Abu Ali Muhammad Bal'ami ( fa, ابو علی محمد, d. 992-997 CE), also called Amirak Bal'ami () and Bal'ami-i Kuchak (, "Bal'ami the Younger"), was a 10th-century
Persian historian, writer, and
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
to the
Samanids. He was from the influential
Bal'ami family.
Biography
He was born in Lashjerd in the district of
Merv
Merv ( tk, Merw, ', مرو; fa, مرو, ''Marv''), also known as the Merve Oasis, formerly known as Alexandria ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρεια), Antiochia in Margiana ( grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐν τῇ Μαργιανῇ) and ...
, then part of the Samanid Empire. He was the son of
Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami (also called Bal'ami-i Buzurg; "Bal'ami the Elder"). Muhammad Bal'ami was appointed vizier during the late 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, 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 (r. 976-997), but chose to retire in 992, dying in an unknown date before 997.
Work
Bal'ami most famous work is ''
Tarikhnama'', a historical text that spans a period beginning with the dawn of creation through to the Islamic age. The book was translated into
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
and
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
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
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
's ''
History of the Prophets and Kings
The ''History of the Prophets and Kings'' ( ar, تاريخ الرسل والملوك ''Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk''), more commonly known as ''Tarikh al-Tabari'' () or ''Tarikh-i Tabari'' or ''The History of al-Tabari '' ( fa, تاریخ طب� ...
'', it is actually an independent work.
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
Samanid-period poets
Bal'ami family
974 deaths
Samanid historians