Skip to content
SHAXS
Suggest an edit

Zayn al-Din Vasifi

Persian-language writer, poet and historian from Herat who lived in Tashkent, author of the memoir-anthology “Badai al-vakai” on life in Khorasan and Transoxiana in the Shaybanid era.

Occupation:
Writer
Born:
1485 — c. 1566

Biography

Zayn al-Din Mahmud ibn Abd al-Jamil, who wrote under the name Vasifi, was born in 1485 (some sources say 1485/86) in Herat, into a family of munshis, chancery scribes. He studied Arabic, literature, jurisprudence and other subjects thoroughly, attending the Shahrukh madrasa in Herat. At sixteen he met Alisher Navoi and began writing in Herat within Navoi’s literary circle; Navoi thought highly of his skill in the riddle form (muamma).

Vasifi served as secretary to Faridun Husayn, a son of Husayn Bayqara, and taught other sons of the ruler. Around 1510 Herat passed to the Safavid Shah Ismail and persecutions began, and Vasifi left for Transoxiana. In 1512–1515 he lived in Samarkand and Bukhara, then spent time in Parkent, Tashkent and Shahrisabz.

In 1518 Keldi Muhammad Khan (Sultan Muhammad) of the Shaybanid dynasty summoned him to Shahrukhiya and entrusted him with his education. From 1525 Vasifi lived in Tashkent and hardly left the city. In 1528–1529 he took part in Keldi Muhammad’s campaigns in Khorasan, and in 1537 he went with the Uzbek army towards Issyk-Kul. After the khan’s death he became tutor to his son Hasan Sultan, and from 1540 he drew up state documents at the court of Baraq Khan.

His main work is “Badai al-vakai” (“Marvellous Events”). Its first part was written in 1517–18 and the second in 1539; he went on adding to and reworking the book all his life, and in 1538–39 presented it to the six-year-old Hasan Sultan. It gathers information on the scholarly, literary and cultural life of Khorasan, Transoxiana, Turkestan and Iran up to 1532, on Ibn Sina, Jami, Navoi and well-known musicians, together with stories, letters and several dozen poems.

The book also says a good deal about Tashkent: political events in the city and its region, the garden of Kaykavus where poets met for mushairas, the region’s iron and turquoise mines, and a masnavi of 83 couplets praising the gardens, air and water of Tashkent.

Vasifi died in Tashkent in 1551 or 1566 (sources give different years) and was buried by the mausoleum of Imam Kaffal Shashi. “Badai al-vakai” was published in a reworked form by Sadriddin Ayni, a critical text was prepared by A. N. Boldyrev (Moscow, 1961), and N. Norkulov translated it into Uzbek (Tashkent, 1979).

Education

Career

Life path

  1. 1485
    Birth

    Born in Herat into a family of munshis; studied at the Shahrukh madrasa.

  2. 1501
    Meeting Alisher Navoi

    At sixteen he met Navoi and began writing within his literary circle.

  3. c. 1510
    Departure for Transoxiana

    After the Safavids took Herat he fled the persecutions to Transoxiana.

  4. 1512–1515
    Samarkand and Bukhara

    Lived in these two cities, then spent time in Parkent, Tashkent and Shahrisabz.

  5. 1517–1518
    First part of “Badai al-vakai”

    Wrote the first part of the book.

  6. 1518
    In Shahrukhiya

    Keldi Muhammad Khan summoned him to Shahrukhiya and made him his tutor.

  7. 1525
    Move to Tashkent

    Went with Keldi Muhammad Khan to Tashkent and lived there for the rest of his life.

  8. 1528–1529
    Khorasan campaigns

    Took part in Keldi Muhammad Khan’s campaigns in Khorasan.

  9. 1538–1539
    Book presented to Hasan Sultan

    Wrote the second part of “Badai al-vakai” and presented the book to Hasan Sultan.

  10. 1540
    At the court of Baraq Khan

    Drew up state documents at the court of Baraq Khan.

  11. 1551 or 1566
    Death

    Died in Tashkent and was buried by the mausoleum of Imam Kaffal Shashi.

Works

  • “Badai al-vakai” (“Marvellous Events”) (1517)
    Memoir anthology

    First part written in 1517–18, second in 1539; scholarly, literary and cultural life of Khorasan and Transoxiana up to 1532, with stories, letters and verse.

  • Masnavi in praise of Tashkent
    Masnavi

    An 83-couplet part of “Badai al-vakai” describing the gardens, air and water of Tashkent.

  • Report on the victory over the Kazakhs (fathnama)
    Document

    A document included in “Badai al-vakai”; a source on the military alliance of the 1530s.

Legacy

“Badai al-vakai” is regarded as an important historical source and literary monument for the social, political and cultural life of Khorasan, Transoxiana and Turkestan in the late fifteenth and first half of the sixteenth century. V. V. Bartold, E. E. Bertels, Sadriddin Ayni and other scholars drew on it, and it holds valuable material on the history of Tashkent.

Era: Late 15th – mid-16th century, the transition from the Timurids to the Shaybanids
  • First part of “Badai al-vakai” written (1517)
  • A. N. Boldyrev’s critical text published in Moscow (1961)
  • Uzbek translation published in Tashkent (1979)
Zayn al-Din Vasifi (1485–1566) — Writer | Shaxs.uz