Abū ‘Umar ‘Uthmān b. ‘Umar Mukhtārī Ghaznavī (born c. 467/1074-75, died 513×15/1118×21) 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 ...

poet of the Ghaznavids, an empire originating from

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 ...

located in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. He had patrons at the courts of the Qarakhānids, the Seljūqs of Kirman, and the Ismaili ruler of

Tabas Tabas ( fa, طبس, also Romanized as Ṭabas), formerly known as Golshan, is the capital city of Tabas County in South Khorasan Province of Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 35,150, in 9,903 families. Tabas is located in central Iran ...

. In the assessment of A. A. Seyed-Gohrab,

in Persian literary history, he is known for his detailed and extensive poetic descriptions ('' vaṣf'') and his interest in literary riddles. His ability lies first of all in the minute description of courtly events such as royal banquets, hunting grounds, battlefields, and Islamic and pre-Islamic Persian festivals.

Originating from

, he is thought to have written the ''Shahryar-nama'', which describes the struggles of Muslims against Indian heathens during the

Ghaznavid The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...

era. The epic was composed in 3 years. Parts of it remain in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. While at Tabas in 500-508 (1105–13), he composed the '' Hunar-nāma'', dedicating it to the ruler of Tabas, Yamīm al-Dowla, one of the Ismaili aristocrats of Quhistān.A. A. Seyed-Gohrab, ''Courtly Riddles: Enigmatic Embellishments in Early Persian Poetry'' (Leiden: Leiden University Press, 2010), p. 146. He was a great fan of

Masud Sa'd Salman Mas'ud-i Sa'd-i Salmān ( fa, مسعود سعد سلمان) was an 11th-century Persian poet of the Ghaznavid empire who is known as the prisoner poet. He lived from ca. 1046 to 1121. Early life He was born in 1046 in Lahore to wealthy parents ...

References

* Jan Rypka, ''History of Iranian Literature''. Reidel Publishing Company. ASIN B-000-6BXVT-K

References

See also