GOLŠAN-E MORĀD

 

GOLŠAN-E MORĀD, a history of the Zand Dynasty (1164-1209/1751-94) by Mirzā Moḥammad Abu’l-Ḥasan Ḡaffāri. Ḡaffāri’s father, Mirzā Moʿezz-al-Din Moḥammad, was the governor of Kāšān and Qom under Karim Khan Zand. He had his son trained as a painter, but later let him follow in his footsteps as a secretary and administrator (several of Abu’l-Ḥasan’s paintings, signed “al-Mostawfi” survive; the same family produced the Qajar court painters, Ṣaniʿ-al-Molk Abu’l-Ḥasan Khan Ḡaffāri and Kamāl-al-Molk Moḥammad Ḡaffāri, qq.v.). Ḡaffāri began writing his chronicle in 1194/1780, continued after a break in 1198/1783, when his patron ʿAli-Morād Khan Zand (q.v.) established his capital at Isfahan, and completed the first section (maqāla), on the reign of Karim Khan (1164-93/1751-79) and a biographical supplement on the notables, scholars, and writers of the age, before his death, probably in 1206 or 1207/1791-93 (Nārvand). A further section on the reigns of ʿAli-Morād and other Zand claimants up to 1199/1785 was added by his son, Mirzā Moḥammad-Bāqer. There are two known MSS, in the Malik Library in Tehran (No 4333, dated 1210/ 1796—not 1201, as erroneously mentioned in some catalogues) and the British Library (Or. 3592, dated 1887), and a modern edition.

The voluminous Golšan-e morād is the most detailed and generally most reliable of the Zand chronicles for the period after 1168/1755, despite some inaccuracies of detail for the later years of Karim Khan’s rule, when Ḡaffāri was apparently in Kāšān rather than in the capital, Shiraz. The taḏkera-style biographical section (pp. 387-461) is particularly valuable for the social and cultural history of the period (cf. Perry, 244).

 

Bibliography:

Abu’l-Ḥasan Ḡaffāri Kāšāni, Golšan-e morād, ed. Ḡolām-Reżā Ṭabāṭabāʾi Majd, Tehran, 1369 Š/1990 (includes a bibliographical note by Iraj Afšār and a copy of the article by R. Nārvand noted below).

Hādi Hedāyati, “Moḵtaṣar-i dar bāra-ye waqāyeʿ-negāri wa nosaḵ-e ḵaṭṭi-e fārsi-e marbuṭ ba tāriḵ-e qarn-e davāzdahom-e hejri,” MDAT 2, 1334/1955, p. 35.

Reżā Nārvand, “Moʿarrefi-e nosḵa-ye ḵaṭṭi-e ketāb-e Golšan-e morād,” MDAT 22, 1354/1975, pp. 352-59.

John R. Perry, Karim Khan Zand, Chicago, 1979, pp. 304-5.

Rieu, Persian Manuscripts, Supp., pp. 45, 66.

Storey, I, pp. 331-32. Storey-Bregel, pp. 936-37.

(John R. Perry)

Originally Published: December 15, 2001

Last Updated: February 14, 2012

This article is available in print.
Vol. XI, Fasc. 1, pp. 108-109