Hasan Nizami was a
Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
poet and historian, who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries. He migrated from
Nishapur
Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...
to
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
in India, where he wrote ''Tajul-Ma'asir'', the first official history of the
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). .
Early life
Little is known about the family background of Hasan Nizami, since neither him nor his contemporaries provide any such information. The later historians such as
Mīr-Khvānd
Muhammad ibn Khvandshah ibn Mahmud, more commonly known as Mirkhvand ( fa, میرخواند, also transliterated as Mirkhwand; 1433/34 – 1498), was a Persian historian active during the reign of the Timurid ruler Sultan Husayn Bayqara (). He ...
,
Abu'l-Fazl
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, also known as Abul sharma, Abu'l Fadl and Abu'l-Fadl 'Allami (14 January 1551 – 22 August 1602), was the grand vizier of the Mughal emperor Akbar, from his appointment in 1579 until his death in 1602. He was the au ...
and
Kâtip Çelebi
Kâtip Çelebi (), or Ḥājjī Khalīfa ()), Muṣṭafa Ben Hājī Khalīfah, Haji Khalifa, Hajji Khalifeh, Hazi Halife, Hadschi Chalfa, Khalfa, Kalfa, etc. (*1017 AH/1609 AD – d. 1068 AH/1657 AD); was a Turkish polymath and author of the ...
call him "Sadru-din Muhammad bin Hasan Nizami".
Ziauddin Barani
Ziauddin Barani (1285–1358 CE) was a Muslim political thinker of the Delhi Sultanate located in present-day Northern India during Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Firuz Shah's reign. He was best known for composing the ''Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi'' (also ...
calls him "Sadr-i-Nizami". According to the 14th century Persian historian
Hamdallah Mustawfi
Hamdallah Mustawfi Qazvini ( fa, حمدالله مستوفى قزوینی, Ḥamdallāh Mustawfī Qazvīnī; 1281 – after 1339/40) was a Persian official, historian, geographer and poet. He lived during the last era of the Mongol Ilkhanate, and ...
, Nizami was a son of Persian poet
Nizami Aruzi Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Alī, known as Nizamī-i Arūzī-i Samarqandī ( fa, نظامی عروضی) and also Arudi ("The Prosodist"), was a Persian poet and prose writer who flourished between 1110 and 1161. He is particularly famous for his ''Chahar Ma ...
, but there is no evidence to substantiate this claim.
Nizami originally lived in
Nishapur
Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...
, in the
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
region of present-day
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. When the region became unsafe because of the
Khwarazmian-
Ghurid
The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the ...
conflict, Nizami visited the
Imam Reza shrine and sought advice from his religious preceptor Muhammad Kufi. Kufi advised him to leave Nishapur and migrate to India.
During his journey to India, Nizami fell ill at
Ghazna
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
. He recovered under the care of Shaikh Muhammad Shirazi and Majd-al-Mulk, who held the office of ''Sadr-i-Jahan''. The fact that these important officials extended their hospitality to Nizami indicates that he was either a reputed scholar or came from a reputed family.
While in Ghazna, Nizami heard that the
Qutb al-Din Aibak
Qutb ud-Din Aibak ( fa, قطبالدین ایبک), (1150 – 14 November 1210) was a Turkic general of the Ghurid king Muhammad Ghori. He was in charge of the Ghurid territories in northern India, and after Muhammad Ghori's assassination in ...
, the Ghurid governor of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, was generous towards immigrants. He, therefore, decided to try his luck in Delhi.
''Tajul-Ma'asir''
Nizami arrived in Delhi, sometime before the assassination of the Ghurid king
Muhammad of Ghor
Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad ibn Sam ( fa, معز الدین محمد بن سام), also Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, also Ghūri ( fa, معز الدین محمد غوری) (1144 – March 15, 1206), commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor, also Gh ...
in 1206. Nizami initially stayed with Sharaful-Mulk, who held the office of ''Sadr'' in Delhi. When Nizami was looking for employment, his friends suggested that he compile a history of the Muslim conquest of India, highlighting the achievements of Qutb al-Din Aibak. Soon after the Ghurid king's death, Qutb al-Din became the first ruler of the independent
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526). , and issued a
firman
A firman ( fa, , translit=farmân; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods they were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The word firman com ...
towards this objective.
Nizami thus started compiling his
Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
''Tajul-Ma'asir'', the first official history of the Delhi Sultanate. Although the book is written in Persian, it suggests that Nizami had a good command over the
Arabic language
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
as well. He wrote in an ornate style characteristic of the Arabic poetry and prose.
Since Nizami was more of a poet than a historian, his work features "flights of imagination". For example, he depicts Central Asian plants blossoming in the desert region around
Ajmer
Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "''Aj ...
. Nevertheless, his book was well-regarded by medieval historians for its detailed descriptions. The 14th century chronicler
Ziauddin Barani
Ziauddin Barani (1285–1358 CE) was a Muslim political thinker of the Delhi Sultanate located in present-day Northern India during Muhammad bin Tughlaq and Firuz Shah's reign. He was best known for composing the ''Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi'' (also ...
counts him among the trustworthy historians of the Delhi Sultanate.
The ''Tajul-Ma'asir'' begins with the
Second Battle of Tarain
The Second Battle of Tarain was fought in 1192 between the Ghurid forces of Muhammad Ghuri and the Rajput Confederacy of Prithviraj Chauhan. It took place near Tarain (modern Taraori), which is , north of Delhi. The battle ended in a decisi ...
in which the Ghurids defeated the Hindu king
Prithviraja III
Prithviraja III (IAST: Pṛthvī-rāja; reign. – 1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora, was a king from the Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty who ruled the territory of Sapadalaksha, with his capital at Ajmer in present- ...
. The book doesn't mention the First Battle of Tarain, in which the Ghurids were defeated, as this would have offended Qutb al-Din Aibak. The book then describes how Qutb al-Din (then a Ghurid general) was awarded the governorship of the newly conquered territory in India. Next, the book provides details about the subsequent military career of Qutb al-Din. The narrative is marred by poetic exaggeration and other irrelevant details, such as the
effects of planets on living beings.
The book provides comprehensive details about the events between 1192 and 1196. Nizami probably compiled this part of the book between 1206 and 1210. However, his coverage of the post-1196 events is not satisfactory. It is possible that Qutb al-din's untimely death in 1210 dashed Nizami's hopes of receiving a royal reward, and reduced his interest in completing the work. The book goes on to describe the reign of the next ruler
Iltutmish
Shams ud-Din Iltutmish ( fa, شمس الدین ایلتتمش; died 30 April 1236, ) was the third of the Mamluk kings who ruled the former Ghurid territories in northern India. He was the first Muslim sovereign to rule from Delhi, and is thus ...
, but this part appears to have been compiled in haste.
Nizami started writing the book in 1205-1206, and completed it sometime after 1229.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasan Nizami
13th-century Persian-language writers
Iranian emigrants to India
12th-century Persian-language writers
Poets from Nishapur
13th-century Iranian historians
Historians of India
13th-century Persian-language poets