ʿEMĀD-AL-ESLĀM

 

ʿEMĀD-AL-ESLĀM b. Moḥammad ʿAtīq-Allāh, Ḵᵛāja, a vizier of the Timurid Sultan Ḥosayn Bāyqarā (r. 875-912/1470-1506; q.v), executed in Herat in 903/1498. Although the exact date of his appointment is not known, according to Ḵᵛāndamīr (Dastūr, p. 433), he held the post of vizier for almost twenty years. He was the maternal uncle of Kamāl-al-Dīn Ḥosayn and Rašīd-al-Dīn ʿAbd-al-Malek, the sons of his more famous contemporary Neẓām-al-Molk Qewām-al-Dīn Ḵaurāfī, appointed vizier by Sultan Ḥosayn in 876/1471-72. He was a figure of minor importance who probably obtained his position through his powerful brother-in-law, for he is not mentioned in such sources as the anonymous Moʿezz al-ansāb,ʿAqīlī’s Āṯār al-wozarāʾ,which was written for Neẓām-al-Molk, or the Bābor-nāma. According to Ḵᵛāndamīr (Dastūr, p. 432), he was a mild-mannered and gentle fellow who occupied himself mainly with drinking wine and listening to music in the company of beautiful youths. It was apparently only because of his relationship to Neẓām-al-Molk, whom Sultan Ḥosayn conspired to eliminate from his government, that he was arrested and executed in Ḏu’l-qaʿda 903/June 1498, together with Neẓām-al-Molk and many other members of the latter’s family and supporters, including the two above-mentioned sons (for the reasons behind Neẓām-al-Molk’s downfall, see Kᵛāndamīr, Dastūr, pp. 426-32; Wāṣefī, II, pp. 1205-11).

 

Bibliography:

Ḵᵛāndamīr, Dastūr al-wozarāʾ, ed. S. Nafīsī, Tehran, 1317 Š./1938.

Idem, Ḥabīb al-sīar IV, pp. 218-19.

Zayn-al-Dīn Wāṣefī, Badāyeʿ al-waqāyeʿ, 2 vols., ed. A. N. Boldyrev, Moscow, 1961.

(Maria E. Subtelny)

Originally Published: December 15, 1998

Last Updated: December 13, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. VIII, Fasc. 4, p. 382