Over 700 years old. A work on the history of the Ghaznavids was shown at the Center of Islamic Civilization in Tashkent

Over 700 years old. A work on the history of the Ghaznavids presented at the Center of Islamic Civilization in Tashkent

The exposition of the Center of Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan features the manuscript "Tarjuma-i Yamini", copied more than seven centuries ago. This historical work is dedicated to the events of the Ghaznavid era, including the reign of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni and his campaigns in India.

"Tarjuma-i Yamini" is based on the Arabic work "Tarikh-i Yamini" by Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Abdul-Jabbar al-Utbi. He served as a secretary to Sultan Mahmud and personally witnessed many of the described events.

The work was later translated into Persian by Nasih ibn Zafar al-Jurbadhqani. The translation was completed in 1206–1207, but the translator did not limit himself to a simple rendering of the original into another language. He supplemented the text with information on the history of the Seljuks and Atabegs, poems, and his own commentary. As a result, over time, "Tarjuma-i Yamini" became an independent historical and literary monument.

The most remarkable exhibit in this story is the copy of the manuscript presented at the Center. It was copied in Persia during the Ilkhanid period and completed on November 30, 1311, or 11 Rajab 711 AH.

The manuscript consists of 154 folios. The Persian text is written in Naskh script on paper, with 19 to 21 lines per page. Black and brown inks were used for writing, and the binding is made of brown leather.

The age of this copy adds special value to it: it was created approximately one hundred years after the Persian translation appeared. Based on several characteristics, the initial part of the manuscript is close to the Khorasan design tradition.

The work itself covers events from the reign of Sabuktigin, the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, up to the year 1021, and contains information about their relations with the Samanids and Buyids, as well as Mahmud of Ghazni's campaigns to the Indian subcontinent.

Last year in Akhsikent — an ancient settlement on the right bank of the Syr Darya in the territory of the modern Namangan region — archaeologists found an 8th-century manuscript and coins minted during the Abbasid period.