Mohammad Taher Vahid Qazvini
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Mirza Mohammad Taher Vahid Qazvini (; died 1700), was an Iranian bureaucrat, poet, and historian, who served as the
grand vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...
of two
Safavid 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 ...
monarchs, Shah Suleiman () and the latter's son
Soltan Hoseyn Soltan Hoseyn (; 1668 – 9 September 1727) was the Safavid shah of Iran from 1694 to 1722. He was the son and successor of Shah Suleiman (). Born and raised in the royal harem, Soltan Hoseyn ascended the throne with limited life experience a ...
() from 1691 to 1699. He is also notable for writing the ''Abbas-nama'', the principal Iranian source regarding the events during the reign of
Shah Abbas II Abbas II (; born Soltan Mohammad Mirza; 30 August 1632 – 26 October 1666) was the seventh Shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1642 to 1666. As the eldest son of Safi and his Circassian wife, Anna Khanum, he inherited the throne when he was ni ...
().


Background

A native of
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 ...
, Taher Vahid was born around 1621. He was of
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 ...
Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...
ancestry, and belonged to a family that was notable for occupying the office of '' vaqa'i-nevis'' (court registrar). His father Mirza Mohammad had occupied the office under
Shah Abbas I Abbas I (; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers ...
(), and Taher Vahid would also later occupy it.


Career

Taher Vahid served as a chronicler during the reign of
Shah Abbas II Abbas II (; born Soltan Mohammad Mirza; 30 August 1632 – 26 October 1666) was the seventh Shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1642 to 1666. As the eldest son of Safi and his Circassian wife, Anna Khanum, he inherited the throne when he was ni ...
(), composing the ''Abbas-nama'', the principal Iranian source regarding the events during the reign of Shah Abbas II. In March 1691, Shah Suleiman () appointed Taher Vahid as his vizier, following a one year and a half vacancy of the office. The previous grand vizier had been Shaykh Ali Khan Zanganeh. After Taher Vahid's appointment, Shah Suleiman asked his opinion on the most pressing matters of the country, which Taher Vahid replied to by mentioning four serious problems that needed attention: the pay of the army of Iran, fiscal reform, unoccupied offices, and the renewal of trade. Shah Suleiman responded by increasing Taher Vahid's administrative authority to an unmatched level. Taher Vahid continued to serve as vizier under Shah Suleiman's son and successor,
Soltan Hoseyn Soltan Hoseyn (; 1668 – 9 September 1727) was the Safavid shah of Iran from 1694 to 1722. He was the son and successor of Shah Suleiman (). Born and raised in the royal harem, Soltan Hoseyn ascended the throne with limited life experience a ...
(). Taher Vahid, as well to a lesser degree the court steward (''nazer'') Najafqoli Khan, were the main counselors of Soltan Hoseyn during his early reign. In May 1699, Soltan Hoseyn dismissed Taher Vahid, supposedly due to the latter's old age. He replaced him with the '' eshik-aqasi-bashi''
Mohammad Mo'men Khan Shamlu Mohammad Mo'men Khan Shamlu (), was a Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman nobleman from the Shamlu tribe, who served as the ''vizier'' of the Safavid king (''shah'') Sultan Husayn (r. 1694–1722) from 1699 to 1707. He had a son named Mohammad Qoli Khan ...
, who, however, was also advanced in age. Taher Vahid died in 1700.


Poetry

Taher Vahid was also a poet, composing 35,000 verses in various genres. He also known to have sent poems to the
Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
, although they have not been published yet. Based on Taher Vahid's writings, the modern historian Sunil Sharma comments that "it is evident that his role in the intellectual and literary life of seventeenth-century
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 ...
circles was not at all insignificant."
Hamid Dabashi Hamid Dabashi (; born 1951) is an Iranian-American professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature at Columbia University in New York City. He is the author of over twenty books. Among them are ''Theology of Discontent'', several books ...
lists Taher Vahid amongst some of the leading Iranian poets of the Indian style who had never visited India, along with Shafi'i Mashhadi, Asir-e Esfahani and Shaukat Bukhari. Taher Vahid is also known to have composed poetry in Azeri Turkish.


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* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammad Taher Vahid Qazvini Grand viziers of the Safavid Empire 17th-century Iranian politicians 1620s births 1700 deaths People from Qazvin 17th-century Persian-language poets Azerbaijani-language poets 17th-century people from Safavid Iran Safavid historians 17th-century Iranian historians 17th-century Iranian poets