, p. 10.
- ^ a b Khalegi-Motlagh 1989, pp. 971–972.
Sources
[edit]- Frye, R.N. (1975). "The Sāmānids". In Frye, R.N. (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 136–161. ISBN 0-521-20093-8.
- Khalegi-Motlagh, Dj. (1989). "AMĪRAK BALʿAMĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. I, Fasc. 9. pp. 971–972. Archived from the original on 2012-11-17. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
- Yarshater, Ehsan; Melville, Charles (2012). Persian Historiography: History of Persian Literature A. Vol. 10. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–400. ISBN 9780857721402.
Further reading
[edit]- Ashraf, Ahmad (2006). "Iranian identity iii. Medieval Islamic period". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. XIII, Fasc. 5. pp. 507–522.
- Peacock, A. C. S. (2007). Mediaeval Islamic Historiography and Political Legitimacy: Balʿamī's Tārīkhnāma. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-40025-1.
- Zadeh, Travis (2016). "al-Balʿamī". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. ISSN 1873-9830.
External links
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Media related to Muhammad Bal'ami at Wikimedia Commons
