Abstract:

The period of the Ghaznavids (963-1187) coincides with an extremely important time in terms of literature. The support of the sultans to literary activities in all conditions enabled the development of this genre and the fact that many valuable works, especially the Šāh-nāma, were written and reached today. Along with other sciences, poetry appears as a popular artistic activity in the period of the Ghaznavids. Especially during the reign of Sultan Mahmoud, the tradition of poetry and poetry writing, which developed rapidly, has also been a source of livelihood for those who deal with this genre. It is rumored that only Sultan Mahmud always had four hundred poets. Information about the lives of these poets is sometimes found in their own works and sometimes in books written in the field of political history. The History of Firiştah, written by Muhammed Kâsım Hinduşâh Esterabâdî, is one of these works. The exact date of the birth of the poet, who was born in Esterabâd, one of the cities of the Deylem Region, and therefore took the title of Esterabâdî, is not known. However, the fact that he dealt with the field of medicine as well as historiography shows that he went through a good education process. After completing his first education, Esterabâdî went to the city of Ahmednagar, which was a part of the Nizamshahi Dynasty, which ruled in India, and after a while, he succeeded in entering the palace and his fame increased gradually. Later, he went to Bîcâpur and entered the service of the Adilshahi ruler II. İbrahim b. Âdishah, and after completing The History of Firiştah, which he started to write at his request, he dedicated it to him. It is estimated that Esterabâdî, who served in various embassy duties after finishing his work, died after 1033/1623. At the beginning of the book, which consists of an introduction, twelve chapters and a conclusion, Ghaznavids are included. While the author narrates the political history of the Ghaznavid State, he also occasionally provides information about the period when the sultans were on the throne and the poets who were appropriate. However, more important than this is the information he conveyed at the end of the reign of Sultan Mahmoud (998-1030). Because in this section, a title was opened just to mention the poets and short sections from the lives of Ghaznavid poets and short examples from their poems were given. In this study, information about Esterabâdî's life, work and the poets of the Ghaznavid period in his work are given by comparing them with other sources.

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