Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Jafar Narshakhi (or Narshaki) (ca. 899–959), a Sogdian scholar from the village of Narshak in the Bukhara oasis is the first known historian in

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. His unique ''History of Bukhara'' (''Tarikh-i Bukhara'') was written in Arabic and presented to the Samanid emperor

Nuh I Nuh ibn Nasr, or Nuh I (926-954), was the Amir of the Samanids in 943–954. He was the son of Nasr II. It is rumoured that he married a Chinese princess.Richard N. Frye, ''Bukhara, the Medieval Achievement'', (University of Oklahoma Press, 19 ...

either in 943 or 944. The book provides important information on Bukhara that cannot be found in other contemporary sources. Nothing is known about Narshakhi except his authorship of this one book.

Biography

Narshakhi was a Sogdian. Even though the Sogdian language had been mostly supplanted by Persian language in densely populated places of

Sogdia Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemen ...

in his day, it is likely that Narshakhi still spoke Sogdian very well. His ''History of Bukhara (Tarikh-i Bukhara)'' was composed for a patron who supported

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

against

Isma'ilism Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (Imamate in Nizari doctrine, imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the ...

. Through Da'i missionaries engaged in the da'wah the Isma'ili sect of Shi'ism had spread and was regarded as a threat by the Sunni. It was written in a time of upheaval for the Samanids. Nasr II had converted to Isma'ili Shi'ism, and his son, Nuh ibn Nasr was confronted with a political turmoil that saw his vizier and other members of his court killed. Nuh purged the da'is and killed Isma'ili converts in an attempt to undo their encroaching influence, but the situation in the court remained tense. The Samanids, whose roots lay in

, had assumed the role of guardians of Sunni law, in opposition to the Saffarids in

Sistan Sistān (), also known as Sakastān (, , current name: Zabol) and Sijistan (), is a historical region in south-eastern Iran and extending across the borders of present-day south-western Afghanistan, and south-western Pakistan. Mostly correspond ...

and the Samanids. They commissioned the translation of Arabic works like the '' History of Prophets and Kings'' into Persian. These texts were altered in translation; ''Tarikh-i Bukhara'', translated by Abu Nasr Ahmad al-Qubavi, expanded the text to cover a longer period of time, but this Persian translation was later abridged by Muhammad ibn Zufar ibn 'Umar in the 12th century.

Other translations of ''The History of Bukhara''

In 1128 or 1129, Abu Nasr Ahmad al-Qubavi translated Narshakhi's original Arabic text into Persian, with abridgments and additional content to extend the history to 975. Charles-Henri-Auguste Schefer published an abridged French translation in 1892. In 1954, historian Richard N. Frye translated the Persian abridgment of the book into English.

References

External links

''Mukhammad Narshakhi''
{{authority control Historians of Central Asia History of Bukhara People from Bukhara 10th-century Iranian historians Historians from the Samanid Empire

Biography

Other translations of ''The History of Bukhara''

References

Further reading

External links