ʿALĪ B. ŠAMS-AL-DĪN B. ḤĀJJĪ ḤOSAYN LĀHĪJĪ, author of the Tārīḵ-eḴānī. Nothing is known about the author except from his book, which he wrote at the order of Sultan Aḥmad Khan, Kīāʾī ruler of Gīlān (911-43/1505-37), and his vizier Serāǰ-al-dīn Qāsem. The writing began in Moḥarram, 921/February, 1515 and was completed in Ṣafar, 922/March, 1516. Throughout this time the author accompanied the sultan everywhere. Aḥmad Khan supervised his work closely and formally approved each part of it. Pressed to finish quickly, the author composed each section concisely, within no more than three days. Style and outlook of the author indicate that he most likely belonged to the secretarial class. The work covers the political history of Gīlān from 880/1475 to 920/1514 and also contains information on the history of the other Caspian provinces from Šīrvān to Māzandarān. Until 894/1489, the account is parallel to, but largely independent of the account of Ẓahīr-al-dīn Maṛʿašī’s Tārīḵ-eGīlān. For its last twenty-six years, the Tārīḵ-eḴānī offers the only original history of Gīlān.
Bibliography:
Tārīḵ-eḴānī, ed. M. Sotūda, Tehran, 1352 Š./1973.
B. Dorn, Aly Ben Schemseddîn’s Chanisches Geschichtswerk, St. Petersburg, 1857.
(W. Madelung)
Originally Published: December 15, 1985
Last Updated: August 1, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 8, p. 854
W. Madelung, “ʿALĪ B. ŠAMS-AL-DĪN,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/8, p. 854, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ali-b-sams-al-din (accessed on 30 December 2012).
