Sources on Mir 'Ali Shir (1)

While we lack for accessible translations of Mir 'Ali Shir's works, there are no shortage of sources on him, his life and times available in English translation (and other languages). An obvious starting point is the Makarim al-Akhlaq, a panegyric written by Khwandamir in Mir 'Ali Shir's honor, listing his virtues and literary achievements. Significantly, it gives details of the institutions established by Nawa'i and the notable scholars and religious figures employed therein. Also by the Khwandamir is the Habibu al-Siyar, a general history that includes a lengthy section on Sultan Husayn Mirza, including at least 200 potted biographies of notable personalities from his reign.

Similarly, the Tarikh-i Rashidi of Mirza Huseyn Dughlat, the Bada’ya’ al-Vaqa’ya’ of Vasifi, and Babur's Baburnameh also include lengthy descriptions of Herat in the time of Sultan Husayn Mirza and Mir 'Ali Shir. Later, 16th-century tazkirahs by Fakhri Heravi and Sam Mirza add more detail to the picture. Excerpts from several of these sources have been collated in a nifty volme edited by B. Ahmedov.

References

Ahmedov, B., ed., Navoiy Zamondoshlari Xotirasida, (Tashkent: 1985).

Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur, Bábar-Náma [facsimile of the Haydarabad Codex], ed. by Annette S. Beveridge, E. J. W. Memorial Series, I, repr. (London: Luzac and Co., 1971).

—, Bâburnâma: Chaghatay Turkish Text with Abdul-Rahim Khankhanan's Persian Translation, trans. by Wheeler M. Thackston, Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures, 18, 3 vols (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1993).

—, Bābur-nāma (Vaqāyi’): Critical Edition Based on Four Chaghatay Texts, ed. by Eiji Mano, (Kyoto: Syokado, 1995).

—, The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor, trans. by Wheeler M. Thackston (New York: Modern Library, 2002).

Mirza Haydar Dughlat, Tarikh-i-Rashidi: A History of the Khans of Moghulistan, trans. by Wheeler M. Thackston, Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures, 38, 2 vols (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1996).

Fakhri Haravi, Taẕkirah-‘i Rowẓat al-Salātīn, ed. A. Khayyampour (Tabriz: 1345/1966).

Khandamir, Makarimul Akhlaq, trans. by S. Mutallibov (Tashkent: OzFan, 1941).

Khwandamir, The ‘Makārim al-Akhlāq’: A Treatise on ‘Alishīr Navā’ī, ed. by T. Gandjeï (Cambridge, UK: E. J. W.Gibb Memorial Trust, 1979).

—, Habibu’s-Siyar: Tome Three, trans. by Wheeler M. Thackston, Sources of Oriental Languages and Literatures, 24, 2 vols (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1994).

Sām Mīrzā Ṣafavī, Taẕkirah-‘i Tuḥfaḥ-‘i Sāmī, ed. by Rukn al-Din Humayun Farrukh (Tehran: 1384/2005-2006).

Zain al-Din Mahmud Vasifi, Bada’ya’ al-Vaqa’ya’, ed. by A. N. Boldyrev 2 vols (Tehran: 1970–72).