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{{about|the Persian writer|the British jukebox manufacturer|BAL-AMi Jukeboxes}}
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'''Abu Ali Muhammad Bal'ami''' ({{lang-fa|ابو علی محمد}}), also called '''Amirak Bal'ami''' ({{lang|fa|امیرک بلعمی}}) and '''Bal'ami-i Kuchak''' ({{lang|fa|بلعمی کوچک}}, "Bal'ami the Younger"), was a [[Persian people|Persian]] historian, writer, and [[vizier]] to the [[Samanid Empire|Samanids]]. He was from the influential [[Bal'ami family]].
{{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]].


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
[[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.]]
[[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.]]


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 during the late 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.
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.


== Work ==
== Work ==
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://www.google.com/books/edition/Mediaeval_Islamic_Historiography_and_Pol/6aXKIuKdQZoC}}</ref>
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>


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 |editors=A. C. S. Peacock, Firuza Abdullaeva, Robert Hillenbrand
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
|title=Ferdowsi, the Mongols and the History of Iran: Art, Literature and Culture from Early Islam to Qajar Persia |publisher=Bloomsbury |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ferdowsi_the_Mongols_and_the_History_of/zhOMDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |page=33}}</ref> Bal'ami himself 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}}
|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}}


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}}
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}}


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist|2}}
{{reflist|2}}


== Sources ==
=== 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 = Iranian identity iii. Medieval Islamic period | last = Ashraf | first = Ahmad | authorlink = | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iranian-identity-iii-medieval-islamic-period | editor-last = | editor-first = | editor-link = | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. XIII, Fasc. 5 | pages = 507–522 | location = | publisher = | year = 2006 | isbn = |ref=harv}}
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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 | last = Frye | first = R.N. | authorlink = | 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 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA136#v=onepage&q&f=false | editor-first = R.N. | editor-last = Frye | isbn = 0-521-20093-8| pages=136–161 |ref=harv}}
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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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* {{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, Vol. I, Fasc. 9 |pages=971–972 |year=1989 |ref=harv |url-status=dead |archiveurl=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 |archivedate=2012-11-17 |title=Archived copy |date= |accessdate=2011-10-01 }}

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* {{cite encyclopedia | title= al-Balʿamī | first = Travis | last = Zadeh | authorlink = | encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume III | publisher = BRILL | location = Leiden and New York | year = 1986 | isbn = 90-04-09419-9 | pages = | url = http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/al-balami-COM_25181}}
== Further reading ==
⚫
*{{cite book|last=Yarshater|first=Ehsan |last2=Melville|first2=Charles|title=Persian Historiography: History of Persian Literature A, Volume 10|location=|publisher=I.B.Tauris|year=2012 |isbn=9780857721402|url=https://books.google.dk/books?id=A2QBAwAAQBAJ&dq=false|pages=1–400|ref=harv}}

⚫
* {{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}}
* {{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}}


==External links==
==External links==
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{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


[[Category:Iranian historians]]
[[Category:10th-century Iranian historians]]
[[Category:Medieval Persian people]]
[[Category:10th-century historians]]
[[Category:10th-century Iranian people]]
[[Category:Samanid viziers]]
[[Category:Samanid viziers]]
[[Category:Samanid-period poets]]
[[Category:Poets from the Samanid Empire]]
[[Category:Bal'ami family]]
[[Category:Bal'ami family]]
[[Category:974 deaths]]
[[Category:974 deaths]]
[[Category:Samanid historians]]
[[Category:Historians from the Samanid Empire]]

Latest revision as of 21:53, 21 May 2024

This article is about the Persian writer. For the British jukebox manufacturer, see BAL-AMi Jukeboxes.

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]
The Tarikh-i Bal'ami, a Persian translation of al-Tabari's History of the Prophets and Kings by Muhammad Bal'ami.

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]
  1. ^ Frye 1975, p. 152.
  2. ^ a b A.C.S. Peacock. Mediaeval Islamic Historiography and Political Legitimacy: Bal'ami's Tarikhnama. Routledge.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Yarshater & Melville 2012, p. 10.
  5. ^ a b Khalegi-Motlagh 1989, pp. 971–972.

Sources

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
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