Vazeh Bukharayi and his significant role in Persian literary biography writing in Transoxiana

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Associate professor of Persian Language and Literature, Tarbiat Modares University (TMU), Tehran, Iran

Abstract

1. Introduction
Except for the lost work of Managheb al-Sho’ara (early 13th century) written by Abo-Taher Khatouni and the scientific-literary magazine of The Four Essays (Chahar Maghaleh) written poetically by N. A. Samarkandi (circa 1156), Lubab ul-Albab is the first literary biography written by ‘Aufi Bukharayi (1222). When Iran and Transoxiana were divided politically in the 17th century, this genre was still kept common through the publication of five biographies in Transoxiana. Transoxiana was in the constant struggle because of its politico-economic instability; constant struggles among the Khans in the region, and the wars in Khorasan border, all in all blocking the literary and cultural flourishing of the region; however, in 1871, Rahmat-Allah Vazeh Bukharayi (1818-1893/1894) revived this literary genre after 179 years through his biography entitled Tuhfat al-Ahbab.
 
2. Theoretical framework
Rahmat-Allah Bukharayi, the son of Mohammad Ashur, wrote under the penname of Vazeh. He was a poet, writer, and an Iranian biography writer from Bukhara. This study aims to explore the role of Vazeh Bukharayi and his biography in reviving the tradition of Persian literary biography writing in the literary environment of Bukhara in the second half of the 19th century. The assumption is that Tuhfat al-ahbab fi tazkirat al-ashab became the model of biography writing for five other writers in Bukhara in the late 19th and early 20th centuries because of the originality of the oral and written references, its comprehensiveness, the writer's fame, and the employment of the biography writing criteria in selecting the poets and poems.
 
3. Methodology
To answer the research questions, the study employed an analytic-critical approach to introduce Vazeh Bukharayi, and then analyzed the nine criteria significant for the biography writer.
 
4. Results and discussion
Vazeh Bukharayi's ancestors were a group of enforced immigrants from Merv under the rule of Amir Shah Morad Manghiti (ruling from 1785-1800). They moved to Samarkand and Bukhara in the early 18th (1785) century after Merv was destroyed. Vazeh was born in Bukhara and lost his father and family when he was beginning his education. However, he could finish his education in Bukhara at the age of 27 in 1844. He is most famous for his biography writing. Tuhfat al-Ahbab fi Tazkarat al-Ashab or Ghari Rahmat-Allah is a regional-epochal biography in Persian. Vazeh's biography uses a dual simple and literary language of Persian and Bukharayi’s Persian accent. The biography consists of three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction and conclusions sections are very concise and short. The biography writer has alphabetically listed (based on their pennames) the life and works of 148 poets, scientists, Persian literary figures living in Bukhara and the surrounding region in the Manghiat era. Some other poets from the literary environment of Mings in Kokand, particularly under the rule of Amir Omar Khan Kokandi (ruling from 1810 to 1822) were noted as well. Moreover, the biography describes the career of 14 Afghan poets, 6 Qajar poets, 6 Iranian immigrants from Merv to Bukhara, 4 Indian poets, and 1 Bulgarian poet (Kazan, Russia).
 
5. Conclusion
Rahmat Allah Bukharayi revived the genre of Persian literary biography writing in Bukhara after 179 years through the publication of Tuhfatal-Ahbab fi Tazkarat al-Ashab, selecting poets from the literary environment of Iran, Afghanistan, and India. This brought the literary mainstream, particularly in Iran, back to Bukhara. He established a novel approach in style and language, by avoiding the Bideli's superficial and complicated style. In this regard, Vazeh could be viewed as the survivor of the traditional Persian biography writing in Bukhara in the 19th century after Mohammad Badi' Maliha Samarandi, who wrote Mozkker al-Ashab in the late 18th century. All the literary and historical biographies authored in the Persian and Uzbek region in the 20th century are in debt to that of the Vazeh, meaning that they could all be a complementary work to Vazeh's biography.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

References
- Abdi, A. Kh. (1983). A Biography of Poets. Asghar Janfada and Sahab al-Din Seddighov (ed.). Dushanbe: Danesh. [In Persian]
- Afzal M. P. (1918). The Best Biography of Poets and Poetry (lithography). Tashkent. No Pub. [In Persian]
- Aini, S. (1923). A History of Manghitieh Rulers of Bukhara. Tashkent: Public Journals of Turkistan. [In Persian]
--------------- ـ. (1926). Example of Tajik Literature. Moscow: Central Publications of the People’s Socialist Soviet Union. [In Persian]
- Anousheh, H. (ed.) (2002). Tuhfat al-Ahbab fi Tazkarat al-Ashab. In H. Anousheh (ed.), Encyclopedia of Persian Literature: Persian Literature in Central Asia. Tehran: The Publication Center of Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. 1th Vol. 115. [In Persian]
- Atashinjan, T. (2002). Vazeh Bukharayi. In H. Anousheh (ed.). Encyclopedia of Persian Literature: Persian Literature in Central Asia. Tehran: The Publication Center of Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. 1th Vol. 703-704. [In Persian]
- Aufi, M. (2016). Lubab ul-Albab. Edward, J. Brown (ed.). Tehran: Hermes. [In Persian]
- Becka, J. (1993). Persian Literature in Tajikistan. Mahmud Ebadian and Saeed Abanezhad Hejran Doust (trans.). Tehran: Markaz-e-Motaleat-va-Tahqiqat-e-Farhangi. [In Persian]
- Bosworth, K. E. (2002). The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual. Tehran: The Center of Studies on Islam and Iran. [In Persian]
- Boushasb Gousheh, F. (2007). Merv in the early decades of Qajar ruling. Journal of History, 3(9), 21-51. [In Persian]
- Dadabeh, A. & Mola-ahmad, M. (2006). Biography Writing in Transoxiana and Afghanistan. In K. Mousavi Bojnourdi (ed.). The Great Islamic Encyclopedia. Tehran: Center of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia. 14th Vol. 722-726. [In Persian]
- Fazli Namnagani, A. (1902). Collection of Poets. Molla Rahim Berdi Ghari (ed.). Tashkent: Ilin. [In Persian]
- Fotouhi Roudmajani, M. (2008). Theory of Literary History with a Critical Review of the Historiography of Literature in Iran. Tehran: Sokhan. [In Persian]
- Golchin Ma'ani, A. (1984). A History of Persian Biography Writing. 1th Vol. Tehran: Sanayi Library. [In Persian]
- Heshmat, M. S. T. (1894-1895). A Biography of Poets. Manuscript No. 2728. 1th Vol.  Manuscript No. 61, 2nd Vol. Uzbekistan: The Center of Abu Rayhan al-Biruni Manuscript in Tashkent. [In Persian]
--------------- ـ. (1905). A Biography of Poets. Manuscript No. 2729. Uzbekistan: The Center of Abu Rayhan al-Biruni Manuscript in Tashkent. [In Persian]
- Khayyampour, A. (1989). A Dictionary of Speakers. Tehran: Talayeh. [In Persian]
- Khodayar, E. (2005). Familiar Strangers. Tehran: National Studies Institute: Tamaddon-e-Melli. [In Persian]
- ---------------. (2005). From Samarkand as Sugar. Tehran: The Tarbiat Modarres Center of Research in Persian Language and Literature & Eshareh pub. [In Persian]
- Kouti, S. (2001). Persian biography writing in the Central-Asia. In H. Anousheh (ed.). Encyclopedia of Persian Literature: Persian Literature in Central Asia. Tehran: The Publication Center of Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. 2th Vol. 286-292. [In Persian]
- Masoudi, A. (2006). Biography writing. In K. Mousavi Bojnourdi (ed.). The Great Islamic Encyclopedia. Tehran: Center of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia. 14th Vol. 716-719. [In Persian]
- Mirzaev, A. (1966). Literary resources between the 16th and early 20 centuries and their significance. Mehr, 12(8), 555-561. [In Persian]
- Mohtaram, H. N. (1975). A Biography of Poets. Asghar Janfada and Kamal Aini (ed.). Dushanbe: Danesh. [In Persian]
- Monfared, A. (2001). Persian Biography Writing. In Gh. Haddad Adel (ed.) The Great Islamic Encyclopedia. Tehran: Center of Islamic Encyclopedia. 6th Vol. 772-774. [In Persian]
- Naghavi, A. (1968). Persian Biography Writing in India and Pakistan. Tehran: Elmi. [In Persian]
- Sadr-e Ziya, M. Sh. (2001). A Biography of Poets: A Critical Text. Sahab al-Din Seddighov and Mohammadjan Shakouri Bukharayi (ed.). Tehran: Soroush. [In Persian]
- Shafieioun, S. (2014). A survey of literary biographies. Literary Devices, 6(2), 85-104. [In Persian]
- Shar'i, H. A. (2015). Biography of Poets. Edited by Matloubeh Khajeheva and Elham Ishangholov. Khujand: Khorasan-Media. [In Persian]
- Storey C. A. (1953). Persian Literature: A Bio-bibliographical Survey. 2th Vol. London:  Luzac & Company. [In English]
- Vafaei, A. (Ed.) (1966). Encyclopedia of Persian Language and Literature in Uzbekistan: Since the 20th Century. Tehran: Al-hoda. [In Persian]
- Vazeh, Gh. R. (1914). Tuhfat al-Ahbab fi Tazkarat al-Ashab: With Tarikhe Kasire and Salimi Collection. Salim Beyg Inagh Salim (ed.). Tashkent: Arefjanov. [In Persian]
- ------------------- .  (1977). Tuhfat al-Ahbab fi Tazkarat al-Ashab. Asghar Janfada and Abdol Ghani Mirzaev (ed.). Dushanbe: Danesh. [In Persian]
- -------------------- . (1998). Savanih al-Masalik va Farasikh al-Mamalik. Asghar Janfada (ed.). Dushanbe: Danesh. [In Persian]
- Zahir, A. (1973). Biography writing in the literature of Dari.  Adab. [Kabul University]. 21(2), 75-87. [In Persian]
- Zarqani, S. M. (2009). Literary History of Iran and the Domain of Persian Language: The Development and Changes of Genres by the Middle of the Fifth Century, Including the Theory of the History of Literature. Tehran: Sokhan. [In Persian]
 -Абдуллаев, В. (1967). Ўзбек адабиёти тарихи (XVII аср адабиёти XVIII аср ва XIX асрнинг биринчи ярми адабиёти). 2-китоб. Тошкент: Ўқитувчи. [In Uzbek].
- Исхоқуф, Ё. Ва бош (1978). Ўзбек Адабийти Тарихи. IV том. Тошкент: Фан. [In Uzbek].
- Қайюмов, П. (1998). Тазкираи Қайюмий. 3ж. Тошкент: Ўзрфа Қўлёзмалвр Институти Тарихий Нашриёт бўлими. [In Uzbek]
- Неъматзода, Т. (1967). Возеҳ. Душанбе: Ирфон. [In Tajik]
- Неъматзода, Т. (1988). Возеҳ. дар Энциклопеидяи Адабиёт ва Санъати Тоҷик. Ҷилди 1-ўм. Иҷрокунандаи фазифаи Сармуҳаррир Ҷ. А. Азизқулов. Душанбе: Сарредакцияи илмии Энциклопедияи советии тоҷик. Сс.328-329. [In Tajik]
- Неъматзода, Т. (2004). Тӯҳфат-ул-Аҳбоб фй Тазкират-ул-Асҳоб. дар Энциклопеидяи Адабиёт ва Санъати Тоҷик. Ҷилди 3-ўм. Сармуҳаррир А. Қ. Қурбонов. Душанбе: Сарредакцияи Илмии Энциклопеидяи Миллии Тоҷик. С.238. [In Tajik]
- Семёнов, A. A. (1925). Каталог рукописей исторического отделения Бухарской Центральной Библиотеки. Выпуск 11. Ташкент. ]In Russian]
- Фазлий Намангоний, А. (2018). Мажмуаи Шоирон. Табдил. Таржима. Сўзбоши. Изоҳ. Лугат ва Кўрсаткичлар Муаллифи Маҳмум Хасаний. Тошкент: Фан. [In Uzbek]
- Ҳабибов [Абибов], А. (1991). Ганҷи Зарафшон.  Душанбе: Адиб. [In Tajik]
- Ҳодизода, Р. (1968). Адавиёти Тоҷик дар Нимаи Дуввўми Асри ХlХ. Қ.1. Душанбе: Дониш. [In Tajik]
 
Literary Arts
Volume 12, Issue 3 - Serial Number 32
September 2020
Pages 129-148

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics