Khuld-i barin

In the Islamic world, universal histories have been written almost from the very beginning. Among the Arabic works one could, for example, mention the Kitab akhbar al-rusul wal-muluk by Abu Ja?far al-Tabari (3rd/9th cent.), Ibn Miskawayh's (d. 421/1030) Kitab tajarib al-umam, or the Mukhtasar ta?rikh al-bashar by Abu 'l-Fida? (d. 732/1331). The first such history in New Persian was the abstract of Tabari's Akhbar that was made by Abu ?Ali Bal?ami (d. between 382-87/992-97) for the Samanid emir Mansur b. Nuh (d. 365/976). Many other works followed, such as Rashid al-Din Hamadani's Jami? al-tawarikh (composed in 699-710/1300-10) or the Tarikh-i Hafiz Abru by Hafiz Abru (d. 833/1430). The present work by Muhammad Yusuf Walih Qazwini (d. after 1078/1667) is a universal history with a focus on the Safavids. The sections published here describe the history of the Timurids and the Aq and Qara Qoyunlu dynasties, vital to our understanding of the rise of the Safavids.