Abu Ali Muhammad Bal'ami (, died 992/997 CE), also called Amirak Bal'ami () and Bal'ami-i Kuchak (, "Bal'ami the Younger"), was a 10th-century
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 ...
historian, writer, and
vizier
A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
to the
Samanids People
Samanid
Samanid
Samanid
The Samanid Empire () was a Persianate society, Persianate Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian peoples, Iranian ''dehqan'' origin. The empire was centred in Greater Khorasan, Khorasan an ...
. He was from the influential
Bal'ami family.
Biography
He was born in Lashjerd in the district of
Merv
Merv (, ', ; ), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian peoples, Iranian city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium& ...
, then part of the Samanid Empire. He was the son of
Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami
Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami, also known as Bal'ami the Elder (died November 14, 940), was a Samanid statesman from the al-Bal'ami family, who served as the ''vizier'' of Nasr II from 922 to 938.
Biography
Bal'ami is first mentioned as serving under the ...
(also called Bal'ami-i Buzurg; "Bal'ami the Elder"). Muhammad Bal'ami was appointed vizier late in the reign of
Abd al-Malik I (r. 954-961) and kept holding the office under Abd al-Malik's successor,
Mansur I (r. 961-976). According to
Gardizi
Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd-al-Ḥayy ibn Żaḥḥāk ibn Maḥmūd Gardīzī (), better known as Gardizi (), was an 11th-century Persian historian and official, who is notable for having written the ''Zayn al-akhbar'', one of the earliest history books ...
, Bal'ami died in March 974 while serving in office, but according to the Persian historian al-Utbi, he was later from removed the vizierate office, and was reappointed later as the vizier of
Nuh II
Nuh II (, r. 13 June 976–22 July 997)'' Tabaqat-i Nasiri'' by Minhaj-i-Siraj, pg. 107, Lahore Sangmil Publications 2004 was amir of the Samanids (976–997). He was the son and successor of Mansur I.
Beginning and Middle of Reign
Havin ...
(r. 976-997), but chose to retire in 992, dying in an unknown date before 997.
Work
Bal'ami most famous work is ''
Tarikhnama
''Tarikh-i Bal'ami'' () or ''Tārīkhnāma-yi Bozorg'' (, 'The Great Book of History') is the earliest known extant prose book in the Persian language written by Muhammad Bal'ami, a vizier in Samanid Empire, Samanid service. The 10th-century tex ...
'', a historical text that spans a period beginning with the dawn of creation through to the Islamic age. The book was translated into
Turkish and
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and remained in circulation for a thousand years. It is among the most influential books of Islamic historical literature and contains supplementary material, some of which is found nowhere else.
Though Bal'ami claims the ''Tarikhnama'' is a translation of
al-Tabari
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...
's ''
History of the Prophets and Kings
The ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' ( ''Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk''), more commonly known as ''Tarikh al-Tabari'' () or ''Tarikh-i Tabari'' or ''The History of al-Tabari '' () is an Arabic-language historical chronicle completed by the ...
'', it is actually an independent work.
Abu Mansur Muhammad
Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Razzaq ibn 'Abdallah ibn Farrukh, also simply known as Abu Mansur Muhammad and Ibn 'Abd al-Razzaq, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian aristocrat who served the Samanids for most of his career, and briefly served as gove ...
.
The 12th-century poet Nizami Aruzi
Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Alī, known as Nizamī-i Arūzī-i Samarqandī () and also Arudi ("The Prosodist"), was a poet and prose writer who flourished between 1110 and 1161. He is particularly famous for his ''Chahar Maqala'' ("Four Discourses"), his ...
makes mention of a book composed by Bal'ami named ''Tawqi'at'', and two lines by Bal'ami are cited in the '' Farhang-e Jahangiri'' by Jamal al-Din Hosayn Enju Shirazi. However, it is not known if this refers to Bal'ami or his father, Bal'ami the Elder.
References
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
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{{Authority control
10th-century Iranian historians
Samanid viziers
Poets from the Samanid Empire
Bal'ami family
974 deaths
Historians from the Samanid Empire