Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi
Timurid-era historian, mathematician and poet, author of the Zafarnama, the best-known chronicle of the life and campaigns of Timur.
- Occupation:
- Scientist, Writer, Historian, Mathematician
- Nickname:
- Sharaf
- Born:
- c. 1375 — 1454
Biography
Sharaf al-Din Ali Yazdi was born around the 1370s in the Yazd region of Iran, either in the city of Yazd itself or in the nearby town of Taft. The sources do not give the exact year. As a young man he taught in Yazd and then drew close to the Timurid court.
From about 1414 he served Ibrahim Sultan, son of Shahrukh and governor of Fars. On Shahrukh’s orders he brought up in Shiraz a Moghul prince, the future Yunus Khan. At Ibrahim Sultan’s command he began the Zafarnama, a life of Timur, around 1421 and finished it about 1425; its basis was Nizam al-Din Shami’s earlier work of the same name and eyewitness accounts.
After Ibrahim Sultan’s death in 1435 Yazdi moved into the service of Shahrukh’s grandson Sultan Muhammad: in 1442–43 he was an adviser to Sultan Muhammad, the governor of Iraq. During Sultan Muhammad’s revolt against the central government in the mid-1440s he fell into a difficult position but escaped punishment and was sent to Herat.
After Shahrukh died in 1447, Yazdi returned to Taft and lived in seclusion in a khanqah. In the late 1440s the young Alisher Navoi saw him there as a child, and in 1452 the historian Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi met him in Taft.
The scholar died in 1454; most sources give Taft as the place. He wrote on history, poetry, language, the art of riddles and mathematics, composed verse under the pen name Sharaf, and left the Zafarnama as one of the main sources for the age of Timur.
Career
- Timurid EmpireCourt historian and scholar (under Ibrahim Sultan and Sultan Muhammad) · 1414–1447
Life path
- 1370sBirth
Born in Yazd or the nearby town of Taft; the exact year is unknown.
- 1414–1435With Ibrahim Sultan
At the court of Shahrukh’s son Ibrahim Sultan, governor of Fars; brought up Yunus Khan in Shiraz.
- 1421–1425The Zafarnama
Wrote the history of Timur’s life at Ibrahim Sultan’s command.
- 1442–1443Adviser to Sultan Muhammad
Entered the service of Shahrukh’s grandson Sultan Muhammad, governor of Iraq.
- mid-1440sSent to Herat
After Sultan Muhammad’s revolt he escaped punishment and was sent to Herat.
- 1447Return to Taft
After Shahrukh’s death he went back to his homeland and lived in seclusion in a khanqah.
- 1452Meeting with Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi
The historian Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi spoke with him in Taft.
- 1454Death
Died; most sources give Taft as the place.
Works
- “Zafarnama” (1425)Historical work
A Persian chronicle of Timur’s life and campaigns, based on Nizam al-Din Shami’s work of the same name and on eyewitness accounts.
- Introduction to the “Zafarnama”Historical work
An opening section on the Chaghatai ulus and the Turkic khans of Central Asia before Timur.
- “Al-Hulal al-mutarraz fi’l-mu‘amma wa’l-lughz”Literary work
A work on the art of poetic riddles.
- “Mawatin ya manazir dar mu‘amma”Literary work
Treatises on the science of riddles.
- “Kunh al-murad fi ‘ilm al-wafq wa’l-a‘dad”Mathematical work
A treatise on numbers and magic squares.
- “Al-Kitab fi ‘ilm al-asturlab”Astronomical work
A book on the astrolabe.
- DivanPoetry collection
Verse composed under the pen name Sharaf.
- “Munsha’at”Collection of letters
A collection of official and literary correspondence.
Legacy
The Zafarnama is regarded as one of the main sources for the age of Timur and for the history of Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It was later translated into Chagatai, into Ottoman Turkish in the 16th century, and into French (1722) and English (1723). Alisher Navoi also held Yazdi’s learning in high regard.
Era: Timurid era, 15th century- The Zafarnama completed (1425)
- French translation of the Zafarnama (Pétis de la Croix) (1722)
- English translation of the Zafarnama (1723)