Budaq Monshi Qazvini (), was a bureaucrat and historian in 16th-century

Safavid Iran The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

, who composed the

universal history Universal history may refer to: * Universal history (genre), a literary genre **''Jami' al-tawarikh'', 14th-century work of literature and history, produced by the Mongol Ilkhanate in Persia ** Universal History (Sale et al), ''Universal History'' ...

, which focuses on a significant portion of the

Persianate A Persianate society is a society that is based on or strongly influenced by the Persian language, culture, literature, art and/or identity. The term "Persianate" is a neologism credited to Marshall Hodgson. In his 1974 book, ''The Venture of I ...

world. Born in 1510/11, Budaq came from a distinguished family based in

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

. During the reign of the

Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu or the White Sheep Turkomans (, ; ) was a culturally Persianate society, Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two trib ...

ruler Baysunghur (), Budaq's maternal grandfather Khvaja Ruh-Allah Shalkani Qazvini held the position of

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 ...

. Budaq's maternal uncle also served as vizier under the Safavid governor of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, Mohammad Khan Takkalu Sharaf-al-Din Oghlu. Both Budaq and his brother Khvaja Ezz-al-Din Shalkani worked in the administration of the Safavid government, the former in the financial section. Budaq's ''Javaher al-akhbar'' features a section that goes into depth regarding his career, containing the majority of what is known about him. In 1525/26, Budaq became a scribe in the royal secretariat. A few years later, he started working as a

copyist A copyist is a person who makes duplications of the same thing. The modern use of the term is mainly confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger's manuscript. However, the ...

and eventually assumed supervision of the financial registers as well. In 1530/31, Budaq joined his uncle in Baghdad and worked there as a secretary of the ''

divan A divan or diwan (, ''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, meaning "Oriental cou ...

''. He also later became the ''nevisanda-ye lashkar'' of Mohammad Khan Takkalu. He likely left Baghdad in 1534, due to the invasion of the Ottoman emperor

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555. Following Mohammad Khan Takkalus appointment as the governor of

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 ...

in 1537, he dismissed Budaq as his ''nevisande-ye lashkar''. Budaq went to Qazvin, where he soon started working for Bahram Mirza Safavi, the brother of Shah Tahmasp I (). Later, due to the influence of Bahram Mirza's vizier Mir Enayat-Allah Khvari, Budaq was dismissed by Bahram Mirza. After Budaq had been unemployed for six years, Bahram Mirza accepted him back into his service, making him the '' kalantar'' (mayor) of three districts close to Qazvin. During Suleiman's second campaign against Iran in 1548/49, Budaq accompanied the Safavid army with the goal of stopping him. However, Budaq omits this event entirely, focusing exclusively on his administrative roles.

References

Sources

* * * * {{authority control 1510s births 16th-century writers from Safavid Iran Safavid historians People from Qazvin 16th-century deaths Safavid civil servants 16th-century Iranian historians