Abd-al-Razzāq Samarqandī (, ''Kamal-ud-Din Abd-ur-Razzaq ibn Ishaq Samarqandi''; 7 November 1413 – August 1482) 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 ...

Timurid

chronicler A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, ...

and Islamic scholar. He was for a while the ambassador of

Shah Rukh Shah Rukh or Shahrukh Mirza (, ''Šāhrokh''; 20 August 1377 – 13 March 1447) was the ruler of the Timurid Empire between 1405 and 1447. He was the son of the Central Asian conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who founded the Timurid dynasty in 1370 ...

, the

Timurid dynasty The Timurid dynasty, self-designated as Gurkani (), was the ruling dynasty of the Timurid Empire (1370–1507). It was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim dynasty or Barlās clan of Turco-Mongol originB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of I ...

ruler of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. In his role as ambassador he visited

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

in south India in the early 1440s. He wrote a narrative of what he saw in Calicut which is valuable as information on Calicut's society and culture. He is also the producer of a lengthy narrative or chronicle of the history of the Timurid dynasty and its predecessors in Central Asia, but this is not so valuable because it is mostly a compilation of material from earlier written sources that are mostly available from elsewhere in the earlier form.

Early life

Abd-al-Razzāq was born in

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

on 7 November 1413. His father Jalal-ud-Din Ishaq was the qazi and

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of the Shah Rukh's court in Herat. He studied with his father and his elder brother Sharif-ud-Din Abdur Qahhar and together with them obtained an

ijazah An ''ijazah'' (, "permission", "authorization", "license"; plural: ''ijazahs'' or ''ijazat'') is a license authorizing its holder to transmit a certain text or subject, which is issued by someone already possessing such authority. It is particul ...

(license) from Shams-ud-Din Mohammad Jazari in 1429. After the death of his father in 1437, he was appointed the qazi of the Shah Rukh's court.

Travel and writing

Abd-al-Razzāq was the ambassador of

, the

ruler of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, from January 1442 to January 1445. He wrote a 45-page narrative of this mission to India. It appears as a chapter in his book ''Matla-us-Sadain wa Majma-ul-Bahrain'' (مطلع السعدين ومجمع البحرين) (The Rise of the Two auspicious constellations and the Confluence of the Two Oceans), a book of about 450 pages which contains a detailed chronicle of the history of his part of the world from 1304 to 1470 and which takes much of its contents from other writings. Abd-al-Razzāq's narrative of his visit to India includes describing the life and events in Calicut under the Zamorin and also of the Ancient City of Vijayanagara at

Hampi Hampi or Hampe (), also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the town of Hampi in Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi predates the Vijayanagara Empire; it is menti ...

during the reign of

Deva Raya II Deva Raya II (reigned 10 February 1423 – 24 May 1446) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire. He is considered by many as the greatest of the Sangama dynasty rulers, he was an able administrator, warrior, and scholar. He authored well-k ...

, describing their wealth and immense grandeur. He also left accounts of the shipping trade in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

during the 15th century. Abd-al-Razzāq's ''Matla-us-Sadain wa Majma-ul-Bahrain'' also included a detailed account of diplomatic relations between Shah Rukh's state and

Ming China The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

. In particular, it incorporated the first-hand account the mission Shah Rukh sent to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in 1420–1422, written by its participant Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh.

References

External links

* At Encyclopædia Iranica
ʿAbd-al-Razzāq Samarqandī, historian and scholar (1413-82)
* Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi
''Narrative of my voyage into Hindoostan, and the wonders and remarkable peculiarities which this country presents''
written in Persian during and after the 1442 - 1445 voyage, English translation year 1857. {{DEFAULTSORT:Abd-al-Razzaq Samarqandi Travel writers of the medieval Islamic world 1413 births 1482 deaths Historiography of India History of Kerala People from Herat People from Samarkand 15th-century Iranian scientists 15th-century Persian-language writers Medieval Iranian geographers Historians from the Timurid Empire Explorers of South Asia 15th-century travelers 15th-century Iranian historians