Abu Nasr al-Utbi
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi, called al-Utbi (c. 961 – 1036/1040), was an Arab historian, poet, and courtier. Abu Nasr al-Utbi was born in Rayy, al-Utbi traveled to Nishapur with his uncle, Abu Nasr al-Utbi, who was a courtier for the Samanids.
Also recorded as Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi · Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi
Abu Nasr al-Utbi
- Name
- Al-Utbi
- Birth Name
- Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi
- Born
- c. 961
- Birthplace
- Rayy, Buyid Empire
- Died
- 1036/1040
- Occupation
- Historian, Poet
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Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi, called al-Utbi (c. 961 – 1036/1040), was an Arab historian, poet, and courtier. Abu Nasr al-Utbi was born in Rayy, al-Utbi traveled to Nishapur with his uncle, Abu Nasr al-Utbi, who was a courtier for the Samanids.
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In this article
Biography
Biography
Al-Utbi became sahib al-barid, working as a secretary for the Turkic general Abū ʿAlī Simjūr and for the Ziyarid ruler Qabus ibn Wushmagir. He later worked for the Ghaznavid Sabuktigin, alongside the poet Abu 'l-Fath al-Busti. He was neither an official court historian nor a trained scholar, so his writing lacks precise dates and a consistent chronological order. In 999, al-Utbi, as an envoy for Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, was sent to Gharchistan to convince that ruler to recognize Mahmud as his overlord. He was patronized by the vizier Ahmad b. Later al-Utbi was removed from his position as sahib al-barid, due to plots by the governor. He spent the rest of his life in retirement, dying in the later period of Sultan Masʽud I's reign (1036/1040). The history of his family goes back to Utba ibn Ghazwan, the founder of the city of Basra.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Al-Utbi • Birth Name — Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi • Born — c. 961 • Birthplace — Rayy, Buyid Empire • Died — 1036/1040 • Occupation — Historian, Poet • Notable Works — Kitab al-Yamini • Era — Samanid era, Ghaznavid era
Legacy
Around 1021, al-Utbi finished his work, Kitab al-Yamini. The al-Yamini, an embellished flowery rhetorical rhymed prose, is a history of the reigns of Sabuktigin and Mahmud. The al-Yamini starts in 965 CE, but the Samanids are not mentioned until Nuh ibn Mansur's reign in 976, while it details the Buyids prior to 983. Utbi had direct knowledge of Sultan Mahmud's personality and the actions of his officials, and he was well-informed about the background of Mahmud's campaigns in India, though he likely never took part in those expeditions himself. His work recounts the rise of Ghaznavid power under Sebuktegin and details Mahmud's character and military achievements up to the year 1020. Utbi was unfamiliar with Indian languages and had a poor grasp of Indian geography, leading to numerous errors in his accounts of Mahmud's Indian campaigns. According to the historian al-Tha'alibi, al-Utbi wrote numerous works, which included poetry. His sole surviving work is the Kitab al-Yamini. Jurji Zaydan's Tarikh Adab al-Lughat al-Arabiya, regarded the al-Yamini superior in style to al-Tha'alibi's Yatima, while stating it was comparable to Hilal al-Sabi's Tarikh al-Wuzara.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Levi, Scott C. Hindus Beyond the Hindu Kush: Indians in the Central Asian Slave Trade. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 12. 3. 282. 2002. 10.1017/S1356186302000329.
- 2.Abdullaev, Abbaskhan. A Look at the Life and Legacy of Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbar al-ʿUtbi. European Journal of Humanities and Educational Advancements. 3. 11. 38. 2022. 2660-5589.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 8
- Bosworth, C.E. Al-Utbi. Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill. X: T-U. 945. 2000a. 90 04 11211 1.
- Bosworth, C. Edmund. Sistan and Its Local Histories. Iranian Studies. 33. 1/2. Winter–Spring 2000b. 4311333.
- Khan, M. S. Miskawaih and Arabic Historiography. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 89. 4. October–December 1969. 596943.
- Khan, M.S. al-Bīrūnī and the Political History of India. Oriens. 25/26. 1976. 1580658.
- Indiana University Press. Islamic Central Asia: An Anthology of Historical Sources. 2010. 978-0-253-35385-6.
- Mehta, J.L. Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India. Sterling Publishers. I: 1000-1526 A.D. 1986. 978 81 207 0617 0.
- Nazim, M. Al-Utbi, Abu Nasr Muhammad b. Muhammad al-Djabbar. First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. Brill. VIII: Ta'if-Zurkhana. 1059–1060. 1993. 90 04 09794 5.
- Shagrir, Iris. The Parable of the Three Rings and the Idea of Religious Toleration in European Culture. Springer International Publishing. 2019. 978-3-030-29695-7.
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