Reza-Qoli Khan Hedayat ( fa, رضاقلی خان هدایت; 8 June 1800 – 29 June 1871) 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 ...

literary historian, administrator, and poet in 19th-century

Qajar Iran Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

Biography

Hedayat was born in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

on 8 June 1800 to a renowned family which was descended from the prominent 14th-century lyric-poet Kamal Khujandi. In his

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

work, Hedayat sometimes refers to himself as "Hedayat Mazan-darani", "Tabari", or "Tabarestani" due to his father Mohammad-Hadi Khan having served in the entourage of the

Qajar Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

tribal leaders in Mazandaran. Upon the completion of his education, he entered the service of Prince Hossein Ali Mirza Farman Farma son of Fat'h Ali Shah and governor of

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

. He was given the title of Khan and of Amir-ol Sho'ara in 1830, when Fath Ali Shah visited

. In 1838 he came back to

. Mohammed Shah instructed him to remain at the court and in 1841 selected him as tutor to his son Prince Abbas Mirza Molk Ara. In 1847 he was appointed governor of

Firuzkuh Firuzkuh ( fa, فيروزكوه, also Romanized as Fīrūzkūh and Fīrūz Kūh; Tabarian: Pirezcow; also known as Qaşabeh-ye Fīrūz Kūh) is a city and capital of Firuzkuh County, Tehran Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population w ...

. In 1851, he was chosen by

Naser al-Din Shah Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدین‌شاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Male ...

to lead the Embassy to Khiva. He was minister of education in 1852 and principal of the newly founded Dar-ol-fonoon College at

. In 1857, he was selected as tutor of Mozaffar al-Din Shah. He died from a severe illness in 1871. He has two sons, Ali Qoli Khan Mokhber ed-Dowleh and Ja'afar Qoli Khan Nayer-ol-Molk. Reza Qoli Khan was great-grandfather of Sadeq Hedayat.

Works

*''Farhang-e anjomanārā-ye nāṣeri'' (a Persian dictionary) *''Madārej al-balāḡa dar ʿElm-e Badiʿ'' (on Persian rhetoric) *''Majmaʿ al-foṣaḥā'' ("The meeting place of the eloquent") *''Rawżat al-ṣafā-ye nāṣeri'' *''Riāż al-ʿārefin'' ("The gardens of the Mystics") *''Tārix-e Rawżat al-ṣafā-ye nāṣeri'' (on history) He also wrote a

Divan A divan or diwan ( fa, دیوان, ''dīvān''; from Sumerian ''dub'', clay tablet) was a high government ministry in various Islamic states, or its chief official (see ''dewan''). Etymology The word, recorded in English since 1586, meanin ...

containing 50,000 distichs and six

Mathnawi Mathnawi ( ar, مثنوي ''mathnawī'') or masnavi ( fa, مثنوی) is a kind of poem written in rhyming couplets, or more specifically "a poem based on independent, internally rhyming lines". Most mathnawī poems follow a meter of eleven, or o ...

References

Sources

* Hedayat, Reza Qoli Khan Hedayat, Reza Qoli Khan 1800 births Persian-language poets 19th-century Persian-language writers Iranian governors 19th-century poets Iranian biographers People from Mazandaran Province People of Qajar Iran {{Iran-bio-stub