BARḴᵛARDĀR TORKMĀN, MĪRZĀ, author of Aḥsan al-sīar,a history of Shah Esmāʿīl Ṣafawī, completed in either 930/1523-24 (Williams, 1916, p. 298) or 937/1530-31 (Williams, 1918, p. viii). The work was apparently compiled in four volumes of which only the fourth is known. It includes: 1. a preface (pp. 1-6) in which the author states that as a Shiʿite he wants to “combat some of the errors” (ibid.) in the contemporary work Ḥabīb al-sīar of Ḵᵛāndamīr; 2. a lengthy narrative history (pp. 6-280) of the reign of Shah Esmāʿīl; 3. a section on the poets and “philosophers” of his time (pp. 280-305); and 4. a compilation (pp. 305-411) of “curious stories, geographical descriptions and the like, borrowed from Khwandamir, the Maṭlaʿal-saʿdayn,and other works.”
Bibliography:
The only useful source on the author and his work is the very brief mention given by L. F. Rushbrook Williams in his article, “A New Authority on Babur?” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, N.S., 12, 1916, pp. 297-98.
Idem, An Empire Builder of the Sixteenth Century, London, 1918, preface.
Search terms:
| برخوردار ترکمان | barkhordar tourkman | barkhordar torkman | barkhourdaar turkmaan |
(R. D. McChesney)
Originally Published: December 15, 1988
Last Updated: December 15, 1988
This article is available in print.
Vol. III, Fasc. 8, p. 800
R. D. McChesney, “BARḴᵛARDĀR TORKMĀN,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, III/8, p. 800, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/barkardar-torkman-mirza-author (accessed on 30 December 2012).
