Description
Book SynopsisAbu Sa'id 'Abd al-Hayy Gardizi was an author and historian living in the mid-eleventh century at the height of the Turkish Ghazvanid dynasty. His only known work, The Ornament of Histories ('Zayn al-akhbir'), is a hugely ambitious history of the Eastern Islamic lands AD 650-1041, spanning what is now Eastern Iran, Afghanistan and parts of the Central Asian Republics and Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. Gardizi's text is an extremely rare source of primary information about the rise of Islamic faith, culture and military dominance in these regions, and represents a significant contribution to our understanding of the early Islamic world. This is the first English translation of the original Persian text, and is accompanied by an introduction and commentary which details the historical, geographical and cultural context.
Trade Review`This is an excellent annotated translation of this important historical text by a most qualified scholar.' - Farhad Daftary, Co-Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications, Institute of Ismaili Studies, `All in all this is a most useful publication which ... makes available one of the earliest examples of Persian historical literature and most important sources for the history of the Khurasan.' - The Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements Introduction Translation of the Text The Arab Governers The Tahirids and Saffarids The Samanids The Early Ghaznavids Notes Bibliography Indices 1. Persons, People, Tribes 2. Places 3. Technical Terms 4. Book Titles
