location unknown: Minorsky A
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Content

This is a letter sent to Shujāʿ al-Dunyā wal-Dīn, whose whereabouts are unclear. The sender is providing four updates: 1) an update that an envoy arrived on behalf of Sulṭān ʿAlī from Balkh (?), requesting residence at the palace, but that he was rejected and sent away; 2) confirmation that the recipient’s updates are reaching the sender; 3) two updates about a certain Abū Bakr Surkh, first that he was gambling and secondly that he was mishandling the salt storehouse; 3) the recipient’s absence from court has led to rumors that he is disloyal to the lord (makhdūm). The sender criticises him for being too preoccupied with and completely distracted by the salt mine (namak-āba); 4) an outstanding payment issue.

Dates

(Dates unknown)

Details

Minorsky A
location unknown
Bamiyan Papers
Gold (given following external peer review through journal/book publication)
New Persian (Arabic script)
Letter
Bāmiyān (Bamyan)

Physical Description

paper
Complete, unknown colour of ink; written on both sides of the paper
43.0
10.0
Unknown number of fold lines

People

Publications

  • Minorsky, V. "Some Early Documents in Persian (II)." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1, 1943. pp. 86-99 (Pages: 89-99)
    The IEDC transcription and translation have been revised from this publication.

Related Shelfmarks

IEDC Data

140
29/05/2024
12/11/2025

Citations

Ofir Haim
Arezou Azad, Nabi Saqee
The transcription and translation have been revised from a previous publication (see Publications)
See 'How to Cite'
https://www.invisible-east.org/corpus/140/
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Contact

invisible_east@conted.ox.ac.uk (Please include the above permalink when contacting the editorial team about this Text)
Folios
1. recto
Tags
Transcription
Translation
Tags
Folio:

Administrative

coinage
warehouse
ḥawāla (transfer)

Material Culture

clothing
qabā, kulāh

Measurement Units

ṭās (unit of volume)

Officials titles and offices

khudāwand
master
makhdūm
sulṭān
Transcription
Folio:
                     الحمد لولیّه 1
[+/- 6] 2
خداوند [+ 2] برادرم شجاع الدنیا و الدین صارم 3
الاسلام و المسلمین عزیز الملوک و السلاطین شرف 4
الکفاة زین الرجال کریم [+ 1] باد و آفریدگار 5
تبارك و تعالی ناصر و حافظ و معین صد هزاران 6
خدمت عبودیت عرضه می‌ دارم و اشتیاق بجمال 7
مبارک خداوندی بقایتی رسیده است که امکان 8
قلم از شرح دادن عاجز است و اگر صفت 9
کنم خون ازین قلم به چکد و از هزار یکی گفته 10
نیاید و خواندن ملالت افزاید در جمله شب 11
و روز از حضرت باری تعالی با دلی بریان 12
و چشم پر آب یافت خدمت سعاده خداوندی می 13
می‌خواهم باجابت مقرون باد دیگر معلوم فرماید 14
که درین وقت رسولی آمد از جانب بامی (؟) ازان 15
سلطان جلال الدین علی که با من بسازید و مرا 16
بگذارید تا بشهر آیم در کوشک برادر بنشینم 17
مخدوم عز نصره رسول را باز گردانید 18
اما معلوم نیست تا هیچ حرکت خواهند کرد یا نه 19
و خبرهای خداوند عالم سلطان اسلام متواتر 20
می‌ آید دیگر معلوم فرماید که درین وقت رشید الدین 21
بختیار (؟) و خواجه اختیار الدین آمدن و پیش مخدوم 22
عرضه داشت که مهتر زاده و ابو بکر سرخ قمار 23
کردن مهتر زاده ده دینار از وی برد و گریخت 24
و هر چند رعیت می‌ رود نمک نمی‌ دهد و آنچ 25
می‌ دهد از ده طاس پنج از رعیت باز می‌ گیرد 26
و رعیت را بقایه حواله می‌ کند و در امبار 27
نمک بست هیچ کس را نمی‌ دهد و اختیار پیش جمله 28
خواجگان چنین گفت که اگر صد بار مخدوم 29
چیزی نویسد ابو بکر سرخ بامیان نیاید 30
(حاشیه:) زینهار که زندنجی (؟) قبا من آن که خانه بود بفرستد کلاه بفرستد که برهنه شده‌ ام 31
Translation
Folio:
1 Praise to the One who deserves it.
2 [+/- 6]
3 the master and [+ 2], my brother Shujāʿ al-Dunyā wal-Dīn, the sword
4 of Islam and the Muslims, the most valued by kings and sultans, the honoured one among the competent,
5 the adornment of men, the generous [+ 1]. And let the Creator -
6 may He be blessed and exalted - be his helper, guardian, and assistant.
7 I offer you (lit., “him”) my abundant services and deepest devotion. My longing to see your blessed beauty,
8 my master, has reached such an extent that a pen is not 
9 able to convey. If I tried to describe
10 it, blood would drip from the pen, and still it would convey but a small fraction [of my longing],
11 and reading [such words] would be tiring. In short, 
12 all I ask from the almighty creator – day and night, with a burning heart and tearful eyes – is that I have the good fortune of meeting and serving you, my master.
13 May [my request] be met. Also, let him be informed
14 that at this time, an envoy has arrived from Bāmī (?), on behalf of
15 Sulṭān Jalāl al-Dīn ʿAlī, saying, “Be at peace with me with me, and let me
16 come to the city and stay in [my] brother’s palace.”
17 [However,] the lord, may God exalt his victory, sent the envoy away,
18 and it remains unknown whether they will proceed or not.
19 [Also,] the news of the lord of the world, the sultan of Islam, arrives
20 regularly. Also, let him be informed that recently Rashīd al-Dīn
21 Bakhtiyār (?) and Khwāja Ikhtiyār al-Dīn came [here] and submitted to the lord
22 that the elder’s son and Abū Bakr Surkh were gambling, 
23 that the former won 10 dinars, but the latter ran away [before he could pay up].
24 [Moreover,] however much the peasants go (to him), he won’t give them any salt. And 
25 [even when he does] give [salt] – he takes back from the peasants five out of each 10 ṭās,
26 placing a high-debt burden on the commoners. He has closed the doors of the salt storehouse,
27 and does not give [salt] to anyone. Ikhtiyār [al-Dīn] said before all the khwājas that
28 “[Even] if the lord writes one hundred times,
29 Abū Bakr Surkh will not ever show up in Bāmiyān.”
30 (In the right margin:) “Please remember to send my zandanijī robe, the one [I left] at home, and [also] a hat, for I have no [adequate] clothing.”
Map

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location unknown: Minorsky A: Folio (recto)
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