Mir Yar-Ahmad Khuzani Isfahani ( fa, امیر یاراحمد خوزانی اصفهانی; died 1512), better known by his honorific title of Najm-e Sani ("The Second Star") was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

nobleman from the Khuzani family, who was the third person to serve as the ''vakil'' (vicegerent) of the

Safavid Empire Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

Biography

Najm was born during the 15th-century in

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

, and belonged to a prominent family which could trace its existence in Isfahan back to the 1440s. He had a brother named Mahmud Beg Khuzani. In 1509/10, Najm succeeded

Amir Najm al-Din Mas'ud Gilani Mir Najm Zargar Gilani ( fa, میر نجم زرگر گیلانی), also known as Shaykh Najm al-Din Zargar Rashti, was an Iranian aristocrat of Gilaki origin, who was the second person to serve as the ''vakil'' (vicegerent) of the Safavid Empire. ...

in the ''vakil'' office, and later in 1512, he, along with the

Timurid Timurid refers to those descended from Timur (Tamerlane), a 14th-century conqueror: * Timurid dynasty, a dynasty of Turco-Mongol lineage descended from Timur who established empires in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent ** Timurid Empire of C ...

prince

Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...

attacked the marauding

Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...

, who had although suffered a heavy defeat in 1510 by

Shah Ismail I Ismail I ( fa, اسماعیل, Esmāʿīl, ; July 17, 1487 – May 23, 1524), also known as Shah Ismail (), was the founder of the Safavid dynasty of Safavid Iran, Iran, ruling as its King of Kings (''Shahanshah'') from 1501 to 1524. His re ...

, kept making incursions into the eastern Safavid province of

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 ...

. It is disputed whether Najm led the attack without approval from Ismail I or not. After having crossed the

Oxus River The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

, Najm seized

Qarshi Qarshi ( uz, Qarshi/Қарши, ; fa, نخشب ''Nakhshab'') is a city in southern Uzbekistan. It is the capital of Qashqadaryo Region. Administratively, Qarshi is a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlement Qashqadaryo (tow ...

, and had the city sacked and its inhabitants brutally massacred, which resulted in the death of over 1,500 men, and even children and women. A small

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

community was also massacred by the army of Najm, the prominent poet Maulana Binai being one of them. Najm then attacked Ghazdewan, a town near

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

, but was unable to capture the town. Babur then advised Najm to retreat to Qarshi in order to wait for reinforcements. Najm, however, declined, which resulted in the mutiny of several

Qizilbash Qizilbash or Kizilbash ( az, Qızılbaş; ota, قزيل باش; fa, قزلباش, Qezelbāš; tr, Kızılbaş, lit=Red head ) were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Iranian Azerbaijan, Anatolia, the ...

chieftains who had been with him during his campaign. On November, a battle ensured at Ghazdewan between the Uzbeks and what was left of the army of Najm, which resulted in his defeat and capture. He was shortly executed, and was succeeded by

Abd al-Baqi Yazdi }), was an Iranian nobleman, who was the third person to serve as the '' vakil'' (vicegerent) of the Safavid Empire. Biography A native of Yazd, Abd al-Baqi was the son of Na'im-al-Din Nematollah Sani, who was descended from Shah Nematollah, th ...

in the ''vakil'' office.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Najm-e Thani Military personnel killed in action Military personnel from Isfahan 16th-century Iranian military personnel 1512 deaths 15th-century births Khuzani family Grand viziers of the Safavid Empire Vakils of Safavid Iran Commanders-in-chief of Safavid Iran 16th-century people of Safavid Iran